Law Commons^™

The Commons, Capitalism, And The Constitution, George Skouras

George Skouras

Thesis Summary: the erosion of the Commons in the United States has contributed to the deterioration of community and uprooting of people in order to meet the dynamic demands of capitalism. This article suggests countervailing measures to help remedy the situation.

The (Somewhat) False Hope Of Comprehensive Planning, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Comprehensive planning at the municipal level, although useful in a variety of ways, is neither necessary nor sufficient to promote "smart" (that is, pedestrian and transit-oriented) growth. Comprehensive plans can be used to support sprawl as easily as to support smart growth, while smart growth may be promoted effectively through zoning reform or statewide legislation as well as through local planning.

The Political Fragmentation Of Land Use Governance In Santiago, Chile, And Its Implications For Socioeconomic Residential Segregation, Diego Gil Mc Cawley

Diego Gil Mc Cawley

Despite decades of economic development and the general improvement in the quality of life of its people, Santiago, the capital of Chile, presents high levels of residential segregation along socioeconomic lines. A debate about legal reforms to address this phenomenon is currently occurring. Existing Chilean research suggests that the current pattern of urban segregation has been caused by social housing policies based on the provision of subsidies to homeless people implemented in the last decades. However, foreign literature, especially in the United States, indicates that residential segregation is also influenced by land use legal structure and practices. This latter factor …

How Environmental Review Can Generate Pollution: A Case Study, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

State environmental review statutes often require state and local governments to draft an environmental impact statement for any project or permit that might have a substantial environmental impact. One such statute, New York's State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) defines “environmental impact” broadly to include not only traditionally environmental impacts such as pollution, but also social impacts such as increased neighborhood population. As a result, any large-scale development is likely to require environmental review under SEQRA.

In my article, I argue that such stringency harms air quality by discouraging infill development (that is, development in already-urbanized areas). Such development is …

State Fertilizer Bills: The Greenest Way To A More Natural Landscape?, Catherine M. Janasie

Catherine M Janasie

Abstract: State Fertilizer Bills: The Greenest Way to a More Natural Landscape?

By: Catherine Janasie, J.D., LL.M.

Ocean and Coastal Law Fellow

Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Legal Program at The University of Mississippi School of Law

Because the Federal Clean Water Act focuses mostly on point source pollution, states consider nonpoint source pollution to be the leading cause of water pollution in their waterways. Until recently, many thought that the regulation of fertilizer use by individual homeowners would invade too much on personal choice, which would make a fertilizer statute too unpopular for state legislators to pass. However, in an attempt …

The Birth, Death, And Afterlife Of The Wild Lands Policy: The Evolution Of The Bureau Of Land Management’S Authority To Protect Wilderness Values, Olivia Brumfield

Michael Blumm

Since the enactment of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) in 1976, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has had a troubled relationship with wild lands, the nation’s last remaining places with wilderness characteristics. Although for twenty-five years BLM recognized wilderness values as a resource it must balance and could protect consistent with the agency’s multiple use mandate, in 2003 BLM largely disclaimed that interpretation, potentially imperiling future protection of wild lands that were not designated as wilderness or wilderness study areas. Since then, the agency has made incremental – but potentially powerful – steps toward reclaiming a …

How Comprehensive Planning Makes Suburbia More Sprawling, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Many commentators associate comprehensive land use planning with smart growth- but in fact, municipal plans can be used to further sprawl as well as smart growth.

Something Rich And Strange: Progressive Land Use Regulation And The Takings Doctrine, Philip C. Dales

Philip C. Dales

ABSTRACT:

Something Rich and Strange: Progressive Zoning and the Takings Doctrine.

Philip Carter Dales

May, 2013

University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

The list of municipalities adopting form-based codes continues to grow, with one study putting the number at over 250, including Miami, Denver, Cincinnati and other major cities around the United States. These codes represent land use regulation that is fundamentally different from traditional Euclidean zoning. Rather than prescribing allowable uses, FBCs focus on the governance of form, with the goal of ensuring predictable outcomes for the built environment and simplifying complex use-based zoning ordinances.

In …

Climate Change Adaptation And Coastal Property Rights: A Massachusetts Case Study, Lara D. Guercio

Lara D. Guercio

This Article examines how existing state laws, including coastal property law and public trust doctrines, are likely to create challenges for the implementation of adaptation strategies proposed to address the effects of climate change—specifically, accelerated sea level rise, increased coastal flooding and storm-related erosion—on coastlines and connected natural resource areas, such as beaches, coastal wetlands, and tidelands. The Article uses Massachusetts, with its highly evolved body of coastal property law and public trust doctrine, as a case study. Mindful of U.S. Supreme Court takings doctrine, the Article analyzes the likely legal challenges to climate change adaptation strategies recently proposed for …

The Dillon Rule & Norfolk Sea Level Rise: An Analysis Of The Limited Impact Of The Dillon Rule On Planning For Sea Level Rise In Norfolk, Mary-Carson B. Saunders

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

The Dillon Rule And Sea Level Rise: An Analysis Of The Impact Of The Dillon Rule On Potential Adaptation Measures The City Of Poquoson May Implement, Lauren Gill

Virginia Coastal Policy Center

No abstract provided.

Conserving A Place For Renewable Power, Jacob P. Byl

Jacob P. Byl

Promoting renewable power and conserving land are often conflicting goals because renewable power requires a lot of land. The conflict is becoming an important issue on lands encumbered by conservation easements. I argue that the current legal rule allowing oil and gas development, but not wind and solar development, on conserved land does not make sense in light of the threats of climate change. The best way to encourage renewable power while respecting the intent of landowners is to have the Internal Revenue Service promulgate rules that explicitly allow renewable power going forward and interpret existing easements with a set …

Regulatory Takings: Survey Of A Constitutional Culture, James Valvo

James Valvo

Fifth Amendment property protections under the Takings Clause have grown increasingly contentious as governing entities have used regulations to limit what property owners can do with their land. This paper profiles regulatory takings jurisprudence from Pennsylvania Coal, to Penn Central, to Nollan and Dolan, and Tahoe-Sierra. The paper also examines conceptual constructs that have shaped the field’s evolution, including: the doctrine’s origin, the nuisance exception, the changed circumstances argument, unconstitutional conditions, temporary takings and the denominator problem.

Neighborhood Empowerment And The Future Of The City, Kenneth Stahl

Kenneth Stahl

In any given metropolitan region, there are scores of municipalities locked in a zero-sum struggle for mobile sources of jobs and tax revenue. This competition appears to advantage small, homogenous suburbs over large, diverse cities because the former can directly enact the uniform will of the electorate rather than becoming ensnarled in conflict between competing interest groups. Cities can level the playing field with suburbs, however, by devolving municipal power to smaller, more homogenous subgroups within the city, such as neighborhoods. Indeed, one such effort at neighborhood empowerment, the “business improvement district,” (BID) has been widely identified as a key …

Plans Are Not Enough, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Some commentators see comprehensive municipal plans as a remedy for suburban sprawl. But in fact, a plan can be used to promote sprawl as well as to prevent sprawl.

Framing Inclusionary Zoning: Exploring The Legality Of Local Inclusionary Zoning And Its Potential To Meet Affordable Housing Needs, Tim Iglesias

Tim Iglesias

Whether local inclusionary zoning (IZ) ordinances can make significant contributions towards meeting affordable housing needs depends in large part on its legality. Courts have not developed a consistent jurisprudence regarding IZ ordinances. The legality of IZ ordinances depends upon how they are framed by the governments who enact them, the opponents who challenge them, and the courts that decide the cases. After a brief introduction, this article explores why framing is possible and likely in judicial review of IZ as well as why it matters. Next, the article analyzes the case law to demonstrate how framing has operated to affect …

Why (And How) Conservatives Should Support Smart Growth, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Conservatives have generally been critical of the smart growth movement, because they often fear that smart growth is synonymous with overregulation of land use. This article explains why sprawl threatens conservative values, and suggests conservative-friendly smart growth policies that can both make government less intrusive and make America more walkable.