Contemporary Zoning Issues Flashcards
What three categories of contemporary zoning were the focus of class?
Architectural design-oriented zoning; Signage; Growth control
Is design-oriented zoning common? Why or why not?
Yes, originally came from Ancient Grecian ideas of beauty. In Greece, beauty was thought to be based on science but now it is seen as subjective. Some towns and municipalities try to set standards through zoning for design aesthetics
What is the most commonly contested issue of zoning?
Design-oriented zoning. Cities and suburbs have different ideas of aesthetics and will establish design-oriented zoning requirements where ordinance calls for particular designs that must contribute to the aesthetics of the neighborhood. Conversely, some cities and suburbs have “no look alike” zoning measure, which prohibits structures from looking a certain way.
Cities must establish a design structure or there’s no contestable issue. For example, the cheese wedge house in Chicago was protested by neighbors but there was nothing they could do because the city was an old suburb without established design-oriented zoning.
What is the case to consider when aesthetics are at issue?
Reid v. Architectural Bd. of Review of City of Cleveland Heights (finding valid exercise of police power when requiring architectural conformity to neighborhood standards because balancing aesthetics and property values aligns with broader public welfare goals and is reasonably applied by qualified professionals, BUT that aesthetic reasons alone were insufficient).
Note dissent: Reid’s artistic and creative freedom should not be stifled based on the community’s insistence on conformity to its own sensibilities. The judgment of the court of common pleas should be reversed.
How about aesthetics when a Board is involved?
State ex rel. Stoyanoff v. Berkeley (finding valid exercise of police power when denying a building permit based on aesthetic non-conformity because upholding neighborhood character and property values is aligned with the general welfare, and aesthetic regulations are allowed under state law).
NOTE: shows greater tolerance for zoning and design decisions with reference to aesthetics.
Some courts have said that aesthetic considerations by themselves are enough to invalidate a zoning decision. (T/F)
True!
Signage general rule
Metromedia Inc. v. San Diego (finding that a government cannot completely ban signage or billboards. A city may only limit size and location of signs).
Suburbanization
More and more people are moving out of the city into the surrounding areas, thus creating a mass influx of suburban developments
Gentrification
The middle and upper class moving into an area occupied by low-income individuals and displacing them
Hypersprawl
The idea that cities are becoming more and more spread out and harder to live in with decreased walkability
How can suburban zoning boards keep suburbs less diverse?
Moratoria to limit growth; Quotas to limit land development; Timed/Sequential Development; Urban growth boundaries that limit multi-family housing to keep people from city moving to a suburb.
What is the illustrative case for moratoria?
Smoke Rise, Inc. v. Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (finding that the Commission’s exercise of police power through its sewer moratoria does not constitute either a taking of private property without compensation or a deprivation of property without due process because the temporary measures are aimed at preventing public harm, do not render the property worthless, and are designed with a reasonable purpose and duration).
NB: First English Evangelical Lutheran Church v. County of Los Angeles (finding that an 8 year moratorium was unreasonably long)
Hypersprawl / Exurbs illustrative case?
Construction Industry Assoc. v. Petaluma (finding that “The Plan” neither deprives due process nor violates the commerce clause, as the city’s measures to control rapid urban sprawl through restrictions on housing development and maintenance of a green-belt are reasonably related to preserving the city’s character and environment, thus falling within the valid exercise of state police power).
the court declined to act on this and determined this was a problem for the California legislature. This ties back to one of themes of this course in that going to and relying on courts will not solve all issues. Also, this further touches on the idea that courts do not necessarily want to interfere with zoning decisions because they do not have the proper expertise.
Courts do not defer to zoning ordinances when analyzing constitutional challenges to zoning ordinances. (T/F)
False. Courts generally defer to zoning boards because courts do not want to be “super zoning boards.”
What is the Grandaddy of all zoning cases?
Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. (finding that the zoning ordinance does not violate the due process clause of the Constitution, as zoning regulations are a permissible exercise of the state’s police power, aimed at the safety, health, and general welfare of the community, and are not arbitrary or unreasonable in their restrictions on property use).
