Law Commons^™

Unveiling The “Trojan Horses” Of Gentrification: Studies Of Legal Strategies To Combat Environmental Gentrification In Washington, D.C. And New York, N.Y., Sarena Malsin

Pace Environmental Law Review

No abstract provided.

Enforcing Higher Standards For Flood Hazard Mitigation In Vermont, Tamsin Flanders

Masters Theses

The state of Vermont faces increasing risk of costly damage from catastrophic flooding events as climate change increases the frequency of heavy rains and cumulative precipitation. In addition to increasing flood inundation risk, extreme precipitation events are leading to high rates damage from fluvial erosion—erosion caused by the force of floodwater and the materials it carries. As in all U.S. states, flood hazard governance in Vermont is shared by multiple levels of government and involves a complex compliance model that relies on local governments to regulate private property owners to achieve community, state, or federal goals.

To encourage municipalities to …

The Wicked Problem Of Zoning, Christopher Serkin

Vanderbilt Law Review

Zoning is the quintessential wicked problem. Professors Rittel and Webber, writing in the 1970s, identified as “wicked” those problems that technocratic expertise cannot necessarily solve. Wicked problems arise when the very definition of the problem is contested and outcomes are not measured by “right and wrong” but rather by messier contests between winners and losers. This accurately characterizes the state of zoning and land use today.

Zoning is under vigorous and sustained attack from all sides. Conservatives have long decried regulatory interference with private development rights.More recently, progressive housing advocates have begun to criticize zoning for making thriving cities unaffordable …

State Interventions In Local Zoning, Ezra Rosser

Articles in Law Reviews & Other Academic Journals

In what has been described as an "emerging consensus" and pejoratively labeled an "elite liberaltarian consensus," there is growing scholarly recognition that land use overregulation is hurting the country by limiting the supply and increasing the price of housing. By highlighting state-level interventions that succeeded in checking local zoning authority, Professor Anika Lemar's article makes a valuable contribution to the fight against excessive zoning limitations.

Zoning On Holy Ground: Developing A Coherent Factor-Based Analysis For Rluipa's Substantial Burden Provision, Andrew Willis

Chicago-Kent Law Review

No abstract provided.

It's Been A Long Time Coming: A Short Manifesto For Urgently Needed Change In Land Use Law & Regulation, Colin Crawford

Journal of Comparative Urban Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Amici Curiae Brief Of The International Municipal Lawyers Association And Legal Scholars In Support Of Defendants-Appellees In Portland Pipe Line Corporation, Et Al. V. City Of South Portland, Et Al., Sarah J. Fox, Sara C. Bronin, Nestor M. Davidson, Keith H. Hirokawa, Ashira Pelman Ostrow, Dave Owen, Laurie Reynolds, Jonathan D. Rosenbloom, Sarah Schindler

Sturm College of Law: Faculty Scholarship

This brief to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court was filed in support of the City of South Portland by the Amici Curiae, including the International Municipal Lawyers Association and legal scholars, to provide the Court with a background on the role of local governments in land use planning, and to explain why the City of South Portland’s Clear Skies Ordinance falls easily within the City’s authority and was not preempted by state legislation.

After studying the potential for bulk loading of crude oil within its boundaries, the City of South Portland concluded that the infrastructure requirements and environmental impacts of …

Transgressive Diy (“Do It Yourself”) Spaces, Mixed Virtual/Physical Affinity Spaces, And Building Code Vigilantism, Sara Gwendolyn Ross

Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press

This article first situates itself within the example of Toronto as one of UNESCO’s newly minted global “Cities of Culture.” This network of “creative cities” is intended to facilitate a framework for these cities to work together in “placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level.” As one of Toronto’s culture-oriented redevelopment strategies, its “Music City” initiative is an example of how music and sound can be used in city marketing and place branding, and how these redevelopment strategies must be more effectively deployed to …

Environmental Justice In Little Village: A Case For Reforming Chicago’S Zoning Law, Charles Isaacs

Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy

Chicago’s Little Village community bears the heavy burden of environmental injustice and racism. The residents are mostly immigrants and people of color who live with low levels of income, limited access to healthcare, and disproportionate levels of dangerous air pollution. Before its retirement, Little Village’s Crawford coal-burning power plant was the lead source of air pollution, contributing to 41 deaths, 550 emergency room visits, and 2,800 asthma attacks per year. After the plant’s retirement, community members wanted a say on the future use of the lot, only to be closed out when a corporation, Hilco Redevelopment Partners, bought the lot …

Zoning For Families, Sara C. Bronin

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Is a group of eight unrelated adults and three children living together and sharing meals, household expenses, and responsibilities—and holding themselves out to the world to have long-term commitments to each other—a family? Not according to most zoning codes—including that of Hartford, Connecticut, where the preceding scenario presented itself a few years ago. Zoning, which is the local regulation of land use, almost always defines family, limiting those who may live in a dwelling unit to those who satisfy the zoning code’s definition. Often times, this definition is drafted in a way that excludes many modern living arrangements and preferences. …

Zoning For Families, Sara C. Bronin

Indiana Law Journal

Is a group of eight unrelated adults and three children living together and sharing meals, household expenses, and responsibilities—and holding themselves out to the world to have long-term commitments to each other—a family? Not according to most zoning codes—including that of Hartford, Connecticut, where the preceding scenario presented itself a few years ago. Zoning, which is the local regulation of land use, almost always defines family, limiting those who may live in a dwelling unit to those who satisfy the zoning code’s definition. Often times, this definition is drafted in a way that excludes many modern living arrangements and preferences. …

Death Need Not Part Owners And Their Pets: Regulating Pet Cemeteries Through Zoning Regulation, Patricia E. Salkin, Sydney Gross

Scholarly Works

Pet ownership in the United States has grown substantially over the years. In the past, when a family pet died, it was typically buried in the back yard or cremated by the local veterinarian who might return the ashes to the owner if requested. Today the relationship between people and their pets is different. In many cases pets are treated like members of the family, and a growing number of people wish to be buried alongside their pet either in a burial ground for human remains or for animal remains. Others wish to inter their pets in a specially designated …

The Law Of The Eruv, Michael Lewyn

Scholarly Works

Describes case law governing municipal regulation of the eruv (an artificial enclosure designed to allow observant Jews to carry on the Jewish Sabbath). The article focuses on First Amendment case law, and concludes that a municipality may prohibit eruvin only pursuant to a regulation that is enforced against comparable secular signs.

The American Dreamer, Ashton Hood (Esquir3)

Freedom Center Journal

This spoken-word piece by EsQuir3, a student at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, conducts a comprehensive interrogation of the concept “We the People” by tracing the manifestation of racialized exclusion from the founding era to the flood of social media that saturates the current moment.

Socialists And Housing, Michael Lewyn

Scholarly Works

My review of Capital City by Samuel Stein