Land Use Regulation (Zoning)

Question 1

What is zoning designed for?

Answer 1

stabilizing property uses, conserving value of property, devoting areas to selective uses, and encouraging the most appropriate uses of land

Question 2

What does zoning regulate?

Answer 2

height, open space, and “permitted uses” by reference to districts on a zoning map

Question 3

What is a “comprehensive plan?”

Answer 3

Composed of (i) the zoning ordinance, and (ii) a map with growth areas designated.

Question 4

How often must the “comprehensive plan” be updated?

Answer 4

Every 5 years

Question 5

Zoning Administrator

Answer 5

• Administers the regulatory scheme
• Is an enforcement officer
• Often issues violation notices and prosecutes proceedings to compel compliance

Question 6

Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA)

Answer 6

-Quasi judicial body set up by a locality

Question 7

What authority does the BZA have?

Answer 7

• interpret the zoning ordinance
• rule on appeals of actions by zoning administrators
• grant an exception from normal zoning requirements (aka VARIANCE)
• in some localities, determine disputed property boundaries or allow landowner to conduct activity permitted in that zoning district only under specified conditions (aka special use permit)

Question 8

Planning Commission

Answer 8

• appointed group that conducts public hearings as to zoning ordinance and map amendments
• makes recommendations to the governing body of the localities

Question 9

City or Town Council or County Board of Supervisors

Answer 9

Takes final action on the comprehensive plan, zoning ordinance, or map amendments after conducting its own public hearing

Question 10

Notice of appeal must be given to the administrator of the BZA within ________ after the decision being appealed to the BZA.

Answer 10

30 days

Question 11

When may the BZA authorize a variance?

Answer 11

Where it is demonstrated:

(i) that strict enforcement would result in undue hardship, not shared by other properties in the zoning district and vicinity, and
(ii) granting the variance will not be detrimental to adjacent property or change the character of the district

Question 12

“Conditional Zoning”

Answer 12

Applicant may seek a “conditional use permit” to undertake a particular form of development or use of the property.

Question 13

May localities outlaw all subdivisions?

Answer 13

No.

Question 14

Is the regulation of subdivisions mandatory or optional?

Answer 14

Mandatory. The locality MUST include the basic provisions set out in the Code in its subdivision ordinance.

Question 15

Where approval is denied for proposed subdivisions, an applicant may appeal by petition to the circuit court within ________ after the written denial.

Answer 15

60 days

Question 16

What is “lawful non-conforming use?”

Answer 16

• Lots, activities, or signs that pre-existed the current zoning ordinance and do not meet current standards
• Uses are “grandfathered” but cannot be enlarged, structurally altered, rebuilt after substantial destruction, or resumed after abandonment

Question 17

How many years of disuse is usually treated as abandonment?

Answer 17

Two years

Question 18

Development Plans: Almost no thing as __________.

Answer 18

vested rights.

In general, a landowner has no vested right to develop land in accord with prevailing zoning, and a change made by the locality will be binding.

Question 19

Rare exception: Development rights may become vested if…

Answer 19

(i) the locality makes a “significant affirmative act” supporting a particular planned use of the property,
(ii) the landowner relies in good faith upon that governmental act, and
(iii) incurs extensive obligations or substantial expenses in diligent pursuit of the specific project in reliance on the governmental act.

Question 20

Two bases on which the circuit court will be justified in granting a writ of certiorari (reversing the action of the BZA)

Answer 20

(1) petitioner can show that BZA applied incorrect legal rules, or was plainly wrong in ruling contrary to the purpose and intent of the zoning law
(2) petitioner can show that the decision was “in error” as to (i) any fact-finding, or (ii) the sufficiency of those facts to meet standards under the local ordinance or state statutes

Question 21

What is the burden of proof to show the BZA decision was in error?

Answer 21

Merely a preponderance of the evidence

Question 22

What is “piecemeal,” “spot” zoning, or “downsizing?”

Answer 22

Actions amending the zoning ordinance and imposing on one or two parcels a more restrictive or less remunerative development option in place of a more flexible or higher value category

Question 23

What is the standard of review for spot zoning issues?

Answer 23

If the matter if “fairly debatable,” the action of the locality will not be disturbed by the courts

Question 24

How are building codes implemented?

Answer 24

By a permit device.

Permits are issued routinely for a small fee, and no BZA action is required to obtain one.