Unit 20: Land-Use Controls and Property Development

From the textbook Modern Real Estate Practice

Police power

The source of governemnt’s authority to create regulations needed to protect the public’s health, safety, and welfare.

Enabling acts

States delegate to counties and local municipalities the authority to enact ordinances in keeping with general laws.

Comprehensive plan

A guide that tries to anticipate changing needs.

Another term for comprehensive plan

Master plan

Elements of a comprehensive plan

• Land use.

• Housing needs of present and anticipated residents.

• Movement of people and goods.

• Community facilities and utilities.

• Energy conservation.

Zoning ordinances

Implement the comprehensive plan and regulate and control the use of land and structures within designated land-use districts, in part by separating conflicting land uses.

Planned Unit Development (PUD)

A development where land is set aside for mixed-use purposes, such as residential, commercial, and public areas.

Buffer zone

Typically a strip of land separating land dedicated to one use from land dedicated to another use.

Due process of law

Means that citizens can discuss zoning ordinances before they are enacted in public hearings.

Nonconforming use

When a lot or an improvement does not conform to the zoning use because it existed before the enactment but may be allowed to continue locally as long as it complies with the regulations governing nonconformities in the local ordinance.

Conditional-use permit

May be granted to a property owner to allow a special use of a property that is defined as an allowable conditional use within that zone, such as a house of worship or daycare center in a residential district.

Another term for conditional-use permit

Special-use permit

Variance

Provides relief if a zoning regulation deprives an owner of the reasonable use of the property.

Qualification for a variance

The owner must demonstrate the unique circumstances that make the variance necessary.