Also known as: zoning law · zoning laws · laws of zoning · zoning · land-use regulation
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A body of municipal regulations that divide land into districts and restrict uses within each district. Such regulations must bear a substantial relation to public health, safety, morals, or general welfare and may not arbitrarily deprive owners of beneficial use of property. Preexisting lawful uses receive protection through vested-rights and nonconforming-use doctrines that limit immediate elimination upon rezoning.
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Lola Langley applied for a special-use permit to open a group home for adults with intellectual disabilities in a residential zone. The city council denied the permit solely because neighbors expressed fear of the residents' mental condition. The denial violated equal protection because it rested on prejudice rather than any legitimate governmental interest.
Luna Lang operated a small machine shop on land she had owned for twenty years. After the city rezoned the area residential, she continued the shop without interruption. The city could not force immediate closure because the preexisting lawful use created a vested right that survives the new zoning restrictions.
Leo Lynch granted a neighbor an easement allowing access across his lot. When the city later enacted new height limits, the easement remained enforceable as a private servitude. The zoning ordinance itself did not qualify as a servitude and operated independently of the private agreement.
Lena Lawson purchased a corner lot zoned for commercial use. The city later redrew the zoning map so that only her parcel fell into a residential classification while identical neighboring parcels remained commercial. The reclassification lacked any substantial relation to public welfare and arbitrarily deprived her of beneficial use.
Logan Lane obtained a building permit and spent substantial sums constructing a retail center in reliance on existing zoning. Before completion the city rezoned the area to prohibit retail uses. The city could not apply the new ordinance to halt construction because Lane had acquired a vested right through good-faith reliance and substantial expenditures.
Landmark Realty owned acreage in a developing suburb. The municipality adopted a comprehensive zoning ordinance that placed the land in a single-family residential district. The classification was reasonable and substantially related to public health and welfare, so the ordinance was a valid exercise of the police power.
Rational basis review applies, yet the government may not act from mere prejudice. A denial of a special-use permit resting solely on the residents' mental condition lacks any legitimate governmental interest and violates equal protection.
A landowner acquires a vested right when, in good-faith reliance on a permit or existing zoning, the owner makes substantial expenditures or otherwise changes position such that depriving the right would be inequitable. Jurisdictions vary on whether a valid permit plus substantial construction is required or whether a balancing test governs.
…have been erected. On November 13, 1922, an ordinance was adopted by the Village Council, establishing a comprehensive zoning plan for regulating and restricting the location of trades, industries, apartment houses, two-family houses, single family houses, etc., the lot area to be built upon, the size and height…
…singles out a particular parcel for different, less favorable treatment than the neighboring ones. See 2 A. Rathkopf, The Law of Zoning
…9. [^maj-6]: See nn. 4 and 5, supra , and also Professor N. Williams' discussion of the subject in his excellent treatise on zoning law
…as a condition of a building permit does not change that conclusion. The Commission’s argument that the condition is a valid land-use regulation
…U. S. 306, 312 (1952); Sherbert v. Verner , 374 U. S. 398, 422 (1963) (HARLAN, J., dissenting). Fire inspections, building and zoning regulation
A nonconforming use is a use lawful when established but later barred by new restrictions. The owner generally holds a vested right to continue the use. The right may be lost through abandonment, discontinuance for the statutory period, or amortization ordinances that require termination after a reasonable period.
A zoning ordinance or its application to a parcel is invalid when the restriction bears no substantial relation to public health, safety, or welfare and arbitrarily deprives the owner of beneficial use. Courts examine whether the boundary or classification as applied to the specific land is reasonable.
No. Zoning and other public land-use regulations are not servitudes within the meaning of the Restatement. Private servitudes remain enforceable independently of public zoning rules.