The Zoning Process: Exclusionary Zoning, Initiatives and Referenda, Design Review, and Other Recent Developments in Law.
Author(s):
Ross, Mary Massaron
Smith, Larry J.
Publication Date:
1/1/1995
Availability:
Published in The Urban Lawyer, Volume 27, Number 4, pp. 811-825.
Notes:
Descriptors:
Exclusionary zoning. Laws and regulations. Legislation. Zoning regulations. Zoning.
Abstract:
This article is a report of the Committee on Land Use, Planning and Zoning Law. It discusses recent developments in zoning law in such areas as exclusionary zoning, citizens' initiatives and referenda, design review, and biases and conflicts of interest. Exclusionary zoning is zoning practice resulting in keeping low- and moderate-income families out of the suburban housing and land markets. The authors cite court cases in which zoning regulations were challenged for violations of the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988. Next, the report reviews five recent court cases on the issue of whether zoning ordinances are subject to citizens' initiatives and referenda. It also discusses the concept of adding a design review process to test for conformance with zoning as well as the use of performance zoning, which seeks to make mixed uses compatible. The issue of bias or conflict of interest in regard to specific zoning decisions is also presented with an example from a case in Connecticut. Th e report also briefly mentions the status of an attempt by the City of Houston to institute a zoning code.
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