Land Use Regulation

"Zoning has for a century enabled cities to chart their own course. It is a useful and popular institution, enabling homeowners to protect their main investment and provide safe neighborhoods. As home values have soared in recent years, however, this protection has accelerated to the degree that new housing development has become unreasonably difficult and costly. The widespread Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) syndrome is driven by voters’ excessive concern about their home values and creates barriers to growth that reach beyond individual communities. The barriers contribute to suburban sprawl, entrench income and racial segregation, retard regional immigration to the most productive cities, add to national wealth inequality, and slow the growth of the American economy. Some state, federal, and judicial interventions to control local zoning have done more harm than good. More effective approaches would moderate voters’ demand for local-land use regulation—by, for example, curtailing federal tax subsidies to owner-occupied housing"--Publisher's description.

Land use controls can affect the quality of the environment, the provision of public services, the distribution of income and wealth, the development of natural resources, and the growth of the national economy. The Economics of Zoning Laws is the first book to apply the modern economic theory of property rights to all major aspects of zoning. Zoning laws are neither irrational constrints on otherwise efficient markets nor disinterested attempts to correct market failure. Rather, zoning must be viewed as a collective property right, vested in local governments and administered by politicians who rationally repsond to their constituents and to developers as markets for development rights arise. The Economics of Zoning Laws develops the economic theories of property rights and public choice and applies them to three zoning controversies: the siting of a large industrial plant, the exclusionary zoning of the suburbs, and the constitutional protection of propery owners from excessive regulation. Economic and legal theory, William Fischel contends, suggest that payment of damages under the taking clause of the Constitution may provide the most effective remedy for excessive zoning regulations.

This dynamic casebook focuses on the role of the lawyer in land use regulatory matters And The factors that influence land development decisions. it emphasizes the modern practice of land use law and cutting-edge issues. Revised and updated to reflect the many new developments in the law, Land Use Regulation: Cases and Materials, Second Edition, Is equally well suited for courses in land use and land development. When you examine this concise casebook, be sure to notice its: Five-part structure, providing a frame of reference for understanding the various issues that arise in land use matters. Plentiful materials -- news articles, law review articles, essays, and other materials - to enrich teaching and illustrate the rapid change in the field. Emphasis on the most current material and recent cases to convey the dynamic context of land use law. Examination of the relative contributions of law, local government discretion and politics in the process that decides local land use questions. Focus on third-party rights in land development, such as the roles played by neighbors, citizen groups, business groups, and housing advocates. Exploration of ethical issues that arise in land use as viewed from the perspectives of both lawyers and society. Clear and practical explanations of the lawyer's role. Comprehensive Teacher's Manual, enhanced by the addition of a Transition Guide For The Second Edition, The authors have refined and improved their casebook by incorporating: deeper coverage of takings developments, including the most recent cases (such as Palazzolo and Tahoe) And The academic debate over the origins and reach of takings law. New cases of First Amendment protections: City of Los Angeles v. Alameda Books, The Florida 'voyeur dorm' case on the regulation of adult businesses, and cases under state and local legislation protecting religious institutions. New information on the economics of land use. A summary of the Playa Vista Project, a large-scale land use project that illustrates most aspects of land use regulation and that can be used as an introduction To The field. A completely updated section on smart growth, sprawl, and sustainable development. Expanded coverage of private law instruments, such as development agreements. New materials on annexations and redevelopment law. Cases chosen for their teaching value. Land Use Regulation: Cases and Materials, Second Edition, Is an excellent vehicle for giving students a realistic look at the modern practice of land use law.

Traffic Congestion and Land Use Regulations: Theory and Policy Analysis explores why, when, where and how land use regulations are utilized in cities to address road transportation congestion. The book shows how to design optimal density and zonal regulations for efficient traffic flow in cities, examines land use regulations using optimal control theory, and offers detailed insights into the mechanisms behind optimal regulations and techniques for exploring spatial optimal policies. Discussions from this book will help highlight the practical usefulness of land use regulations for the maximization of urban social welfare. Uniquely explores land use regulations and traffic congestion from both theoretical and applied perspectives Reviews and summarizes the most recent academic research in urban economics, land use management and transportation congestion Demonstrates important, but less commonly used regulations, such as minimum floor area regulations Provides insights on how to construct smarter cities using the latest research in land use regulations

This casebook offers a concise, user-friendly presentation of land use law which incorporates a focus on critical thinking and practice throughout. The casebook devotes an entire chapter to complex and realistic scenarios that provide students an opportunity to bring to bear what they have learned throughout the semester to solve challenging legal and strategic problems. New materials in the third edition ensure that students will become familiar with the latest trends in land use law.

Land Use Regulation: Cases and Materials, Fifth Edition is a dynamic, scholarly, yet practical teaching approach that focuses on the role of the lawyer in land use regulatory matters and the factors that influence land development decisions. Offering more comprehensive changes than in any edition since the book was first published, the Fifth Edition offers a new chapter addressing emerging issues in the field, including regulation of medical marijuana and fracking, responses to problems posed by vulnerable populations such as the homeless, continuing developments in “smart growth,” and changes in redevelopment law. It also features a thorough reorganization of takings materials, combining all of them in one chapter and addressing emerging issues.

The conversation about zoning has meandered its way through issues ranging from housing affordability to economic growth to segregation, expanding in the process from a public policy backwater to one of the most discussed policy issues of the day. In his pioneering 1972 study, Land Use Without Zoning, Bernard Siegan first set out what has today emerged as a common-sense perspective: Zoning not only fails to achieve its stated ends of ordering urban growth and separating incompatible uses, but also drives housing costs up and competition down. In no uncertain terms, Siegan concludes, “Zoning has been a failure and should be eliminated!” Drawing on the unique example of Houston—America’s fourth largest city, and its lone dissenter on zoning—Siegan demonstrates how land use will naturally regulate itself in a nonzoned environment. For the most part, Siegan says, markets in Houston manage growth and separate incompatible uses not from the top down, like most zoning regimes, but from the bottom up. This approach yields a result that sets Houston apart from zoned cities: its greater availability of multifamily housing. Indeed, it would seem that the main contribution of zoning is to limit housing production while adding an element of permit chaos to the process. Land Use Without Zoning reports in detail the effects of current exclusionary zoning practices and outlines the benefits that would accrue to cities that forgo municipally imposed zoning laws. Yet the book’s program isn’t merely destructive: beyond a critique of zoning, Siegan sets out a bold new vision for how land-use regulation might work in the United States. Released nearly a half century after the book’s initial publication, this new edition recontextualizes Siegan’s work for our current housing affordability challenges. It includes a new preface by law professor David Schleicher, which explains the book’s role as a foundational text in the law and economics of urban land use and describes how it has informed more recent scholarship. Additionally, it includes a new afterword by urban planner Nolan Gray, which includes new data on Houston’s evolution and land use relative to its peer cities.