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Series

Pace University

2007

Land Use Law

Articles 1 - 12 of 12

Full-Text Articles in Law

Year In Review: 2007'S Most Significant Land Use Cases, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher Dec 2007

Year In Review: 2007'S Most Significant Land Use Cases, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

New York courts busily decided a multitude of land use cases due to the increased growth in magnitude and complexity of land use issues. This year, as in the past, the authors provide a summary describing some of the most crucial New York land use cases. This year’s cases include the following topics: review of local board action, takings law, eminent domain, enforcement, jurisdiction, religious land uses, standing, moratoria, and New York’s State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA).

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Municipal Lobbying: Regulations May Affect Land Use Practitioners, John R. Nolon Oct 2007

Municipal Lobbying: Regulations May Affect Land Use Practitioners, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Land use and real estate attorneys may find their practice areas impacted by recently passed lobbying legislation in both New York state, and New York City that require burdensome requirements for lawyers whose clients are seeking legislative action. This article explores the history of New York lobbying legislation, recent amendments to the lobbying laws, and the impact that lobbying legislation has on the practice of law. Notably, this review explores Article 1-A of the Legislative Law (known as the “Lobbying Act”) and the Public Employee Ethics Reform Act, both of which expanded the definition of lobbying, and significantly changed the …

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Zoning, Transportation, And Climate Change, John R. Nolon Sep 2007

Zoning, Transportation, And Climate Change, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

On February 2, 2006, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) expressed the consensus of the scientific community that global warming is unequivocal and that its main driver is human activity. On April 7, 2007, the IPCC issued a second report detailing the likely consequences of climate change: widening droughts, more severe storm events, increased inland flooding, sea level rise, and consequent inundation of low lying lands. The Center for Climate Systems Research at Columbia University estimates that sea levels around New York City’s boroughs will increase by five inches by 2030, with some estimates predicting up to 12 inches …

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Disaster Mitigation Through Land Use Strategies, John R. Nolon Sep 2007

Disaster Mitigation Through Land Use Strategies, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina brought to public attention the role of land use planning in mitigating natural disasters and which level or levels of government should decide whether and how to undertake this planning. In the Upper Mississippi River Basin, 6 federal agencies, 23 state agencies in 5 states, and 233 local governments share jurisdiction over various areas of activity on the river; the complexity and disorganization of this legal framework stifles effective action. In this Article, John R. Nolon calls for cooperative federalism and a clarification of agency roles as a remedy for this complexity. Through case …

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Clustered Zoning Approaches Reduce Congestion, John R. Nolon Aug 2007

Clustered Zoning Approaches Reduce Congestion, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The effect of local zoning on our lives usually goes unnoticed despite its profound influence on human behavior. Zoning controls where we live and work, how we get from point A to point B, and what sort of homes we live in. This article provides examples of successful transit-oriented development projects at the local level as well as how state and federal government can contribute to the clustering effort via financing and research programs as well as providing appropriate infrastructure.

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Transit Orientation Reduces Car Dependency, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher Jun 2007

Transit Orientation Reduces Car Dependency, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Urban dwellers emit less greenhouse gases per capita than their suburban or rural counterparts because urban environments are conducive to less automobile travel and require less energy to heat or cool their smaller urban living quarters. This article addresses the need for a more comprehensive transit oriented land use paradigm by taking the reader through a step-by-step approach to accomplishing this goal. The suggested model exemplifies the complexity of amending community planning and the importance of incorporating several different groups of people into the planning process. These groups include municipal, state, and federal governments, research groups, developers, and regional transportation …

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Local Inclusionary Housing Programs: Meeting Housing Needs, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher May 2007

Local Inclusionary Housing Programs: Meeting Housing Needs, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article explores the expansive legal authority that local governments in many states have to meet housing needs directly by providing for the production of new affordable homes. There is not a great deal of scholarship on the subject as we approach it. The emphasis in the academic literature in the field of affordable housing is on top-down, systemic, or theoretical solutions: urging reforms in federal and state finance programs, imploring courts to penalize localities that engage in exclusionary zoning, describing in detail a variety of inclusionary zoning techniques, or explaining relevant theories or the economics of the issue of …

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Global Warming: Zoning May Be An Antidote To Climate Change, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher Apr 2007

Global Warming: Zoning May Be An Antidote To Climate Change, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Through the use of transit oriented development (TOD) several New York municipalities have transformed into more sustainable communities by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Contrary to popular belief, these municipalities proved that reduction of emissions is possible while still expanding economic growth. This article highlights several success stories in a variety of community landscapes beginning with a look at urban redevelopment in Yonkers, White Plains, and New Rochelle, New York, and then transitions to suburban success stories in Orangetown, and several municipalities along the Bear Mountain Parkway.

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A Warning To States — Accepting This Invitation May Be Hazardous To Your Health (Safety, And Public Welfare): An Analysis Of Post-Kelo, Joshua Ulan Galperin Apr 2007

A Warning To States — Accepting This Invitation May Be Hazardous To Your Health (Safety, And Public Welfare): An Analysis Of Post-Kelo, Joshua Ulan Galperin

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Focusing on Delaware, this article will argue that the United States Supreme Court's decision in Kelo v. New London gave state legislatures an open invitation to shape their public use frameworks, but their responses must be measured and well-reasoned because the consequences of reactionary legislation may put a stranglehold on state and local governments trying to exercise eminent domain for unanimously accepted public uses. Part I will trace the most pertinent federal jurisprudence through Kelo. Part II will survey Delaware’s public use jurisprudence. Part III will introduce the Delaware General Assembly’s legislative response to Kelo. Part IV will serve as …

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Didden V. Port Chester: Placing Eminent Domain Debate In Proper Perspective, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher Feb 2007

Didden V. Port Chester: Placing Eminent Domain Debate In Proper Perspective, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Controversy often arises when landowners in blighted areas resist government driven urban-renewal condemnation of their property. Often, these urban-renewal areas, the scope of which is determined after extensive study, are condemned and transferred to a private developer who has an overall plan for the entire designated area. This article discusses the issues that arise when private property interests are overridden by public interests and how urban renewal will help revitalize the economies of troubled inner-city regions.

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Climate Change, Zoning And Transportation Planning: Urbanization As A Response To Carbon Loading, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher Jan 2007

Climate Change, Zoning And Transportation Planning: Urbanization As A Response To Carbon Loading, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article explores the relationship among zoning, transportation planning, and climate change. It discusses the relationship between land use densities and transportation choices, reviews the trend toward transit oriented development in higher density communities and transportation efficient development in lower density areas, presents several case studies where land use and transportation planning are beginning to intersect, and ends with a strategic approach for communities to consider.

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Disaster Mitigation Through Land Use Strategies, John R. Nolon Jan 2007

Disaster Mitigation Through Land Use Strategies, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The persistent question this book raises is who should decide whether and how to mitigate the damages caused by natural disasters. Our understandable preoccupation with response, recovery, and rebuilding makes it hard to focus on this question as a central, even relevant, one. But it persists, nonetheless. The high-profile “blame game” played following Hurricane Katrina’s devastation of the Gulf Coast is emblematic. In pointing fingers first at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), then at the city of New Orleans, and then at the state of Louisiana, public officials exhibited an appalling lack of understanding of the roles that each …

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