Law Commons^™

Solar Rights In The United States, Sara Bronin

Sara C. Bronin

Solar rights are legal rights needed to ensure that a piece of land has access to sunlight. These rights may be of interest to property owners seeking to undertake a variety of activities: farming, lighting, and clothes drying, to name a few. But perhaps the most economically significant purpose for which solar rights may be utilized is for the purpose of solar collectors. Such devices are used to harness the rays of the sun and transform them into thermal, chemical, or electrical energy. In an era of increasing deployment of solar collectors across the globe, the fair and efficient allocation …

Euclid Lives: The Survival Of Progressive Jurisprudence, Charles M. Haara, Michael Allan Wolf

Michael A Wolf

The Supreme Court's expanded use of regulatory takings is making a highly controversial and confusing concept more difficult to apply and defend. The Court and commentators are invited to explore a different approach-- Progressive jurisprudence, as represented by the Court's enduring opinion in Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co . This Commentary examines the reinvigoration of the Takings Clause and, in historical and ideological terms, discusses the Progressiveness of Euclid and of the regulatory scheme the Euclid Court approved. Professors Haar and Wolf identify and explore five inquiries concerning the character of regulations affecting the use, ownership, and value …

Millennial Pivot: Sustainability-Purposed Performance Zoning Guidelines In Urban Commercial Development, Michael Widener

Michael N Widener

This paper argues that economic competitiveness requires cities and towns to reimagine their zoning regulations, leveraging technology advances to address challenges revealed by demands for sustainability in building urban projects. The optimal means to accomplish this is to use performance zoning, a method encouraging creative solutions to problems caused by increasing development densities. Performance zoning consists of a series of standards addressing specific sub-optimal neighborhood or community impacts of commercial development; these standards can be negative or positive expressions of municipal goals for sustainability and environmental justice. Pivoting to performance zoning is desirable because the development community has a firmer …

How Often Do Cities Mandate Smart Growth Or Green Building?, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Much has been written about the role of government regulation in facilitating automobile-oriented sprawl. Zoning codes reduce walkability by artificially segregating housing from commerce, forcing businesses and multifamily landlords to surround their buildings with parking, and artificially reducing density. The “smart growth” movement seeks to reverse these policies, both through regulation and through more libertarian, deregulatory policies. The purpose of this paper is to examine to what extent cities have in fact chosen the former path, and to discuss the possible side effects of prescriptive smart growth and green building regulations. In particular, this paper focuses on attempts to make …

Smart Growth-Oriented Density And Parking Regulations, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Many articles have been written about pro-sprawl land use regulation, such as minimum parking requirements. This speech, by contrast, focuses on the frequency of land use regulation designed to increase walkability- in particular, minimum density requirements and maximum parking requirements. I conclude that the first type of regulation is quite rare and usually very lenient. The second type of regulation is more frequent; however, the impact of maximum parking requirements is not yet clear.

Against The Neighborhood Veto, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

American zoning often gives neighborhoods elective veto power over nearby real estate development. This “neighborhood veto” sometimes artificially reduces housing supply and urban density, thus making housing more expensive and making American cities more dependent on automobiles. This article criticizes the common arguments that neighborhood activists use to restrict development.

Is An Apartment A Nuisance?, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

In an ongoing Texas lawsuit, some homeowners allege that a nearby apartment building will constitute a nuisance. This article asserts that courts should generally reject nuisance claims against multifamily housing, based on the public interest in favor of increased housing supply and infill development.

Internally Buffered Districts: A New Technique To Make Zoning Less Exclusionary, William Leaf, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

American Dreams, American Realities, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Review of Zoned In The USA, by Sonia Hirt.

Shared Spatial Regulating In Sharing Economy Districts, Michael N. Widener

Michael N. Widener

This paper deals with how local governments should address the impact on neighborhood dwellers and zoning district regulatory schemes of an influx of myriad varieties of new sharing-economy entrepreneurs.

Tactical Urbanism V2: Dynamic Land Use Regulation And Partnership Tools Regenerating First Suburbs, Michael N. Widener

Michael N. Widener

Begone, Euclid! Landlord Custom And Zoning Provision Engaging Retail Consumer Tastes And Technologies In Thriving Urban Centers, Michael N. Widener

Michael N. Widener

Technology capacity and innovations conflate notions of private and public spaces; the latter today incorporate the Internet “lane,” while private spaces seek access to that pathway. Merchants and their landlords seemingly find themselves in a paradox. They must embrace consumer technology expectations to populate mercantile premises as public spaces. At the same time, merchants must make stores and restaurants places of novelty to grip the attention of customers seeking to share the intimacy of their experience with everyone. Technology presents physical retailing with its greatest threat while potentially becoming its strongest ally if properly channeled. Advocates for urban centers’ sustained …

A Framework For Understanding Property Regulation And Land Use Control From A Dynamic Perspective, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan