Religious Use Law in South Florida
Rapid Transit Zones in Miami-Dade County
Real Estate Developer Rights When Cities Demand Too Much
Newsflash: Rockweed Not a Fish
As part of Mayor Eric Adams' "Get Stuff Built" initiative to increase housing supply and reduce regulatory constraints on new development, the New York City Planning Commission approved the Green Fast Track for Housing Rule...more
When are agreements entered into as part of the land use planning approval process an extension of that process, and therefore changeable through a future process, and when are they more akin to commercial contracts that will...more
On December 14, 2023, the Fauquier County Board of Supervisors adopted policy guidance for data center development. The Data Center Development Policy limits where data centers can be established and regulates various aspects...more
The month of September was a bad month for the City of Minneapolis’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan (2040 Comp Plan). On September 5, 2023, Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District (Hennepin County) released a decision temporarily...more
In Hume Lake Christian Camps, Inc. v. Planning Board of Monterey, 492 Mass. 188 (2023), the SJC was tasked with deciding whether the Dover Amendment precluded the Town of Monterey from denying approval of a recreational...more
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Senate Bill 102 on March 28, 2023, with an effective date of July 1, 2023. Commonly referred to as the Live Local Act (the Act), it has significant land use, zoning and tax benefits...more
In 1965, the Voting Rights Act was passed, the Beatles performed the first stadium concert in the history of rock, and the Washington Hilton opened just north of Dupont Circle in Washington, DC....more
Viele Gemeinden ärgern sich über ehemals gemeindliche Grundstücke, die brach liegen bleiben und mit Wohnungen bebaut werden könnten. Gemeinden wollen handeln und prüfen, wie sie diese Grundstücke anderen Investoren zur...more
In Fix the City, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles (L.A. Sup. Ct. Case No. 20STCP03529, order filed May 24, 2022), the Los Angeles Superior Court ruled that conflicts between qualifying Transit Oriented Communities (TOC) Guidelines...more
In early June, we reported on the key land use-related ballot propositions San Francisco voters faced during the June 7, 2022 special election. Now that the dust has settled after the election, voters came very close to...more
On June 2, 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued its much-anticipated decision in Tracer Lane II Realty, LLC v. City of Waltham, SJC-13195, interpreting for the first time the statutory protection for...more
On February 11, 2022, the Vermont Supreme Court revised its analysis in the Snowstone appeal addressing the question of when development triggers Act 250 jurisdiction in so‑called “one-acre towns.” ...more
Below are summaries of the key California and Ninth Circuit land use and development law cases decided in 2021. 1. Planning and Zoning - CHEVRON v. COUNTY OF MONTEREY 70 Cal. App. 5th 153 (2021) - A county ordinance...more
Generally, many property owners assume that where a lot is held in single and separate ownership they are entitled to an area variance “as of right.” That is not entirely true. An exception to the single and separate...more
The New Jersey Senate is scheduled to consider bill S3688, which, if signed into law, would amend New Jersey’s Municipal Land Use Law (“MLUL”) to impose new procedures and requirements for the approval to develop certain...more
In my last post, “Real Estate Alphabet Soup: Y Is for Yard”, I continued my primer on the “alphabet soup” of real estate. This post continues to stir the “alphabet soup” and completes the recipe with the final ingredient, the...more
In a recent decision, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit largely upheld three Federal Communications Commission (FCC) orders intended to facilitate the rapid deployment of 5G wireless facilities...more
The protection from ordinance changes, commonly known as “vested rights,” conferred by the grant of a final subdivision or site plan approval is one of the most important legal tenets of New Jersey’s Municipal Land Use Law...more
As we are all too aware, on March 10, 2020, Governor Ned Lamont issued declarations of public health and civil preparedness emergencies, proclaiming a state of emergency throughout the State of Connecticut as a result of the...more
State and City Government – General - With limited exceptions, all Philadelphia government buildings are closed to the public, and all non-essential government operations are suspended....more
As businesses scramble to survive in the spring of 2020, trends have emerged locally and across the country. Despite widespread economic pain, many bedrock business categories have responded with new and creative ways to meet...more
The City of Columbus is open for business (remotely) to accept and review zoning, site plan, and permit applications and issue approvals. ...more
This is a current status report on a number of key items, including several changes since our April 8, 2020, update. We will continue to update this list, which may change as new information becomes available. ...more
On April 2, the Division of Local Government Affairs in the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) issued an operational guidance document to ensure the continuity of land use application procedures and to ensure...more
The Ballard Spahr Zoning and Land Use Team is continuing to monitor all aspects of the City of Philadelphia land use approval process during the COVID-19 emergency, including the issuance of zoning and building permits,...more