Land Use Law Commons^™

Reclaiming The Streets, Vanessa Casado-Pérez

Faculty Scholarship

Pedestrians have been getting the short end of the stick in street policies and regulations. Drivers and cars dominate our streets even though automobiles’ externalities kill thousands of people every year. Given the environmental, health, safety, and community effects of cars, municipalities should embrace a policy that puts pedestrians at the center and produces more miles of wider, well-maintained sidewalks. Sidewalks make communities greener, healthier, safer, more socially connected, and even, wealthier. COVID-19 lockdowns have shown both the relevance of sidewalks, as well as the possibility of pedestrians regaining space currently allocated to cars by widening sidewalks.

This Essay identifies, …

The Zoning Straitjacket: The Freezing Of American Neighborhoods Of Single-Family Houses, Robert Ellickson

Indiana Law Journal

Municipal zoning practices profoundly shape urban life in the United States. In regions such as Silicon Valley, regulatory barriers to residential construction have helped raise house prices to roughly ten times the national median. These astronomic prices have prompted some households to move to places, such as Texas, where housing is far cheaper. I have been engaged in an empirical study of zoning practices in Silicon Valley, Greater New Haven, and Greater Austin. This Article presents one of my central findings, induced from those metropolitan areas and elsewhere: local zoning politics typically freezes land uses in an established neighborhood of …

Law School News: Marine Law Symposium At Rwu Law To Focus On Legal Strategies For Climate Adaptation 11/08/2018, Edward Fitzpatrick

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Beyond Localism: Harnessing State Adaptation Lawmaking To Facilitate Local Climate Resilience, Sarah J. Adams-Schoen

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

Notwithstanding the need for adaptation lawmaking to address a critical gap between climate-change related risks and preparedness in the United States, no coherent body of law exists that is aimed at reducing vulnerability to climate change. As a result of this gap in the law, market failures, and various “super wicked” attributes of hazard mitigation planning, local communities remain unprepared for present and future climate-related risks. Many U.S. communities continue to employ land-use planning and zoning practices that, at best, fail to mitigate these hazards, and, at worst, increase local vulnerability. Even localities that have implemented otherwise robust adaptation plans …

Climate Change Adaptation And Mitigation: A Local Solution To A Global Problem, Sarah J. Adams-Schoen

Scholarly Works

Local land use laws offer powerful tools for climate change adaptation and mitigation. However, notwithstanding New York municipalities’ many impressive efforts, local laws are not yet being utilized sufficiently to create disaster-resilient or disaster-adaptive communities. New York City has done substantially more than many other cities, including, critically, setting specific CO2 emissions reduction targets and amending zoning and building codes. But, in light of the evidence of climate change and its impacts, local decision makers, resource managers, and planners throughout the state must ask whether we are doing enough. Failure to do so will continue to be costly in terms …

Planning For Conflicts Of Interest In Land Use Decisionmaking: The Use Of Alternate Members Of Planning And Zoning Boards, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

No abstract provided.

Zoning For Home Occupations: Modernizing Zoning Codes To Accommodate Growth In Home-Based Businesses, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

This article offers readers ideas and examples of ways to modernize local zoning laws to balance the growing demand by residents to engage in legitimate home-based businesses while protecting community character and the health, safety, and welfare of neighbors in residential zoning districts.

Ensuring Continuing Community Amenities Through Golf Course Redevelopment, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

This article examines some of the issues faced by municipalities hoping to preserve their golf courses or to ensure their strategic redevelopment and focuses on how local governments can most effectively employ planning and zoning techniques to ensure that community amenities, including affordable housing and recreational areas, are an important part of golf course redevelopment projects.

States Beginning To Recognize That Training Is Essential For Members Of Planning And Zoning Boards And Local Legislative Bodies, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

Members of planning and zoning boards and local legislative bodies constantly make decisions that may be worth millions of dollars to applicants and that may have serious impacts on public health and safety. Unlike other players in the land use decision making process members of local legislative bodies and land use boards have no specific education or training in land use matters prior to their election or appointment putting them in the position to learn solely from “on the job training”. Five (5) states currently require mandatory training and continuing education courses for members of planning boards and zoning boards …

Changes Spark Interest In Sustainable Urban Places: But How Do We Identify And Support Them?, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Changes in climatic and demographic trends are sparking renewed interest in cities generally and sustainable communities particularly. On the one hand, residents and workers in denser, mixed-use neighborhoods served by transit have half the carbon footprint of those in spread-out suburban areas. On the other hand, many of the smaller households that characterize the nation’s growing population prefer to live in precisely those compact, mixed-use neighborhoods. In New York, these changes align with several new state policies that encourage cities and towns to reduce carbon emissions, reduce vehicle travel, create sustainable buildings and neighborhoods, and preserve the landscapes that sequester …

Smart Growth At Century’S End: The State Of The States, Patricia E. Salkin

Patricia E. Salkin

No abstract provided.

Slides: Water Leasing In The Lower Arkansas Valley: The "Super Ditch Company", Peter Nichols

Western Water Law, Policy and Management: Ripples, Currents, and New Channels for Inquiry (Martz Summer Conference, June 3-5)

Presenter: Peter NIchols, Trout, Raley, Montano, Witwer & Freeman, Denver, CO

28 slides

Slides: Linking Growth, Land Use And Water, Jim Holway

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

Presenter: Jim Holway, Global Institute of Sustainability, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Arizona Water Institute, Arizona State University

29 slides

Slides: Water Needs And Strategies For A Sustainable Future, Shaun Mcgrath

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

Presenter: Shaun McGrath, Program Director, Western Governors’ Association

25 slides

Slides: Beyond Rethinking: Redoing Western Water Law, Janet Neuman

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

Presenter: Professor Janet Neuman, Lewis & Clark Law School

17 slides

Sustainable Water Policies In The Rocky Mountain West: An Action Agenda, Sarah Bates

Shifting Baselines and New Meridians: Water, Resources, Landscapes, and the Transformation of the American West (Summer Conference, June 4-6)

Presenter: Sarah Bates, Western Progress

10 pages.

Includes bibliographical references

"Review Draft, May 15, 2008"

Slides: Forests And Grasslands, Federico Cheever

The Future of Natural Resources Law and Policy (Summer Conference, June 6-8)

Presenter: Professor Federico Cheever, University of Denver Sturm College of Law

30 slides

Ensuring Continuing Community Amenities Through Golf Course Redevelopment, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

This article examines some of the issues faced by municipalities hoping to preserve their golf courses or to ensure their strategic redevelopment and focuses on how local governments can most effectively employ planning and zoning techniques to ensure that community amenities, including affordable housing and recreational areas, are an important part of golf course redevelopment projects.

States Beginning To Recognize That Training Is Essential For Members Of Planning And Zoning Boards And Local Legislative Bodies, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

Members of planning and zoning boards and local legislative bodies constantly make decisions that may be worth millions of dollars to applicants and that may have serious impacts on public health and safety. Unlike other players in the land use decision making process members of local legislative bodies and land use boards have no specific education or training in land use matters prior to their election or appointment putting them in the position to learn solely from “on the job training”. Five (5) states currently require mandatory training and continuing education courses for members of planning boards and zoning boards …

Zoning For Home Occupations: Modernizing Zoning Codes To Accommodate Growth In Home-Based Businesses, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

This article offers readers ideas and examples of ways to modernize local zoning laws to balance the growing demand by residents to engage in legitimate home-based businesses while protecting community character and the health, safety, and welfare of neighbors in residential zoning districts.

Slides: Changes In Timberland Ownership: The New Hampshire Experience, Paul Doscher

Community-Owned Forests: Possibilities, Experiences, and Lessons Learned (June 16-19)

Presenter: Paul Doscher, Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, Concord, NH

20 slides

Slides: The Trust For Public Land: Conserving Land For People, Ernest Cook

Community-Owned Forests: Possibilities, Experiences, and Lessons Learned (June 16-19)

Presenter: Ernest Cook, Senior Vice President, Conservation Finance Program, The Trust for Public Land, Boston, MA

19 slides

Planning For Conflicts Of Interest In Land Use Decisionmaking: The Use Of Alternate Members Of Planning And Zoning Boards, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Smart Growth At Century’S End: The State Of The States, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Telecommunications Act Of 1996: 704 Of The Act And Protections Afforded The Telecommunications Provider In The Facilities Sitting Context, The, Peter M. Degnan, Scott A. Mclaren, Michael T. Tennant

Michigan Telecommunications & Technology Law Review

The Telecommunications Act of 1996, signed into law by President Clinton in February, addresses, among many other important subjects, some of the technical problems that have arisen from the increasing popularity of mobile communications. This article will provide an overview of the Act and will focus specifically on the protections afforded a telecommunications provider in § 704 of the Act.

The Supreme Court's Land Use Decisions, Hon. Leon D. Lazer

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Lessons Of Miller And Hudnut: On Proposing A Pornography Ordinance That Passes Constitutional Muster, Martin Karo, Marcia Mcbrian

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Note first reviews the evolution of obscenity law, concentrating on the modern obscenity test formulated in Miller v. California, including its requirement that any obscenity prosecution must be based on a state statute, not merely on the common law. It then examines the elements of the Miller test, arguing that legislatures may determine statewide "community standards" of patently offensive depictions of sexual conduct and discusses the permissibility of legislative expansion of pornography regulation beyond the present boundaries. Part II examines the federal courts' analysis of the civil rights-based antipornography ordinance passed in Indianapolis. Part III suggests standards for …

Reflections On Stare Decisis In Michigan: The Rise And Fall Of The "Rezoning As Administrative Act" Doctrine, Roger A. Cunningham

Michigan Law Review

In an earlier article in this law review, I discussed the new doctrine that in certain municipalities a decision by the local governing body to rezone or not to rezone land should be deemed an "administrative" or "quasi-judicial," rather than a "legislative," act. This doctrine was introduced into Michigan law several years ago in a series of opinions signed by only three justices of the Michigan Supreme Court. The earlier article dealt principally with the merits of the new "rezoning as administrative act" doctrine. The present article discusses troublesome aspects of the Michigan Supreme Court's attitude toward the principle of …

Contractors & Builders Association V. City Of Dunedin, 329 So. 2d 314 (Fla. 1976), Pamela Hotine Espenshade

Florida State University Law Review

Local Government - CONCEPT OF IMPACT FEES UPHELD BUT RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED ON SCOPE OF THE FEE AND USE OF FUNDS.

The Inadequacy Of Judicial Remedies In Cases Of Exclusionary Zoning, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

This Note presents and evaluates the possible judicial responses to cases, like Mount Laurel, that involve challenges to entire zoning ordinances on exclusionary grounds. It argues that pragmatic and legal difficulties militate against any judicial imposition of affirmative relief not tailored to specific tracts of land and suggests that the most effective resolution of the problems confronted by low-income housing advocates lies in comprehensive legislative programs.