A.__Municipalities may be required to take actions relative to planning and land use control;

B.__Certain municipal land use regulations are permitted only if the regulations are in compliance with state guidelines and limitations designed to achieve overall fairness and equal treatment under the law; and

C.__Certain municipal decisions and actions are subject to state-level appeals.

Sec. 5. 30-A MRSA §4360, sub-§3 is enacted to read:

3.__Application.__This section applies only to rate of growth ordinances enacted before the effective date of section 4360-A.

Sec. 6. 30-A MRSA §§4360-A and 4360-B are enacted to read:

§4360-A.__Municipalitywide rate of growth ordinances

A municipalitywide rate of growth ordinance is a temporary measure allowing a municipality to slow the rate of growth for a reasonable period of time in order to plan for services or provide needed infrastructure to better absorb growth.__A municipality pursuant to its home-rule authority may limit the number of residential building permits issued in any calendar year when the rate of growth ordinance meets all of the requirements in this section.

1.__Need; municipalitywide.__Before a municipalitywide rate of growth ordinance may be enacted that either affects both growth and rural areas of a municipality, as defined in this chapter, or affects an entire municipality that, pursuant to exemptions in section 4326, subsection 3-A, paragraph A, subparagraph (4) or (5), has not designated a growth area, the municipality must document in a comprehensive plan adopted or amended under this chapter that a need for the ordinance exists.__Need must be based on the rate of population growth and the rate of issuance of building permits compared with past experience and regional averages, the increase in full value mill rates and debt levels required to serve growth in population and housing and the shortage of municipal infrastructure needed to absorb the growth.__ The office shall establish by rule a rating system by