Digital Commons Network^™

Leed Building Ordinances For Local Governments, Dennis Boothe, Lori Leonardo, Darren Rowles

Land Use Clinic

Local government ordinances requiring the implementation of green building standards in public buildings are increasingly common. Most of these ordinances adopt the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Rating System, promulgated by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).This paper surveys local government ordinances and resolutions requiring public green building and discusses the possible variations and options available to a local government seeking to draft public green building regulations.

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.

New Urbanism And Euclidian Zoning: Can They Co-Exist?, Janna Blasingame Custer

Land Use Clinic

Euclidian zoning served a purpose in its time. It separated land uses so that people could live away from industrial developments without the fear that such industries would locate to their backyard. But despite the positive effects of Euclidian zoning, many people believe it provides too little attention to character and historic design and promotes sprawl. New Urbanism offers an alternative to Euclidian zoning and many cities are beginning to utilize New Urbanism principles as they strive to bring back a sense of place to their communities. Challenges result when the New Urbanism principles conflict with the zoning in place, …

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 …

Squaring The Circle On Sprawl: What More Can We Do?: Progress Towards Sustainable Land Use In The States, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

With almost ten years of nationwide dialogue and experimentation with the legal implementation of smart growth concepts at the state and local levels, this paper pauses to consider whether and to what extent success has been realized. The one certainty in this dynamic intersection of land development and conservation is that there is no one best model adaptable to all fifty states. Rather, to accommodate national diversity in local government structure, cultural relationships of people to the land, and differences in geography and a sense of place, the best lesson learned is that advocates and lawmakers alike must shape and …

Global Warming And Transportation System Planning, Bob Yuhnke

Climate Change and the Future of the American West: Exploring the Legal and Policy Dimensions (Summer Conference, June 7-9)

Presenter: Bob Yuhnke, Robert E. Yuhnke & Associates, Boulder, CO.

4 pages.

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 …

Making Main Street Legal Again: The Smartcode Solution To Sprawl, Chad Emerson

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Community Forests: A Perspective, Robert Mccullough

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

22 pages.

"Robert McCullough teaches in the University of Vermont Graduate Program in Historic Preservation. He wrote The Landscape of Community: Communal Forests in New England."

Slides: Palmetto-Peartree Preserve: Community Forestry In Eastern North Carolina, Mikki Sager

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

Presenter: Mikki Sager, Palmetto-Peartree Preserve, NC

17 slides

Agenda: Best Management Practices And Adaptive Management In Oil And Gas Development, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Best Management Practices and Adaptive Management in Oil and Gas Development (May 12-13)

Agenda includes summaries of speakers' presentations

Workshop held May 12-13, 2004 at the University of Colorado School of Law and sponsored by the Natural Resources Law Center with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, BP America and Calpine Corporation

Government agencies, industry and others are beginning to apply the concepts of best management practices and adaptive management to oil and gas development. This free workshop will examine what is going on in the Rocky Mountain Region with these innovative management approaches. This timely workshop will be kicked off with a presentation on the Western Governors' Association Coalbed Methane …

Sustainable Development Scenarios For The Richard B. Russell Parkway, Jesse Fountain, Judith R. Wasserman, Jamie Baker Roskie

Land Use Clinic

For many years local elected officials, the state legislative delegation, and community leaders worked diligently to get Richard Russell Parkway extended to Interstate 75 and provide the Warner Robins area with a second interchange to serve the City and Robins AFB. The project became a reality in the spring of 2002 when the Georgia Department of Transportation awarded a construction contract for the Parkway's extension. During the spring of 2003, with construction work progressing toward an October 31, 2004, completion date, the Mayor and City Council decided to explore alternative development concepts for the Parkway.

The goal of this document …

Toward A National Sustainable Development Strategy, John C. Dernbach

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Nonprofit Organizations In Brownfields Redevelopment: Leveling The Playing BrownField, Ellen B. Sturm

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Social Costs Of Moving Water In Northern New Mexico, David Benavides

Water and Growth in the West (Summer Conference, June 7-9)

15 pages.

Growth Pressures And Tmdls, David G. Davis, Jamal M. Kadri, Teresa J. Norfleet

Water and Growth in the West (Summer Conference, June 7-9)

18 pages.

Mediation As A Tool In Local Environmental And Land Use Controversies, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article dedicates itself to highlighting the benefits of alternative dispute resolution. Through the use of mediation and other flexible alternative dispute resolution methods, many conflicts can be resolved without the use of expensive and timely litigation. In turn, court workloads are relieved and cooperation is fostered among neighbors, companies, and other groups or organizations that would have otherwise resorted to litigation to solve a dispute. Negotiations that involve process experts, such as mediators and facilitators, often diffuse disputes by introducing a cooperative, rather than an adversarial attitude. Government is beginning to embrace alternative dispute resolution and legislatures are passing …

Smart Growth: A Catalyst For Public-Interest Investment, Honorable Norman B. Rice

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Written by a former mayor of Seattle, this Article describes the "smart growth" movement as a way to sustain the livability of large urban centers in the twenty-first strategy. It describes some of the problems facing urban areas experiencing population growth, namely traffic, rising housing prices and a scarcity of open space. The "smart growth" movement seeks to address these problems in a cost efficient and environmentally friendly manner. Specifically, it seeks to do so through increased citizen participation in development decisions an constructive dialogue regarding development on individual neighborhoods. Ultimately, the goal of the movement is to make urban …

Outdoor Recreation And Water Development: The National Recreation Lakes Study, Bruce R. Brown

Outdoor Recreation: Promise and Peril in the New West (Summer Conference, June 8-10)

12 pages.

Flexibility In The Law: Reengineering Of Zoning To Prevent Fragmented Landscapes, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

The continued existence vernal pools and other sensitive environmental areas greatly depends upon local and state land use decisions. Practices such as Euclidian Zoning, where land uses are separated into different districts, usually fail to account for the protection of these sensitive areas. However, local governments in New York, using implied municipal power created by state legislation, have a variety of land use tools to help alleviate the destruction of environmentally sensitive areas. These tools include: overlay zoning, incentive zoning, conservation easements, floating zones, and transferring development rights. By using these tools within a well-integrated strategy, New York communities can …

Common Interest Communities: Evolution And Reinvention, 31 J. Marshall L. Rev. 303 (1998), Wayne S. Hyatt

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Dangerous Crossing: State Brownfields Recycling And Federal Enterprise Zoning, Michael Allan Wolf

Law Faculty Publications

Urban policymakers over the past two decades have engineered a curious and potentially dangerous intersection of late 20th Century policies designed to foster the rebirth of America's distressed urban regions. First, we find widespread enthusiasm about the potential for reusing brownfields 1 (typically contaminated urban sites), which has stimulated an impressive range of initiatives at all levels of government. 2 Second, after more than a decade of sitting on the sidelines and watching the states battle over the ideal range of incentives that will most effectively drive inner-city redevelopment, the federal government finally entered the fray in the 1990s with …

Inter/Intra-Generational Equity: Current Applications Under International Law For Promoting The Sustainable Development Of Natural Resources, G. F. Maggio

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Searching For Sustainable Use Of Montana’S Water: A Series Of Vignettes, Matthew Mckinney

Sustainable Use of the West's Water (Summer Conference, June 12-14)

24 pages.

Contains references.

Community-Public Lands Partnership: The Montezuma County Federal Lands Program, Michael F. Preston

Who Governs the Public Lands: Washington? The West? The Community? (September 28-30)

18 pages (includes illustrations and maps).

Contains 1 page of references.

Development, Growth And Sustainability, Margaret Troyak, Tom Muir

Buffalo Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.