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Zoning

Definition

Legislative act dividing a jurisdiction's land into sections and regulating different land uses in each section in accordance with a zoning ordinance.

Flexibility in Zoning

A number of devices allow governing boards to include flexibility in their zoning:

  • Non-conforming use:  Allowing a pre-existing use to continue
  • Variance:  Allows the governing board to grant an exception
  • Spot Zoning:  Changing the zoning for a specific parcel of land, but not the surrounding parcels
  • Illegal Contract Zoning / Legal Conditional Use Zoning:  While a city may not change the zoning in exchange for a bilateral promise from a landowner, it may make a change if the landowner makes a unilateral promise.
  • Incentive Zoning: The governing board offers landowners a way to buy out of regulations at a pre-set price.

 

Illustrative caselaw

See, e.g. Bragdon v. Town of Vassalboro, 780 A.2d 299 (Me. 2001).

See also

Definition from Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary

The local laws dividing cities or counties into different zones according to allowed uses, from single-family residential to commercial to industrial. Mixed-use zones are also used. Zoning ordinances control the size, location, and use of buildings within these different areas and have a profound effect on traffic, health, and livability.

Definition provided by Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary.

August 19, 2010, 5:27 pm

 

The owner of a small deli wishes to open another location on the other side of town.  After signing a lease for the new property, the owner learns that the neighborhood in which he plans to build was recently zoned for residential use only. 

The new zoning ordinance took effect just last month, and several coffee shops in the neighborhood were "grandfathered in" and permitted to continue operations. 

The deli owner applies for a variance.  The variance application argues that the deli would not produce significant amounts of noise and would not alter the aesthetic appeal of the neighborhood.  The application also points to the coffee shops in the area, which are owned by national chains, and urges the city zoning board to support local business. 

After some consideration, the zoning board issues a variance and grants a zoning permit for the new deli.

"Petitioner, a not-for-profit corporation, proposed to build a congregate housing facility for the elderly, consisting of two units in a two-family house. . . .  The Mount Vernon Building Department denied petitioner's application for a building permit on the grounds that (1) the proposed project would be a 'boarding house', a prohibited use under the Mount Vernon Zoning Ordinance, and (2) the planned construction violated certain setback requirements."

"The courts below correctly held that the Zoning Ordinance's definition of 'boarding house' was unconstitutional. . . .  By its own terms, this definition includes even a family consisting of a father, mother and children in a rented house or apartment."

In re Genesis of Mount Vernon, N.Y. v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of City of Mount Vernon, 609 N.E.2d 122, 123-24 (N.Y. 1992)