Zone District Standards

1. Zone District Standards Zoning: The legislative division of an area into separate districts with different standards for development within each district.

2. Overview • Requirements in General • Use Zones • Height, Bulk, Setback Controls • Zoning with Flexibility

3. Requirements in General • Use • Height • Bulk • Density

4. Uses Agricultural Residential Industrial Recreational

5. Height

6. Bulk

7. Density

8. Euclid v. Ambler

9. Permitted Uses • Uses by right – automatically allowed in district • Specified in zoning ordinance • Differ from conditional or special uses which require special review, approval and permits

10. Regulating Uses not Ownership • Zoning generally regulates how property is used not who owns it or how title is held. • While zoning ordinances do not normally affect who owns the land they often affect who uses the land. Example: single family use district that defines family. • Regulates multi-family structures not condominiums.

11. Cumulative and Exclusive Zoning • Cumulative ordinances allow all of the most restrictive (higher) uses in the least restrictive (lower) districts. • Single-family houses may be permitted in multi-family districts and single-family houses, multi-family apartments may be permitted in office districts. , etc. • No longer used as much. Current zoning ordinances have more exclusive districts that are more narrowly defined and provide greater separation of uses. With notable exception of the very popular “mixed use” districts. • Residential districts are often be based on type of unit, size, density.

12. Accessory Uses / Home Occupations An accessory use is dependent on or pertains to and is necessary or convenient to the main use. Must be subordinate or incidental to the principal use. Examples: garage, storage shed, studio. Barber shop? Law office? Music studio?

13. Single Family Use • Single-family exclusive zone • Euclid v. Ambler • Miller v. Board of Public Works • What constitutes a family? • Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas • Moore v City of East Cleveland

14. Group Homes • Group homes are often disallowed in single-family use districts. • Objections based on unrelated residents, number of residents, and turnover rates. • City of Cleburne v Cleburne Living Center

15. Federal Law and Use Zoning • Fair Housing Amendments of 1988 • Limits the exercise of zoning powers with respect to handicapped and group homes. • Americans With Disabilities Act • Prevents disabled individuals from being discriminated against or denied benefits, services, programs, or activities of a public entity. • Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 No government shall impose….a substantial burden on..religious exercise….in the implementation of a land use regulation…

16. Agricultural Uses • Early zoning was urban oriented – did not include agricultural uses. • Now zoning is often used to preserve agricultural land (and to prevent sprawl) • But agricultural zoning is often nonexclusive. • Right to farm laws. .

17. Industrial and Commercial Uses • Early zoning ordinances had one general business district and one industrial district. • Today there are separate districts for neighborhood retail businesses, office, institutional, and shopping centers. • Industrial zones are separated into heavy and light and are usually non-cumulative.

18. Buffer Zones • Euclidean zoning attempts to avoid conflicts between land uses in adjacent zones through the use of buffer zoning. • Buffer zones place the next lower, more intensive zone as the adjacent use. (Multi-family use district shields a single family use district from a commercial district.) • Buffering is also achieved through height and setback or environmental controls. • Good design is the best answer.

19. Height Controls • Safety • Light • Aesthetic • Solar

20. Bulk and Setback Controls • Minimum lots and frontage requirements control densities and preserve view and open space. • Traditional – deep setbacks, large lots. • Neo-traditional – short setbacks, narrow lots. • Setback and lot coverage requirements provide space, light, air, and safety from fire. • Setbacks often used to protect against natural hazards. • Gorieb v Fox • Lucas v South Carolina Coastal Commission

21. Floor Area Ratio

22. The Need for Flexibility • Traditional zoning is felt by some to be too rigid to adapt to changing community needs and. • Compatibility of uses, • New building materials and design, • Increasing numbers of use districts, • Fewer permitted uses by right, • Limitations on creative developers.

23. Floating Zones • Unmapped district with detailed and / or conditional development standards. • Two-step process: • City creates a zone with specific characteristics. • Attaches (mapped) when an application for development that meets the development standards in the floating zone section of the zoning ordinance is approved.

24. St. Mary’s County, MD Floating Zone The Interim Study Floating Zone is intended to allow the county discretionary review of development proposals in areas where changes in zoning regulations are being contemplated or are under study by the county. The County Commissioners may adopt an Interim Study floating zone designation for the following purposes: • To implement small area plans for growth areas developed pursuant to the Comprehensive Plan, • To allow for approval of specified use classifications and alternative development standards within the mapped IS area, regardless of the use regulations in the base districts, • To provide for administrative approval of minor projects consistent with specific criteria stated in the resolution for adoption of the Interim Study • floating zone.

25. Floating Zones • Rodgers v Village of Tarrytown • Eves v Zoning Board of Adjustment

26. Conditional Zoning • Permit is issued with certain conditions attached • Provides more flexibility (and precision) than general rezoning because allows conditions to attach. • Chrismon v Guilford County

27. Cumberland County,MD -Conditional Zoning Ordinance • “The Mayor and City Council, upon the zoning or rezoning of any land or lands pursuant to the provisions of this authority, may impose such additional restrictions, conditions or limitations as may be deemed appropriate to preserve, improve or protect the general character and design of the land and improvements and may, upon the zoning or rezoning of any land or lands, retain or reserve the power and authority to approve or disapprove the design of buildings, construction, landscaping or other improvements, alterations, and changes made or to be made on the subject land or lands to assure conformity with the intent and purpose of this authority and of the Ordinance.” 

28. Incentive Zoning • Obtains public benefits or amenities from private developers in exchange for incentives (example: density bonus for affordable units). • “The city will give you a permit and build a swimming pool next door if you will……” • Attacked as spot or contract zoning, taking, due process violation, doesn’t legitimately advance public purpose, etc. • Municipal Art Society of New York v NYC

29. Performance Zoning • Establishes criteria to measure spillover effects of land use activities. • Often used for industrial activities: • Standards for dust, smoke, noise, toxic emissions, glare, odors, etc. • DeCoals, Inc. v Board of Zoning Appeals

30. Performance Zoning Standards – Bellevue, WA • ODOROUS MATTER: No emission of odorous matter shall be allowed in excess of ambient air quality standards as set forth by regulations adopted by the Kentucky Natural Resources Cabinet, Division of Air Pollution, Cincinnati Air Quality Region. • HUMIDITY, HEAT OR GLARE: In the I-1 District, any activity producing humidity, in the form of steam or moist air or producing heat or glare, shall be carried on in such a manner that the steam, humidity, heat or glare is not perceptible at any lot line. Detailed plans for the elimination of humidity, heat or glare may be required before the issuance of a building permit. • EXTERIOR LIGHTING: Any lights used for illumination, except for overhead street lighting and warning, or traffic signals shall direct light away from the adjoining zones.

31. Interim Zones/Moratoria • Interim or holding zone can protect areas pending the adoption of permanent standards. • Temporary moratorium freezes development and provides opportunity (breathing room) to resolve public service issues. • Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council, Inc v Tahoe Regional Planning Agency

32. Overlay Zones • Places property simultaneously in two zones. • Examples: • Historic district/Commercial • Steep slopes/Residential • Floodplains/Industrial

33. View Shed Overlay

34. St. Mary’s County, MD Overlay Zone The Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Overlay implements Comprehensive Plan policies to provide special regulatory protection for the land and water resources located within the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area in St. Mary’s County that: • Minimize adverse impacts on water quality that result from pollutants that are discharged from structures or conveyances that have run off from surrounding lands; • Conserve fish, wildlife and plant habitat; and • Establish land use policies for development in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area that accommodate growth and also address the fact that, even if pollution is controlled, the number movement and activities of persons in the that area can create adverse environmental impacts.

35. Nonconforming Situations • A situation that is impermissible under current zoning but is allowed because it existed lawfully before the zoning ordinance took effect. • Nonconforming buildings • Conforming uses of nonconforming buildings • Nonconforming uses of conforming buildings • Nonconforming uses of land

36. Lawful Existence • Nonconforming uses must be lawfully established at the time the ordinance takes effect. • Vested rights controls the establishment of lawful existence to protect landowners from zoning changes.

37. Restrictions on Nonconforming Uses • Limitations are placed on nonconforming uses designed to achieve conformance as soon as possible: • Change in use; • Repairs and alterations; • Rebuilding in the event of destruction; • Resuming use after abandonment.

38. Change in Use • Protected status is generally lost if there is a change in use although some ordinances may permit some changes. • Actions that constitute change: • More intensive use • Similar or less intensive use • Natural growth and right of expansion • Natural resources diminishing assets doctrine

39. Repairs and Alterations • Most ordinances allow modest repairs to nonconforming uses. • Alterations and structural repairs are usually prohibited because they will prolong the life of the nonconforming use. • Unless the alterations are for safety or required by law. • City of Las Cruces v Neff

40. Conversion to Permitted Use • Can obtain an variance or special permit to change a nonconforming use to a legal use. • Some ordinances require owners of nonconforming uses to seek such changes. • Many owners erroneously believe that they are afforded better protection as a nonconforming use.

41. Termination • Nonconforming uses do not have the right to continue indefinitely. • Destroyed or abandoned nonconforming uses cannot be rebuilt. • Amortization provisions require the termination of a nonconforming use after a period of time. • City of Los Angeles v Gage • Immediate termination if nonconforming use is deemed a nuisance • Hadacheck v Sebastian