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
On Monday, March 10, 2025, the Connecticut General Assembly’s Planning and Development Committee held a public hearing on the following eminent domain, property tax and land use bills of interest to the business community...more
On October 29, 2024, the Orange County Board of County Commissioners approved a new ordinance that will temporarily suspend all comprehensive plan text and map amendments, rezonings, and special exceptions, but provides a...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
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
Marijuana and Zoning: Lack of Guidance Creates Unknowns… On June 22, 2021, Governor Lamont signed Senate Bill 1201 into law. The bill, entitled “An Act Concerning Responsible and Equitable Regulation of Adult-Use...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
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
Land use and zoning attorneys, Stanley B. Price and Anthony De Yurre, explore the history of rapid transit zones in Miami-Dade County and what challenges developers face in the expansion of rapid transit impact zones today....more
For the first time in over 50 years, the City of Portland is rewriting its Land Use Code, which is found in Chapter 14 of the City’s Code of Ordinances. The effort involves several substantive policy changes aimed at making...more
We spend a lot of time in this space talking about land use ordinances. But what about the tools deployed in the event of a violation of those ordinances? State law provides that municipal and county governments may avail of...more
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently issued a press release clarifying the abilities of municipalities to regulate drone operations in the navigable airspace. State and local governments "are not permitted to...more
As municipalities assert more control over development, zoning bylaws become more complex. And as mechanics, programmers, and lawyers all know, when there are many parts, there are many more opportunities for things to go...more
Fire Island is a 32-mile long, slender barrier sand bar island located between the Atlantic Ocean and the South Shore of Long Island. The island, which varies in width from as little as about 550 feet to not more than about...more