Statewide Zoning Of Land

"Zoning has for a century enabled cities to chart their own course. It is a useful and popular institution, enabling homeowners to protect their main investment and provide safe neighborhoods. As home values have soared in recent years, however, this protection has accelerated to the degree that new housing development has become unreasonably difficult and costly. The widespread Not In My Backyard (NIMBY) syndrome is driven by voters’ excessive concern about their home values and creates barriers to growth that reach beyond individual communities. The barriers contribute to suburban sprawl, entrench income and racial segregation, retard regional immigration to the most productive cities, add to national wealth inequality, and slow the growth of the American economy. Some state, federal, and judicial interventions to control local zoning have done more harm than good. More effective approaches would moderate voters’ demand for local-land use regulation—by, for example, curtailing federal tax subsidies to owner-occupied housing"--Publisher's description.

Zoning and Land Use Law in Georgia provides an overview of all the major laws and procedures affecting land use in Georgia in one comprehensive volume. This is a must have for city planners, real estate, zoning and land use attorneys and local government officials. The book examines the legal framework in which zoning and land use decisions are made, the practical aspects of representing parties in land use disputes and issues in the law that are well-settled and others where important issues are yet to be decided. Zoning and Land Use Law in Georgia also provides a foundation for making better land use decisions and helping to ensure that our ordinances, laws, and regulations in this area pass judicial muster if challenged in the courts. Zoning and Land Use Law in Georgia includes: *A brief history of land development in Georgia *A discussion of the legal basis for zoning *Constitutional challenges to zoning decisions *Vested rights and nonconforming uses *Variances *The rezoning process in Georgia *Zoning litigation *The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) *Environmental laws and regulations in Georgia *The future of land use and zoning

Articles originally appeared in the Urban lawyer.