A law that allows cities to exert zoning control in a ring around their borders could be on the chopping block in 2009, if the Legislature follows through with a plan introduced Tuesday by a panel of citizens and lawmakers.

The 1997 law, commonly referred to as "extraterritorial zoning," has raised an outcry from rural residents living on the borders of cities such as Bismarck and Fargo. Many say the law takes away their freedom and property rights because it allows city officials they don't elect to enact city-style zoning requirements on their rural properties.

Under Tuesday's proposal, unveiled at the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, the law would be fully repealed in 2009.

"I think we're going to eliminate it," said Rep. Dwight Wrangham, a Bismarck Republican who's long been the chief advocate of such a move.

The total repeal - a Wrangham-inspired bill draft for the upcoming legislative session - is still in its preliminary stages and could be heavily amended or even tossed out before the session. Ideas for compromise were already buzzing among panel members Tuesday.

Some of those ideas include finding a way for zone residents to have political representation among the city officials making these decisions, giving them a veto power over decisions made about zoning in their buffer area, and requiring cities to have a plan that ensures they actually follow through on annexing that land in a pre-set amount of time.

Originally passed to ease the process of city growth into the bordering countryside, the "extraterritorial zoning" law was designed to give cities a jump on making sure soon-to-be annexed land didn't violate city code.

Jerry Hjelmstad, an attorney with the North Dakota League of Cities, said the law lets larger cities prepare for growth, while smaller cities use it to protect citizens from hazards such as tanks of anhydrous ammonia or other chemicals within a few miles of a population center.

"It's the city's responsibilities to help their people," he said.

Rural landowners such as Richard Hammond, who lives east of Bismarck, pleaded with lawmakers to give this power back to the smaller local townships.

"At times, the Legislature must protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority," he said.

Past legislatures have seemed to move in Hammond's direction while falling short of a full repeal. In 2007, the Legislature temporally moved back the cities zoning influence sphere from four miles around its border to two miles around.

(Reach reporter Jonathan Rivoli at 223-8482 or jonathan.rivoli@bismarcktribune.com.)