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Full-Text Articles in Law
Historical Overview Of The American Land Use System: A Diagnostic Approach To Evaluating Governmental Land Use Control, John R. Nolon
Historical Overview Of The American Land Use System: A Diagnostic Approach To Evaluating Governmental Land Use Control, John R. Nolon
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This article describes how the American land use system has evolved to address recent environmental and economic development problems. It begins by tracing the history of the legal system used in the United States to control private sector land development and demonstrates how it achieved the flexibility needed to respond to modern challenges. The American land use system has paid a price for this flexibility: it is not a coherent whole, but rather a fragmented mosaic of legal influences. Impressive examples of cohesion are cited that suggest a strategic approach to reforming the system so that it can become an …
House Of The Setting Sun: New Orleans, Katrina, And The Role Of Historic Preservation Laws In Emergency Circumstances, Annie Christoff
House Of The Setting Sun: New Orleans, Katrina, And The Role Of Historic Preservation Laws In Emergency Circumstances, Annie Christoff
Georgetown Law Historic Preservation Papers Series
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, while various government bodies scrambled to address the myriad tragedies and emergencies that arose from the disaster, one critical question went largely unanswered and ignored: What was to become of the historic homes damaged in the storm and ensuing flood?
Obviously this question was of secondary concern at the time—where human life and safety are imperiled, the primary focus of government officials should be on restoring order and ensuring their constituents are protected. Precisely because of the existence of more pressing issues in a time of emergency, therefore, it is important to have a …
Improving Historic Preservation Enforcement In The District Of Columbia, David J. Henry
Improving Historic Preservation Enforcement In The District Of Columbia, David J. Henry
Georgetown Law Historic Preservation Papers Series
Within the past few years, the creation of the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH) has been an important change in the District of Columbia government. OAH is viewed by many as an innovative government agency that provides fair and impartial administrative adjudication for District agencies, with efficiency. However, since OAH began full operations in 2004, the effectiveness of historic preservation enforcement has actually decreased. The primary indicators of this are the fewer number of completed adjudications and the smaller amount of fines collected in the past year.
This paper is a policy paper. As such, the paper will identify problems …
Productive Preservation And The Reinvention Of Industrial America, Jonathan Flynn
Productive Preservation And The Reinvention Of Industrial America, Jonathan Flynn
Georgetown Law Historic Preservation Papers Series
This paper explores the problem of why the traditional model preservation, characterized by a strict and inflexible interpretation of the law, often fails in struggling communities. Particular emphasis is given to early industrial cities, where the existing urban infrastructure and difficult economic situation often conspire to make preservation exceptionally challenging. A solution is proposed for making preservation productive these distressed communities. Through a broader, and more flexible reading of existing law, a major preservation problem may be solved, and history can used as a valuable tool for growth and positive change.
Champions Of Change: Reinventing Democracy Through Land Law Reform, John R. Nolon
Champions Of Change: Reinventing Democracy Through Land Law Reform, John R. Nolon
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article explores the prospects of achieving policy coherence in the field of land use regulation. It explains how, as municipal governments react to pressures and crises at the local level, they discover and adopt new strategies in a constant process of experimentation. Through a properly constructed legal framework, critical information can be relayed from local to higher levels of government, state and federal legislators and judges can respond, and a "system" of law can evolve. Using theories developed in the fields of systems analysis and diffusion of innovations, the Article describes the process by which local communities perceive land …
Katrina's Lament: Reconstructing Federalism, John R. Nolon
Katrina's Lament: Reconstructing Federalism, John R. Nolon
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
The subject of stormwater management raises threshold questions about the federal system. Is the regulation of stormwater runoff and the environmental pollution it causes within the federal government's legal jurisdiction? Is it a matter reserved to the states under the Tenth Amendment? Or is it a joint responsibility and, if so, precisely how is federal and state authority shared? How does the delegation of power by states to local governments to regulate the use of privately owned land affect the federal-state division of power? What limits should there be on local control of land uses that cause “nonpoint source” pollution, …