Land Use Law

Catalog description

This course will focus on the legal and planning problems of allocating and developing land, primarily in metropolitan areas in the United States. Special attention will be paid to the tension between the values of free enterprise and private property on the one hand and demands for public open space, control of urban sprawl, and free choice in the location of residence on the other hand. Specific topics to be covered include the extent of and limitations on governmental power to regulate the use of land; traditional planning, zoning and subdivision regulations; special techniques including use of “wait and see” regulatory devices, development exactions, historic preservation districts, transfer of development rights and “new urbanism” planning; impact of environmental protection legislation; and growth of state-wide statutory regulation, including “smart growth” legislation.