USP 124 Midterm

Factors influencing 19th century development

Industrialization, immigration, population increase, urbanization

Eminent Domain

The right of the government to seize private property for public use

Greensward plan for central park

Olmsted, Vaux, 1858, Eminent domain used in Manhattan to create a public park

Chicago World Fair 1893

Burnham and Olmsted, launches city beautiful movement, technological innovation in a neoclassical style, built on former swampland in lake michigan

City-Beautiful movement

1897-1909, response to industrialization and urbanization

Focus:

• Civic beautification and aesthetic responses

• physical strategies to address larger social issues

• Monumental planning

• neoclassical architecture

• Civic centers

• wide boulevards

Ebenezer Howard

Author of Garden Cities of Tomorrow (1902), launches garden cities movement

Garden Cities Movement

• Self sustaining communities with residential, commercial, industrial

• Surrounded by agriculture and recreational greenbelt

• Population no greater than 32,000 on 6000 acres

• Best of town and country

Garden Suburbs

planned residential communities designed in park-like settings, Tugwell and Stein, blending garden cities with suburban living

Radburn NJ

• Garden suburb example, 1928

• Pedestrian overpasses and underpasses

• Garden style apartments

First Comprehensive Plan

Chicago Plan of 1909, designed by Daniel Burnham

Seven key elements:

• System of regional highways

• Systematic arrangement of streets

• Improvement of railroad terminals

• Build new docks on chicago river

• Improved lake michigan frontage

• Extend park system

• Create civic centers

Zoning Ordinance

Translates policy to specific requirements on zones and permitted uses for individual landowners

Aspects of a General Plan

• Geographical coverage (state, region, county, city, community)

• Subject matter (8 elements)

• Time frame (10-20 years with four amendments allowed)

• Participation and Process

Mandate vs legal enforcement power

California mandates every county and city adopts a general plan but cannot legally enforce it

Four major objectives of general plans

• Identify goals (land use, housing circulation, environmental, etc)

• Provide a basis for local government decision making, decisions on development approvals

• Inform (citizens, developers, decision makers, other cities) of ground rules guiding development

Eight Mandatory Elements of a General Plan

• land use

• Circulation

• housing

• conservation

• Open space

• noise

• Safety

• Environmental justice

NYC Comprehensive Zoning ordinance, 1916

McAneny and Bassett

• Countries first comprehensive zoning resolution

• Three categories: residential, commercial, unrestricted

• Had five kinds of height districts

• Used as a replacement for comprehensive planning

Cumulative Zoning

• single family

• multi family

• commercial

• industrial

Euclidean Zoning

From Euclid v Ambler Realty Co. 1926

The division of all of a municipality’s land into use districts and the equal treatment of all of the property owners within each district. (separation of land use)

Zoning

• Legislative method of controlling the use of all the land in a municipality by regulating use, lot size, bulk, height, density of population, setbacks, and yards of buildings.

• “Zoning Ordinance” is the legal document

• in CA, zoning ordinances must generally align with the general plan

Critical Components of Zoning

• Use: use of the parcel

• Form: the development form

• Management: the management of a projects impact

Use (zoning)

• Zoning ordinances must serve to protect public health, safety, and welfare

• Ordinance must be comprehensive (every piece of land covered) and Fair (each piece of property in the same zone must be treated alike)

Form (zoning)

• Zoning envelope specifies setbacks, height limits, and sometimes limits on the percentage of a site that may be covered by buildings, other structures, and paving

FAR

Floor-area ratio

Ratio of building square footage to square footage of land

Ex: 2:1 means for every one square foot of land, two square feet of building are permitted

Management (zoning)

Managing the external effects a building has on its surrounding environment (ex parking)

Changing zoning

• Zone change

• Variance- permit that enables a landowner to do something on their land (physical cahnge) (must demonstrate a hardship)

• Conditional Use Permit - Permit for specific uses that might not normally be allowed if the property owner meets certain conditions

Overlay Zone

• An additional zoning district placed over two or more zoning districts

• Typically used to add additional standards or regulations along a particular feature

• Can permit new uses or restrict uses

Conventional vs. form based zoning

• Conventional: uses FAR, setbacks, parking requirements, maximum building heights specified

• Form based: street and building types, build-to lines, number of floors

  • Emerged in 1990s with new urbanism, prioritizes form over use, high quality public spaces, promotes mixed use

Participants in the planning process

• local government

• rule makers

• other government agencies at the state and federal level

• private real estate industry

• tribal governments

• Individuals and citizen groups

Subdivision

Division of a trac or parcel of land into two or more lots for residential, industrial, and/or commercial uses

Reasons for subdivision

• Slip uses

• Enable different ownership

• Enable different financing

• Phase development

• Increase property value

Subdivision Regulations

• Regulations and standards enacted by a community to control the proposed subdivision of land into lots or parcels

  • Procedures for subdivision renewal and approval

  • Required improvements (streets, water supply, etc)

  • dedication of land for parks/open spaces

Silent Spring

• Rachel Carson

• Launched modern environmental movement

• contributed to EPA creation

CEQA

• California Environmental Quality Act

• State law enacted in 1970 by governor Ronald Reagen following signing of NEPA (National Environmental Protection Act)

• Process triggered by discretionary action to identify environmental effects of a project

Legislative vs. Judicial vs. Ministerial acts

• Legislative Acts

  • Discretionary

  • Creating policy

    • General plan revisions

    • zoning ordinances

  • Approved/adopted by city council

  • Subjected to initiative and referendum

• Quasi-Judicial Acts

  • Discretionary

  • Applying discretionary policy to individual projects

    • Zoning variances

    • Conditional use permits

  • Approved/denied by planning commission (appeals decided by city council)

  • Not subject to initiative and referendum

• Ministerial acts

  • Applying non-discretionary policy to individual projects

    • Building permit on an approved project

    • Other permits where all necessary conditions are met

  • Approved by staff

  • Not subject to initiative and referendum

CEQA Process

• Is the development considered a project?

• Is the project exempt?

• Conduct an initial study (3-6 months, $30,000-$40,000)

  • Positive Declaration

  • Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) – where developer eliminate all significant environmental effects by changing projects or adopt mitigation measures

  • Negative Declaration (ND)

  • If MND or ND, project may proceed

  • If Positive Declaration, then an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is required (months ~ years)

Environment Impact Report (EIR)* (months to years)

• Public Review and Comment (30 – 60 days)

• Final CEQA Document

• Decision-Making (months)

• Legal Challenges

CEQA exemptions

• Building projects of less than 10,000 sq ft

• projects of three homes or fewer in urbanized areas

• Projects that will result in “minor alterations of the land’

• Urban infill projects up to five acres under certain circumstances

CEQA Shortcomings

• Substantive: lack of substantive definitions leads to vagueness about extent of adverse environmental effects

• Procedural: extremely long and uncertain process with public comment at each stage

• Third parties exploit these shortcomings

California Coastal Commission

• Created 1972 by voter initiative

• Regulates land use in CA coastal zone

• Commissioners appointed by governor and legislature

• All land the first 1,000 ft inland from the ocean and as far as 5 miles inland

CA Coastal act 1976

• Govern decisions that determine conservation, protection, and use of coastal resources in the coastal zone

• Public access, natural resources, long range development

• Cities and counties prepare “local coastal plan”

Police Power

Power that permits gov entities to restrict private activities to protect public heakth, welfare, morals

Regulatory Taking

Landowner is deprived reasonable use of their property by gov

Euclid v Ambler

Zoning tested and held up in court

Nollan v California Coastal Commission

• Nollans want to build two stories, gov says they have to give up land for public use