2024 HB 443 — Objective-Standards / Ministerial-Application Mandate (KY)
Tracked preemption from the Kentucky overlay bundle.
Overview
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Effective
2025-07-01
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:KY
Other Kentucky preemptions
KRS 65.490 et seq. — Tax Increment Financing (Local Development Areas)KRS 67C / Ky. Const. §156a — Louisville Metro Consolidated Local GovernmentKRS Chapter 224A / 224.01-400 — Brownfield Voluntary Environmental RemediationKRS 100.348 — Manufactured Housing Anti-Exclusion & Parity (2025 HB 160)KRS Chapter 350 / SMCRA — Surface Coal Mining Regulation & Mountaintop RemovalOffice of Kentucky Nature Preserves (OKNP) — Designated Nature Preserves & T&E HabitatKRS 146.200 et seq. — Kentucky Wild Rivers SystemKRS 224.71 et seq. — Wetlands & Waters of the Commonwealth (KPDES §401 Certification)
Primary-source summary
2024 HB 443 — Objective standards / ministerial-application mandateTrigger predicate
When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.
always true
Preempted fields
3 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.
| Field | Op | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
zoning_review.approval_criteria_must_be_objective_measurable | require | True | Zoning and subdivision approval criteria must be objective and measurable; applicants must be able to read approval standards off the page before submitting |
zoning_review.ministerial_when_standards_objective | require | True | Review is ministerial where standards are objective; discretionary review survives only where Chapter 100 expressly authorizes it (e.g., map amendments under KRS 100.211–.213 retain comprehensive-plan / change-of-circumstance findings) |
design_review.subjective_compatibility_or_character_findings | waive | — | Conditioning approval on subjective compatibility, character, or aesthetic findings without an objective-standards backstop is potentially non-compliant with HB 443 |
Citation
Authority source
2024 HB 443 (Acts of 2024); amends KRS Chapter 100
§ KRS Chapter 100 (as amended by 2024 HB 443)
Research notes
HB 443 constrains historically discretionary review pathways embedded in KRS 100 — conditional-use-permit findings, design review, and compatibility judgments — by requiring objective, measurable approval criteria. Locals retain authority to define the objective standards (no numeric floors or ceilings imposed). LFUCG ran a multi-tranche ZOTA to comply. Flag every KY city ordinance with subjective compatibility/character findings as potentially HB-443-non-compliant.