Land Use Law Commons^™

The Genesis Of Rluipa And Federalism: Evaluating The Creation Of A Federal Statutory Right And Its Impact On Local Government, Patricia E. Salkin, Amy Lavine

Scholarly Works

In 2000, Congress passed, and President Clinton signed, the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), designed to provide protection from discrimination for the exercise of religion for incarcerated individuals and for those in need of various municipal permits or approvals in order to exercise their religion. With seven years of experience in the courts, this article examines the impact of RLUIPA on local governments across the country through an analysis of how the courts have been interpreting and applying statutory ambiguities and creating inconsistent doctrine in an effort to define terms and implement RLUIPA's protections. Whether an appropriate …

Understanding Community Benefits Agreements: Equitable Development, Social Justice And Other Considerations For Developers, Municipalities And Community Organizations, Patricia E. Salkin, Amy Lavine

Scholarly Works

The opportunity to develop a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) typically arises when a developer announces plans to construct a major project, such as a stadium or a theater complex. Local residents and business owners may often welcome these projects, but they may also have legitimate fears, such as: Will the project displace local residents and local businesses, either physically or through gentrification? Will it cause traffic problems and generate noise, pollution, or other nuisances? Will the economic development benefits espoused by the developer actually create jobs that pay a living wage and offer decent benefits for residents in the neighborhood …

Negotiating For Social Justice And The Promise Of Community Benefits Agreements: Case Studies Of Current And Developing Agreements, Patricia E. Salkin, Amy Lavine

Scholarly Works

A community benefits agreement (CBA) is a private contract negotiated between a prospective developer and community representatives. In essence, the CBA specifies the benefits that the developer will provide to the community in exchange for the community's support, or quiet acquiescence, of its proposed development. The promise of community support may be especially useful to a developer seeking government subsidies or timely project approvals. The CBA is a relative newcomer to the toolbox of strategies that communities may utilize to ensure that development occurs consistent with the sometimes more narrow goals and desires of neighborhood residents, as opposed to the …

Law Of The Land – Year In Review, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

This column reviews trends and interesting cases in land use law as reported on “Law of the Land” during the last half of 2007. “Law of the Land” is a blog created to be of interest to land use lawyers, planners, developers, professors, and students. The blog is updated daily with a review of a recent land use case decided by a state or federal court. In addition, the site has reported on relevant gubernatorial executive orders, offered book reviews, and occasionally starts a discussion on current events issues, such as climate change and has led to robust debate about …

The Quiet Revolution Revived: Sustainable Design, Land Use Regulation, And The States, Sara Bronin

Faculty Articles and Papers

No abstract provided.

Natural Is Not In It: Disaster, Race, And The Built Environment, Thomas W. Joo

Cleveland State Law Review

Reviewing After the Storm: Black Intellectuals Explore the Meaning of Hurricane Katrina edited by David Dante Troutt. New York: New Press. 2006. Editor David Troutt has assembled a fascinating and wide-ranging collection of essays on the Katrina disaster. The contributing authors, primarily (though not exclusively) law professors, put the disaster into a larger context of American law and politics. While the authors' concerns and opinions are diverse, the interaction between human choice and the "natural" is a consistent theme running through the background of the book.

Was The Big Sky Really Falling? Examining Montana's Response To Kelo V. City Of New London, Michelle Bryan Mudd

Montana Law Review

Montana's Response to Kelo

Warming Up To Water Markets, Jonathan H. Adler

Faculty Publications

Water policy experts contend that the United States is heading toward a water scarcity crisis in the coming years. Global climate change is likely to make water scarcity much worse in the long run. This article argues that demands of current and projected water management challenges can best be met through a greater reliance on water markets. To facilitate this, water management must shift toward recognition of transferable rights in water that facilitate voluntary exchanges and the market pricing of water resources.

Municipal Regulation Of Formula Businesses: Creating And Protecting Communities, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

People have been trying to exclude chain stores from their communities for decades. This includes "big-box" chains - the behemoth retailers that prefer an architecture of rectangular, single-story unadorned structures reaching 200,000 square feet or more - as well as national and international businesses including well-recognized fast food restaurants, drug stores and clothing retailers. The reasons for restricting these large corporate businesses include concerns over community character and aesthetics, local economics and self-reliance, and corporate ideologies. Over time, many municipalities have been forced to accept that "formula retail" and "franchise architecture" are simply part of the American economy. In many …

Land Use Law And Active Living: Opportunities For States To Assume A Leadership Role In Promoting And Incentivizing Local Options, Patricia E. Salkin, Amy Lavine

Scholarly Works

Obesity, asthma and nutrition are just three public health challenges facing children and adults that can be addressed through land use planning and zoning. States must take a leadership role in providing statutory authority and guidance for local governments to enact and implement laws and ordinances designed to promote active living. Land use policies, transportation policies, redevelopment policies and open space and recreation policies are key areas where reform is needed. This paper highlights existing examples from various states and offers lawmakers, policymakers and advocates options for reforming state laws to incentivize and influence local actions.

First Hudson Capital, Llc V. Seaborn, Kristopher Ferranti

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Breaking Ground: Planning And Building In Priority Growth Districts, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

It is now understood that compact, mixed use development prevents the ill effects of sprawl and can mitigate climate change significantly. There is an innovative land use technique that can be used by communities to manage and define future growth in a way that provides for such developments and creates more livable places, places that are environmentally, socially, and fiscally sound. Specifically, a community may create Priority Growth Districts, or PGDs, and thereby direct development to selected locations and also specify design standards that meet the needs of the community's current and future residents.

Governing Certain Things: The Regulation Of Street Trees In Four North American Cities, Irus Braverman

Journal Articles

Most sociolegal studies of the urban street focus on the human element. By focusing on the tree, my Article offers a unique perspective on the interrelations between various actors within the public spaces of modern North American cities. Situated at the intersection of legal geography, anthropology, and Science and Technology Studies, this Article demonstrates how natural artifacts function as technologies of governance, thereby masking crucial political interventions behind a natural facade. The tensions between nature and the city, as embedded in both the construction and the regulation of street trees, provide an unusual perspective on the management of urban populations …

North 93 Neighbors, Inc. V. Board Of County Commissioners Flathead County: A Shock To Land Use Planning And Public Comment In Montana, Ryan Weldon

Montana Law Review

Land Use Planning

The National Environmental Policy Act In The Urban Environment: Oxymoron Or A Useful Tool To Combat The Destruction Of Neighborhoods And Urban Sprawl?, Hope M. Babcock

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

To some, applying the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to decisions affecting land use in an urban or built environment is an oxymoron. Cities have historically not been seen “as natural entities but as foreign impositions upon the native landscape,” places where the physical environment is already largely destroyed or reduced to insignificant remnants. Moreover, detecting the required federal presence to trigger NEPA may initially seem difficult when decisions affecting urban resources appear to be principally made by local or state agencies.

At the Institute for Public Representation (IPR) at the Georgetown University Law Center, the author has learned that …

The Public Lands And The National Heritage, Charles F. Wilkinson

Publications

No abstract provided.