Legislature moves rezoning bill for Barrigada parcel to third reading amid review concerns

Speaker Frank F. Bloss Jr. moved Bill 150-38 to third reading on the floor, asking colleagues to approve rezoning Lot Number 5228 (R4-R2-1 portion) in the municipality of Barrigada from Agricultural A to Light Industrial (M-1). Bloss said the small parcel sits amid industrial activity near Allegretta Street and that rezoning would bring the lot into conformity with surrounding properties.

"This is a bill that would be able to provide the owners of this property the opportunity to have their land basically fall in line with all the other pieces of the property that actually surrounds this piece," Speaker Frank F. Bloss Jr. said on the floor. He argued the parcel is effectively an industrial pocket — used to store quarry equipment and adjacent to an industrial center — and said he did not expect anyone to rezone it back to residential.

Senator Jesus Marcy challenged the procedural record and urged caution before final approval. Marcy said statutory requirements apply when the Legislature considers legislative rezonings from A to M-1 and that those requirements include a land zoning consideration report from the Department of Land Management (DLM), notice to adjacent landowners, review by the Municipal Planning Council (MPC) for rezonings above R-2, and an agricultural impact statement from the Department of Agriculture.

"This bill is to rezone property from A to M-1, and according to law on Guam, it requires the Guam Land Use Commission's action to rezone or the Guam Legislature's. . . 2GCA2102110 expressly requires that a land zoning consideration report be issued by the Department of Land Management to the legislature prior to placement of the bill on the legislative session agenda," Sen. Jesus Marcy said. He added he had not received required responses from DLM or the Department of Agriculture and noted that some adjacent landowners had testified but it was unclear whether statutory notice had been provided.

Marcy also told colleagues that DLM records do not show an application filed by the owner for administrative review and that the change had been attempted previously in an earlier legislature. He argued the committee should have secured agency reviews and appended them to the committee report before placing the bill on session agenda so members and affected residents would know the potential infrastructure and environmental impacts.

The sponsor replied that government delay had left landowners seeking legislative relief and that the parcel is already surrounded by commercial and industrial activity. After floor discussion the presiding officer called for objections to placing Bill 150-38 on the third reading file; none were raised and the body ordered the bill to third reading.

The Legislature recessed and will reconvene at 3:00 p.m. for the voting session when the third reading will be considered further.