Land Use Law Commons^™

How Overregulation Creates Sprawl (Even In A City Without Zoning), Michael E. Lewyn

ExpressO

Numerous commentators have suggested that the spread-out, automobile-dependent urban form (often referred to as “sprawl”) that dominates metropolitan America is at least partially caused by government regulation of land use. But at first glance, the fate of Houston, Texas may seem to rebut that theory. Houston is America’s only large city without a formal zoning code. Yet Houston is as automobile-dependent and sprawling as many cities with zoning. It could therefore be argued that automobile-dependent sprawl is the inevitable result of the free market.

The purpose of my article is to rebut that theory, by showing that land use is …

Cityland – Vol. 2, No. 4, Center For New York City Law

CityLand - 2005

The May 2005 issue of CityLand highlights major land use decisions and controversies across New York City. Key developments include the City Council’s approval of Project Greenhope’s transitional housing facility in East Harlem, and the modification of the Greenpoint-Williamsburg rezoning plan to increase affordable housing incentives and create an Industrial Business Zone. The issue also covers the downzoning of Springfield Gardens and Kissena Park in Queens, and the approval of new firehouse consolidations in Brooklyn. Landmark actions include the designation of the James L. Bedell House in Staten Island, hearings on the Crawford Clothes Building and the Robert Dickey House, …

Zoning Exemptions: Granting Immunity To Private Wireless Providers, John R. Nolon, Jessica A. Bacher

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Contrary to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the New York Court of Appeals in the Matter of Crown Communication New York, Inc. v. Department of Transportation of the State of New York, City of New Rochelle et al., held that, both private companies who contract with local governments to build towers on public land, and the private companies who build attached antennae to these towers, are immune from local zoning regulations. The court’s decision is due to the public nature and importance of the mass communication these structures will provide. Of particular importance, was public good to be served by …

Cityland – Vol. 2, No. 3, Center For New York City Law

CityLand - 2005

The April 2005 issue of CityLand highlights major zoning and land use developments across New York City. Key coverage includes the City Council’s approval of a 249-block downzoning in Bay Ridge to curb overdevelopment, and the Planning Commission’s approval of the Greenpoint-Williamsburg rezoning with incentives for affordable housing. The issue also reports on the creation of a new R2A zoning district to combat “McMansion” development in Bayside, Queens. Landmark actions include hearings on Morris Lapidus-designed buildings, designation of the Germania Bank Building, and controversy surrounding the proposed designation of the James L. Bedell House in Staten Island. Legal updates feature …

Cityland – Vol. 2, No. 2, Center For New York City Law

CityLand - 2005

This issue of CityLand covers significant land use and zoning developments in New York City as of March 15, 2005. Highlights include the withdrawal of BJ’s Warehouse proposal in the Bronx due to Council opposition, the expansion of the Port Morris mixed-use district, and a comprehensive rezoning of Kew Gardens and Richmond Hill to curb out-of-character development. The issue also reports on landmark approvals such as Balducci’s return to Greenwich Village and the renovation of the Beaver Building. Legal updates include court decisions on Two Columbus Circle and a challenge to the approval of an IKEA superstore in Red Hook. …

Cityland – Vol. 2, No. 1, Center For New York City Law

CityLand - 2005

This February 2005 issue of CityLand highlights major land use and zoning developments in New York City. It covers the City Council’s approval of a large-scale residential and mixed-use development in Clinton, Manhattan, including two 24-story towers and a platform over an Amtrak rail cut. The issue also reports on modifications to the Hudson Yards plan, protection of natural areas, and expansion of Brooklyn high schools. Landmark designations and legal decisions are featured, including the creation of a new historic district in Queens and court rulings on building variances. The Center for New York City Law is honored with a …

Integrating Local Waterfront Revitalization Into Local Comprehensive Planning And Zoning, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

By 2004, more than half of the United States population resided within fifty miles of the coastline, contributing to the mounting pressures on waterfront development. Local waterfront revitalization plans have great potential to efficiently guide community and coastal development in a coordinated fashion across municipal boundaries. Coordination includes intermunicipal and intergovernmental cooperation and consistency as well as coordination between planning and land use controls within the coastal zone and within the boundaries of coastal communities. Part I of this article examines the history of the Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA)with a particular examination of the Act's impact on local comprehensive …

Comparative Land Use Law: Patterns Of Sustainability, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Land use scholars and practitioners in the United States trace the development of domestic land use law to 1916, when the City of New York adopted the nation's first comprehensive zoning law, and then on to 1926 when the U.S. Supreme Court declared zoning constitutional in Euclid v. Ambler Realty. Some have studied European influences stemming from late nineteenth century regulations and the urban design principles imported from the great cities of the era. Others know about the catastrophic London fire of 1666 and how it transformed society's understanding of why individual property rights, to some degree, must be subject …

Cityland – Vol. 1, No. 3, Center For New York City Law

CityLand - 2004

The December 2004 issue of CityLand covers major land use developments across New York City, including the approval of the Watchtower complex in DUMBO and the expansive Hudson Yards rezoning and redevelopment plan. It features updates on senior housing in Queens, rezonings in Clinton and Midtown South, and the creation of a new Business Improvement District near Yankee Stadium. Landmark decisions include the approval of a modern residential building in the Flatiron District, a new hotel in Tribeca backed by Robert De Niro, and the redesign of the Brooklyn Public Library plaza. The issue also includes court rulings on community …

Cityland – Vol. 1, No. 2, Center For New York City Law

CityLand - 2004

The second issue of CityLand continues its coverage of land use, zoning, and development decisions across New York City. It features updates on major projects including the withdrawal of the DUMBO tower proposal, the Harlem Park Hotel height modification, and the approval of the Red Hook Ikea development. The issue also includes decisions on affordable housing initiatives, landmark designations such as the Hamilton-Holly House and Bronx Zoo Lion House, and court rulings on zoning and land use disputes. Charts and summaries of ULURP certifications, BSA applications, and agency actions provide a comprehensive snapshot of citywide planning activity.

Yes, Thankfully, Euclid Lives, Charles M. Haara, Michael Allan Wolf

UF Law Faculty Publications

Professors Haar and Wolf reiterate their endorsement of Progressive jurisprudence, as embodied in the Supreme Court's opinion in Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., despite Professor Eric Claeys's effort to expose the political theory underlying Progressive legal thought. They highlight problems with Professor Claeys's portrayal of the actual practice of zoning and with his use of history, problems that seriously undercut Professor Claeys's findings regarding the political beliefs of early zoning and planning advocates, the evolution of zoning law in the courts, and the role natural law played in American legal history.

Cityland – Vol. 1, No. 1, Center For New York City Law, New York Law School

CityLand - 2004

The debut issue of CityLand introduces the publication’s mission to report on land use, zoning, and development decisions in New York City. It features coverage of major rezonings in Hudson Yards, Red Hook, and Harlem; landmark designations including Grant’s Tomb Pavilion and the Long Island NY Telephone Co. building; and summaries of public hearings and court decisions. The issue also includes a land use pipeline chart tracking active ULURP applications across the city.

The Green Development Movement: Smart Growth With A Green Label, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Private Lands Conservation In The U.S. Virgin Islands, Sonja Klopf, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Books, Reports, and Studies

61 p. ; 28 cm

Private Lands Conservation In Guam, Craig Corona, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center

Books, Reports, and Studies

93 p. ; 28 cm

A Tale Of Three Northern Manhattan Communities: Case Studies Of Political Empowerment In The Planning And Developing Process, Richard C. Bass, Cuz Potter

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This article reviews three development proposals in Northern Manhattan communities, how community boards responded to those proposals, and how the responses affected the outcome of each development. The article begins with a broad overview of the history of community boards' role in urban planning in New York City. It finds that boards have become increasingly influential in new development plans, empowering the communities they represent. The Article goes on to analyze three recent proposals in turn (an expansion of Columbia University in Morningside Heights, a residential development in Central Harlem, and a comprehensive rezoning of East Harlem) according to "zoning," …

Implementation Of The Apa Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook: Beginning To Benchmark Success, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Rluipa: Where Are We Now? Where Are We Heading?, Alan C. Weinstein

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Over the past three years, hardly a week has gone by without at least one news-story announcing that a church, synagogue, or religious school-I'll use the term “church” from here on as a shorthand for all houses of worship or other religious institutions—is claiming that its right to religious freedom is being infringed by local government land use regulations in violation of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. RLUIPA, a federal statute signed into law in September 2000, was enacted to restore to full vigor legal protection for religious freedoms that the Act's proponents argue had been seriously …

Ethics In Land Use: Using Ethical Allegations As A Sword Rather Than A Shield, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Environmental Justice And Land Use Planning And Zoning, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Development Agreements: Bargained-For Zoning That Is Neither Illegal Contract Nor Conditional Zoning, Shelby D. Green

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This Article explores the new model of land use decision-making that is based upon bargaining with the landowner. The fact of a bargain raises the issue of whether such bargaining amounts to “contract zoning” based upon a bilateral contract between the municipality and the landowner, which is largely held to be illegal, or a related form of bargaining, not involving an exchange of promises in the context of a bilateral agreement--“conditional zoning.” Part II of this Article discusses the emergence of the development agreement, which involves a contract with a municipality and the developer under which the developer is assured …

Ordering (And Order In) The City, Nicole Stelle Garnett

Journal Articles

Over the past two decades, the broken windows hypothesis by George Kelling and James Q. Wilson has revolutionized thinking about urban policy. This now-familiar theory is that uncorrected manifestations of disorder, even minor ones like broken windows, signal a breakdown in the social order that accelerates neighborhood decline. The response to this theory has been a proliferation of policies focusing on public order. Largely missing from the academic debate about these developments is a discussion of the complex and important role of property regulation in order-maintenance efforts. This Article attempts to fill that property law gap in the public-order puzzle …

Consuming Government, Richard Schragger

Michigan Law Review

In his ambitious new book, William Fischel, a Professor of Economics at Dartmouth College, gives us a new political animal: "The Homevoter." The homevoter is simply a homeowner who votes (p. ix). According to Fischel, she is the key to understanding the political economy of American local government. By implication, she is the key to understanding state and national government as well. Homeowners warrant special attention because "residents who own their own homes have a stake in the outcome of local politics that make them especially attentive to the public policies of local government" (p. ix). That is because local …

Planning For Conflicts Of Interest In Land Use Decisionmaking: The Use Of Alternate Members Of Planning And Zoning Boards, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Golden And Its Emanations: The Surprising Origins Of Smart Growth, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article provides the background for the adoption of the Ramapo ordinance, explains its precocious inventions in some detail, and describes other dramatic local inventions emanating from the Ramapo approach to smart growth. It ends with a reflection on the Quiet Revolution, the continuing disquiet that accompanies the spectacular smart growth inventions of local governments in this country, and modest recommendations for reform. Along the way, the reader will encounter the rebirth of performance zoning, local environmental laws that protect critical environmental resources, a local abandoned property reclamation act, the use of mediation to solve border wars between localities, an …

2002 U.S. Supreme Court Term Includes Zoning Referendum Case, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Where Will The Baby Boomers Go? Planning And Zoning For An Aging Population, Patricia E. Salkin

Scholarly Works

The article discusses the subject of land use planning and zoning for an aging community.

Queers Anonymous: Lesbians, Gay Men, Free Speech, And Cyberspace, Edward D. Stein

Articles

The expansion of cyberspace in the past decade has created unprecedented opportunities for communication, both across the globe and across the street. The Internet and other forms of cyberspace have provided new avenues for anonymous and pseudonymous communication. Individuals can now interact without the traditional constraints of time, place, and manner of communication.

Real Estate And Land Use Law, John V. Cogbill Iii, D. Brennen Keene

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Performance Zoning: Shaping Land Development Patterns Today, John R. Nolon

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Over thirty years ago The United States Court of Appeals upheld municipal efforts to control growth in the case Golden v. Ramapo. Since then, municipalities have come up with novel tools to harness development into sustainable patterns while mitigating damaging effects of sprawl. This article focuses on the renaissance of one popular land use device, performance zoning, and how the Town of Hyde Park uses this tool to promote growth in community centers and protect undeveloped areas.