Law Commons^™

The Advent Of Zoning, Garrett Power

Garrett Power

This essay looks at some of the lawyers and judges who were instrumental in the enactment and judicial approval of American zoning laws.

Multiple Permits, Temporary Takings, And Just Compensation, Garrett Power

Garrett Power

No abstract provided.

High Society: The Building Height Limitation On Baltimore's Mt. Vernon Place, Garrett Power

Garrett Power

The "Anti Skyscraper" Law of 1904 is often described as Maryland's first zoning law and one of the first zoning laws in the United States. But there is more. Behind this dusty statute is a story of speculation, selfishness, collusion and changing social values, which takes a century and a half to unfold and which has something to say about the role of government in regulating the use of land.

Pyrrhic Victory: Daniel Goldman's Defeat Of Zoning In The Maryland Court Of Appeals, Garrett Power

Garrett Power

Nowadays government regulation of the use of urban land is taken for granted. Such was not always the case. Some sixty years ago, the Maryland Court of Appeals held it unconstitutional for Zoning Commissioner J. Frank Crowther to deny a request for a permit to operate a tailor shop in the basement of a Eutaw Place home. This paper examines the case of Goldman v. Crowther. Goldman's story reads like a comic melodrama with a tragic ending. But the saga also illuminates the social condition - it sheds light and casts shadows on the practice of xenophobia, the nature of …

Zoning For Child Protection: Declaring Communities Unfit For Child Rearing, James G. Dwyer

James G Dwyer

Current zoning law fails to reflect the reality that some geographical areas, however suitable they might be for residence by adults, are not suitable for children, because of the social and physical environment that adult residents have created. The law governing children's welfare and family relationships likewise reflects no consideration of the impact that the quality of parents’ or potential parents’ community can have on children. Yet the world outside children's homes can dramatically affect their well being, even presenting threats to their very survival. This Article is the first to recommend that governments declare some communities unfit for residence …

Invisible Businessman: Undermining Black Enterprise With Land Use Rules, Stephen Clowney

Stephen Clowney

Solar Rights, Sara C. Bronin

Sara C. Bronin

The rights to access and to harness the rays of the sun - solar rights - are extremely valuable. These rights can determine whether and how an individual can take advantage of the sun’s light, warmth, or energy, and they can have significant economic consequences. Accordingly, for at least two thousand years, people have attempted to assign solar rights in a fair and efficient manner. In the United States, attempts to assign solar rights have fallen short. A quarter century ago, numerous American legal scholars debated this deficiency. They agreed that this country lacked a coherent legal framework for the …