Unit 6 - Land-Use Controls

Question 1

The government’s right to impose laws, statutes, and ordinances, including zoning ordinances and building codes, to protect the public health, safety, and welfare.

Answer 1

Police Power

Question 2

• Planning
• Zoning
• Subdivision Regulations
• Building Codes
• Environmental Protection Legislation

Answer 2

Public land-use

Question 3

A comprehensive plan to guide the long-term physical development of a particular area.

Answer 3

Master Plan

Question 4

State legislation that confers zoning powers on municipal governments.

Answer 4

Enabling Act

Question 5

The practice of slightly reducing the sizes of the individual lots and clustering the lots around varying street plans such as cul-de-sacs to create more open space in a development.

Answer 5

Cluster Zoning

Question 6

A strip of land, usually used as a park or designated for similar use, separating and screening land dedicated to one use from land dedicated to another use (e.g., residential from commercial)

Answer 6

Buffer Zones

Question 7

A municipality’s right to regulate development in areas adjacent to but not part of the city’s corporate limits. Population determines if the power extends for 1 to 3 miles from the corporate limits.

Answer 7

Extra-territorial Jurisdictions (ETJs)

Question 8

An existing use of property that is permitted to continue after a zoning ordinance prohibiting it has been established for the area; a use that has been grandfathered in and is legal. When zoning in place before the prohibited use, this is illegal.

Answer 8

Nonconforming Use

Question 9

Written governmental permission allowing a use inconsistent with zoning but in the public interest, such as locating an emergency medical facility in a predominantly residential area

Answer 9

Conditional Use Permit aka Special-Use Permit

Question 10

Permission obtained from zoning authorities to build a structure or conduct a use that is expressly prohibited by the current zoning laws; an exemption from ordinances due to unique hardship not created by the property owner.

Answer 10

Variance

Question 11

A type of zoning that is superimposed over another type of zoning and can modify the use of the original zone.

Answer 11

Overlay district

Question 12

Zoning to preserve the historic nature of a particular property or neighborhood. Change will require a certificate of appropriateness from the necessary regulatory power.

Answer 12

Historic Preservation Zoning

Question 13

Zoning ordinances that regulate the appearance of real property, such as exterior color, exterior construction material, required screening and fencing.

Answer 13

Aesthetic Zoning

Question 14

Zoning that illegally singles out property for either special or more restrictive treatment than is usual under the area zoning ordinance.

Answer 14

Spot Zoning

Question 15

A tract of land divided into two or more parcels by the owner, known as the subdivider, for the purpose of sale or development (either now or in the future); all land division involving the dedication of a new street or a change in an existing street,

Answer 15

Subdivision

Question 16

A federal law regulating the interstate advertising and sale or lease of lots in subdivisions with 25 or more lots. Developer must provide a property report and register the subdivision with HUD.

Answer 16

Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act

Question 17

The mandatory federal and/or state documents compiled by developers to provide potential purchasers with material facts about a property prior to its purchase

Answer 17

Property Report

Question 18

• Distance over paved roads to nearby communities
• Number of home currently occupied
• Soil conditions affecting foundations and septic systems
• Type of title a buyer receives, and
• Existence of liens

Answer 18

Property Report

Question 19

An ordinance that specifies minimum standards of constructions for buildings to protect public safety and health.

Answer 19

Building Code

Question 20

Written governmental permission for the construction, alteration, or demolition of an improvement, showing compliance with building codes and zoning ordinances.

Answer 20

Building Permit

Question 21

A certificate issued by a government authority stating that a building is fit for occupancy and there are no building code violations; the end result of a successful building permit.

Answer 21

Certificate of Occupancy (CO)

Question 22

An often illegal sewage disposal system that transports raw or partially settle sewage directly to a lake or stream, to a drainage system, or onto the ground.

Answer 22

Straight-piping

Question 23

A federal agency responsible for disaster preparedness, response and recovery. Now under Department of Homeland Security.

Answer 23

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Question 24

Property identified by flood certification to be in a flood-prone area with a likelihood that a flood may occur once every 100 years and therefore usually requiring flood insurance if federally related financing is involved.

Answer 24

Flood Hazard Zone

Question 25

Areas periodically inundated or saturated to the extent that they can or do support vegetation adapted to aquatic conditions.

Answer 25

Wetlands

Question 26

Private agreements usually imposed by the owner when property is sold that limits the way the real estate ownership may be usd; frequently used by owner/developer to maintain specific standards in a subdivision. The covenants are appurtenant.

Answer 26

Restrictive/protective covenants

Question 27

A legal doctrine to bar a legal claim or prevent the assertion of a right because of undue delay or failure to assert the claim or right.

Answer 27

Laches

Question 28

A test of the soil to determine whether it will absorb and drain water adequately to use a septic system for sewage disposal

Answer 28

Percolation/soil evaluation test

Question 29

Dictates how many bedrooms you can have

Answer 29

Septic Permit