What Is Planning

The Goals of Comprehensive Planning (comprehensive plan, general plan, master plan)?

1)  Health

2)  Public safety

3)  Circulation

4)  Provision of services and facilities

5)  Fiscal health

6)  Economic goals

7)  Environmental protection

8)  Redistributive goals

The Evolution of Zoning

1)  The need for property protection.

2)  Use of the police power (Cemetery in New York City (1826); Mugler v. Kansas (1887); Hadacheck vs. Sabastian (1915))

3)  The New York Zoning Ordinance (1916) : the first comprehensive zoning ordinance

4)  The Standard State Zoning Enabling Act (1924, the first edition). Herbert Hoover. The Standard City Planning Enabling Act (1928)

5)  Euclid case (1926): Ambler Realty

The Institutional and Legal Framework

1)  Planning and Zoning

2)  Zoning as a local matter

3)  The local managers of zoning

4)  The constitutional framework (amendment V (no taking without compensation) and amendment XIV (due process) )

5)  The role of courts

6)  Subdivision controls

The Techniques of Zoning

1)  The single family zone: what is a family? Belle Terre case (1974) : a family consists of persons related by blood, adoption or marriage, or a maximum of two unrelated people.

2)  Group homes: group homes for foster children, the mentally retarded, and other groups to which neighbors may object. The court ruled that the ordinance requiring a special use permit for group homes for the mentally retarded but not for other care and multiple-dwelling facilities violated the equal protection clause. (Cleburne, Texas v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc)

3)  Floor area ratio (FAR): regulates building bulk while providing the developer some latitude in determining the height of a building and its placement on the lot.

4)  Variances: a relaxation of the provisions of the ordinance. Area (bulk) or use.

5)  Spot zoning: unjustifiable singling out of a piece of property for preferential treatment.

6)  Floating zone: Cities can create and define a zoning category, along with standards and criteria, but reserve the decision about its location for the future.

7)  Downzoning: rezone to a use of lower intensity.

8)  Contract zoning and site plan review: rezone the property if the owner agrees to do something in return. Preparation of a site plan for approval by the planning board.

9)  Cluster zoning and planned unit development: clustering of development on one part of a site, leaving the remainder for open space, recreation, amenity or preservation. A refined cluster concept is planned unit development.

10) Zoning amendments: similar to a use variance.

11) Overlay zones: An area requires more or special protection.

12) Exclusionary zoning: Land use regulation excludes certain groups or classes of people from living in a community. (Inclusionary housing program)

Development Charges

1)  Paying for the costs of development: costs of the services and facilities which are needed to serve these.

2)  Impact fees: shifting the cost of capital investment from a municipality to a developer (owner). Special assessments.

3)  The rational nexus: Nollans vs. California Coastal Commission (CCC).

4)  The incidence of charges

5)  Existing vs new home owners: who should pay for the expansion of public facilities?

6)  Linkages: inclusionary housing downtown

7)  Incentive zoning in New York: offered incentives/bonuses to developers in exchange for the provision of various amenities.

8)  The Negotiation syndrome

9)  The dangers of bonusing: Once introduced, incentive zoning is difficult to control

10) Purposes of bonusing: promotion of lively street level retailing in downtown areas.

11) Development agreements: a formal statement or agreement between two parties respecting how the land is to be used.