Lesson 5 - Land Use Regulations (Zoning) Flashcards
(33 cards)
What is zoning?
Zoning, in its simplest form, is the separation of land uses. Many communities use zoning to control land uses. Zoning is implemented through locally enacted legislation that regulates and controls the use of private property.
What are the Purposes of Zoning?
The purposes of zoning are to regulate land use, prevent land use conflicts, and allow growth to occur in a planned manner. Zoning can also do the following:
Protect and maintain property values; Promote public health and safety; Protect the environment; Promote the aesthetic of a community; Manage traffic; Manage density; Encourage a variety of housing; Attract businesses and industries.
What does Zoning Regulate?
Zoning controls many elements. Some of the most common include the following:
Land use Lot Size Density Building placement Building height Building bulk Setbacks Provision of adequate light and air Parking Landscaping Signage
Staff
Many communities have a professional staff that handle matters pertaining to zoning. A primary task of the staff is to provide information to the public regarding the zoning ordinance. In addition, the staff is responsible for reviewing applications and writing reports for the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Zoning Board of Adjustment. The staff typically prepares an information packet for the Boards that include reports on each application.
Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z)
The Planning and Zoning Commission is required to issue recommendations in matters of zoning. These recommendations are made to a governing body (e.g., the City Council or County Commissioners). In other cases, P&Z renders final approval of cases.
The Planning and Zoning Commission is made up of community residents and business owners. Members are appointed by the governing body.
The Planning and Zoning Commissioners read staff reports, visit sites prior to meetings, and come prepared to participate in discussions with applicants at P&Z meetings.
The Planning and Zoning Commissioners should think long-term. For instance, while rezoning a parcel for a specific proposed use may not seem to impact an area significantly, once the zoning change is made, a property may be used for any use allowable in that zoning district.
Board of Zoning Appeals
The Board of Zoning Appeals, aka the Board of Zoning Adjustment or Zoning Board of Adjustment, is a quasi-judicial board that hears cases for variances, special exceptions to the zoning ordinance, and appeals of staff’s administration of the zoning ordinance. Variances will be discussed in more detail later in this subject area.
The governing body appoints members to the board. As with the Planning and Zoning Commission, members are community members who volunteer their time.
City Council (or County Commission)
The governing body of a city often has the final say on zoning issues. The Planning and Zoning Commission makes recommendations on zoning cases to the City Council. The City Council is then charged with making the final decision on whether to approve or disapprove a case. In order for a community to adopt zoning, two separate documents must be created: the zoning text and the zoning map.
Zoning Text
The zoning text, ordinance, or code lays out the exact regulations that the zoning is created to implement. It is a document that is adopted as law by the local governing body. The text must, at a minimum, establish the different zones applicable in the community and the uses allowable in each zone, either by right or with a conditional use permit. It should also define various requirements for setbacks, parking, signs, and include definitions, information on height restrictions, and procedures for zoning applications and appeals, or variances, to the zoning ordinance.
Zoning Map
The zoning map is where zoning clearly becomes applicable to individual properties. This tool is a color-coded map that shows which types of land uses are allowable where. It is generally a detailed city map overlaid with various colors/patterns depicting the type of zoning for each property.
In some cities letter codes are used to illustrate the zoning districts, while in others color codes are used. There is a standard set of colors used to depict various zones. The most common standard dictates yellow for single-family, shades of orange-brown for multifamily residential, reds for retail and commercial activities, green for open spaces and parks, purple for industrial uses, and blue for institutional uses such as government buildings, schools, airports, and hospitals. Remember that the number of land uses may dictate the colors and shades utilized on any map.
Land Based Classification Standards (LBCS)
The American Planning Association has produced Traditional Color Coding for Land Uses which provides further detail on land use colors. https://www.planning.org/lbcs/standards/
Activity, Function, Structure, Site, Ownership
Zoning Amendments
here are two ways that zoning can be changed. One is an amendment to the zoning ordinance or text. The other is an amendment to the zoning map.
An amendment to the zoning ordinance changes the requirements for all properties. For example, an ordinance limiting the size of satellite dishes would apply to all properties.
An amendment to the zoning map changes the zoning district on a particular property. For example, at the edge of the community a developer may apply to change the zoning from an agricultural district to a single-family district. If approved, the map would be changed to reflect the new assigned zoning district.
Amendments can be initiated by staff, the Planning and Zoning Commission, the governing body, or at a property owner’s request.
Amendments allow the community to be flexible and responsive to the changing needs of the community.
Euclidean Zoning
Euclidean zoning is named after the City of Euclid, Ohio. It places the most protective restrictions on residential land uses, less on commercial uses, and virtually none on industrial uses. This concept places the most restrictive zoning category, single-family residential, at the top of the pyramid.
Cumulative Zoning
Cumulative zoning is less protective of various land uses than Euclidean zoning. Single-family residential districts are the most exclusive. However, in cumulative zoning, each successive zoning district allows all the uses from the previous zones:
Single-Family District allows single-family homes
Multi-Family District allows apartments and all uses allowed in the Single-Family District
Commercial District allows retail and commercial uses and all uses allowed in the Multi-family District
Industrial District allows industrial uses and all uses allowed in the Commercial District
In a city with cumulative zoning, a person could build a single-family house in any zoning district. However, a factory could only locate in an industrial district.
Modified Cumulative Zoning
A modified version of cumulative zoning has been developed to allow cities to provide a greater degree of protection than they could with cumulative zoning. In this type of zoning, districts are typically cumulative by type of land use. For example, a multi-family district would allow both single-family homes and multi-family housing. However, the industrial district would not allow residential uses. The figure below provides an example of how modified cumulative zoning works.
Permitted and conditional uses
Inside the text of a zoning ordinance, each zoning district lists the permitted and conditional uses. If a retail zoning district lists barber shops as a permitted use, a business could open a barber shop without having to ask the city for permission. However, if a barber shop was listed as a conditional use, the business owner would have to ask the city for permission before opening.
Conditional use permits allow a certain use in a district only when it is compatible with its surroundings. The conditional use permit is also known as a special use permit or specific use permit.
As an example, a church might be acceptable in any district but a single-family district (the location and traffic generation would need to be considered).
Another example is a bar. A bar may be a general retail use but it can often impose additional burdens that most retail uses do not. This can include increased noise at late hours and excessive litter. When located in the middle of a retail area these conditions may not be offensive, but when on the edge of a retail zone adjacent to a residential area, this use may not be appropriate.
The conditional use permit allows the governing body to place conditions on particular businesses. It might be issued without conditions if the bar is located in the middle of a retail area. In another location, conditions such as a screening fence between the use and the adjacent neighborhood and an increased setback from the adjacent property might be required.
The conditional use permit can be issued in one of two ways:
Run with the land
Run with the ownership
If the permit runs with land, any new user is required to follow the same conditions.
If the permit runs with ownership, it offers the community an opportunity to review the circumstances if ownership or use changes. The conditions can be modified when a new conditional use permit is requested.
Nonconforming use
a property use that existed prior to the adoption of district regulations and is allowed to continue under the “grandfather clause.”
Some communities allow the use to continue indefinitely until it naturally ceases or for a set period of time. The subsequent property use would then be required to be in conformance with the current zoning ordinance.
Amortization
sets a definite period of time within which the use must come into compliance with the zoning ordinance. Amortization is often quite controversial because it requires that the administrators of the ordinance determine a fair period of time during which the use will be allowed to continue before it must come into full compliance. This time period is based on the property owner’s original investment, the use of the property, and other factors that affect the owner’s potential income.
In most ordinances, a clause ends the nonconforming privileges if a certain percentage of the use is destroyed by either natural or man-made causes or if it discontinues for a set period of time.
Sign amortization
Signs are a common part of a property that can be amortized. Many cities establish an amortization schedule to force nonconforming signs into conformance.
Lenexa, Kan., provided a five-year amortization schedule for all existing facade and free-standing signs after the city passed a new sign ordinance. For temporary signs, the city provided a two-year amortization schedule.
When cities annex land, the existing uses frequently become nonconforming. Riverside, Calif., established an amortization schedule for signs that were nonconforming as a result of annexation. Blinking and rotating signs had to come into compliance with the sign ordinance within one year, while roof and freestanding signs are on a five-year amortization schedule.
Accessory use
is one that is incidental to the main use of a property. It is typically located on the same lot as the main use and smaller in size than the main use. Some examples of accessory uses include outside sales, outside storage, a telecommunications tower, home occupations, and a garage apartment.
Planned Unit Development (PUDs)
Planned Unit Developments (PUDs) are a unique zoning tool that can offer an alternative to strict zoning regulations. PUDs are typically used for large developments that include a mix of uses. A PUD applies a different set of controls to a tract of land than standard land use zoning. The entire development site plan is reviewed by the governing body.
An advantage of PUDs is that they are planned in their entirety, up front, with careful attention to a site plan. PUDs can also allow for more innovative development design. In some cases, PUDs allow flexibility that a normal subdivision and/or zoning regulations cannot. They can allow for an increase in density or reduction in street width as well as a mix of land uses on one site.
In return for this flexibility in site design, the developer often offers increased community amenities and open space. Examples of community amenities include bike trails, recreation centers, landscaped medians, and natural open space.
The zoning ordinance should identify a minimum acceptable acreage for a PUD. In addition, the zoning should be tied to a detailed site plan. If the plan changes or construction deviates substantially from the site plan, an amendment is required, a process that is essentially the same as a rezoning.
Planned Unit Development regulations allow for a certain degree of flexibility between the developer and the community. However, it should be noted that PUDs can be a challenge from an administrative standpoint. They require more initial time to review and any time there is a change in the development, the PUD must be amended.
Information needed for PUD
The following are examples of information that should be collected when reviewing a proposed PUD:
Location of the property and all abutting properties and streets;
Location and size of streets within the development;
Location and proposed use of buildings within the development;
Location and capacity of the nearest infrastructure and public facilities;
Proposed landscaping and pedestrian ways;
Location of open space;
Sign sizes and locations.
Overlay zoning
An overlay district or zone is a set of additional restrictions that are placed over the top of an existing zone. Two common overlays are for airports and historic preservation.
An airport overlay district is placed on the area surrounding airports. The overlay district usually includes all land located under the flight patterns of aircrafts in bands that represent noise levels. Land located under the noisiest bands generally have the heaviest restrictions to land use, such as no residential uses. Additionally, there may be height restrictions for the areas closest to the landing strips.
In the case of historic preservation overlays, there may be additional protections to significant architectural elements. Frequently, an architectural review is required in this type of overlay.
Other types of overlays can include neighborhood revitalization zones, flood hazard areas, enterprise zones, and foreign trade zones.
Variance
a change in the terms of the zoning regulations due to economic or physical hardship. There are two types of variances: the use variance and the area variance.
A use variance allows a property to have a use not explicitly allowed under the zoning district regulations. For example, a business owner would like to operate an ice cream shop in an area that is not zoned for restaurant uses. A use variance would allow the business to operate.
An area variance allows a property to be excluded from the physical site requirements under the zoning ordinance. For example, an area variance would allow a property owner to build his or her house with only a 20 foot front setback instead of the required 25 foot setback.
Variance requirements
- Unique to the surrounding property;
- Must have a physical or economic hardship;
- The variance will not result in a reduction in property values;
- The property owner did not cause the need for the variance;
- The variance is not contrary to the spirit of the zoning ordinance.
