Talk:Zoning

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Untitled

I just pulled the discussion of "grandfathering" in the Atlanta billboard case. While grandfathering has some tangential relevance here, it is a general topic well covered in other discussions of the law. The text came across as a distraction in this discussion of zoning. (Of course, it didn't help that the example used language such as "eyesore" - pretty clear that this would be very hard example to use and still stick to our NPOV policy. Rossami 15:35, 6 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Zoning is patricuarly susceptable to corruption. Plus most laws require a person to be on another's property, public property, or interfering with another person to be invoked. Thus enforcement of z laws should be approached with great discretion to avoid violation of the sanctity of home. But z enforcers are often the lowest of the low, who would want to be a z enforcer, entering upon citizens proprety if they had another choice? yet they have police powers! There are laws limiting the height of hedges to 4.5 feet where thousands of properties have 12 footers, yet z enforcers have no problem giving first "offense" tickets for $250, subsequently they go to $500/day! Trees with limbs less than 7feet are illegal ( even in one's backyard ) yet palms grow through a phase where this is impossible. I have had tickets for too tall grass ( I HAVE VITUALLY NONE ), for parking a commercial vehicle ( a moving van, it's illegal to have lunch while loading, unless lunch last less than 30minutes! $500 fine ) and "storing" the car I drive ( new, ten day old tag, $500 ), charged for violations which the DCA had previously overturned ( eventually $12,000 in fines), and denied first time extensions of "administrative hearing" for " urgent health care" etc & etc! The laws are neither criminal nor civil, sort of a twilight zoning, and the game is rigged. It is easy for enforcers acting under color of law to step over it and become criminal organizations, especially when there is pressure to raise revenue, but how can one prevent them from engaging in this destruction civilization ?. Incidently, I live in Miami, where most civil "servants" are not born American, perhaps things are different elsewhere, but here the tempation to abuse law is too great for the minions of the city to resist. And if they force the old and infirm out, they can raise the tax base on the housing based on the selling price. If you would care to discuss issues relating to this topic please click my link. ta WblakesxWblakesx 00:04, 12 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Can't speak specifically for Miami, but most of the above concerns do not seem to necessarily be the result of zoning law - rather they would seem to be more related to CCR and other localized regulations. The whole Zoning article strikes me as POV against zoning, ascribing a variety of ills to zoning laws; yet I wonder if those that disagree so strongly with zoning would welcome sex shops in residential areas, rehab and half way houses next to schools, and the like - which zoning protects against. Voideater 21:25, 5 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I live in NY City and as you can imagine these z-enforcers are not working the headge patrol. There are a number of instutions that enforce a varity of zoning related issues, from land managment to air rights revocation. HUD makes shure that buildings zoned industrial do not rise in res. areas, enforce low income responsibilities on landlords forces develupers to comply with safty codes, etc. The fire department enforces fire safty building codes, and inspects to make shure the sprinklers and such work. There are elevator inspectors, health code inspectors, and innumerable other public goods provided by people in agencys that work to prevent disaster or just llousy living/working enviorments from taking root. There is even a department that makes certin that no historic buildings are demolished and in fact helps inshure they are properly maintatined. Miami aside NY would be sunk with out most of our Zoning laws, no need to impune the people doning mostly good work in most places because of some overzelous enforcement of silly local legislation. If the Zoning laws in your area are excedingly bad, you have leagal and civic recourse; if the court fails you go to your ellected official, they love that sort of thing, or run for local office.

the link to the german wikipedia is wrong and should be changed. i don't know how it's done or i'd do it. the wrong link goes to "raumplanung", which is spacial planning and which is done at the federal and provincial / state levels. the correct linkt must go to "bebauungsplanung" which is done at the local level. Sundar1 11:52, 19 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

i figured it out! Sundar1 11:52, 19 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Is this effectively what goes on in Sim City when you place "residential", "commercial" & "industrial" areas? Not being from a country where we have specific zoning laws it always seemed completely bizarre. But if it's akin to the way things are done in the US (where Maxis is based) it makes sense. Might be a good way to go about explaining how zoning works. 82.13.83.244 15:43, 13 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Roughly, yes; traffic patterns and income come from creating these "generator" pips - as do some public opinion scores (just as in real life, Sims don't like living next door to a factory - something real life zoning moderates, too. Voideater 21:25, 5 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This article has a clear anti-zoning bias. Some effort should be made to make it more ballanced. Here's one exampel of when zoning is useful. I live in a historic neighborhood in Kansas City, Missouri. After WWII, KC experienced severe housing shortages. Large houses in many older neighborhoods, mine included, were converted to apartments. Zoning has been useful in returning these houses to their original uses. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.243.73.64 (talk) 17:08, 8 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

can a zone be both residential and commercial? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.50.140.57 (talk) 01:20, 26 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Types

A lot of the types seem USA specific, but they could also translate over into the UK, Australia, and Europe. If they don't translate and the USA only has these types, then we should remove the content from this article as it is already covered in the USA specific article. If the types do translate, then we need more citations and langauge that is not USA specific to describe the types of zoning.EECavazos 18:25, 19 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

USA content move

I moved much of the USA-specific content to Zoning in the United States (land use). In the USA section I put a main article link that directs the article audience to the USA-specific article.EECavazos 18:28, 19 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, and having a USA-specific article would make it easier for a discussion on variances, special use permits, spot zoning and the like because we'll have an easier organizational structure with which to work.EECavazos 18:55, 19 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Links

FYI, link #5 to Houston Chronicle article is broken (probably expired). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.67.6.15 (talk) 21:24, 17 January 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Comment

"Theoretically[citation needed], the primary purpose of zoning is to segregate uses that are thought to be incompatible; in practice, zoning is used as a permitting system to prevent new development from harming existing residents or businesses." This is incorrect. Theoretically, zoing is intended to implement the community comprehensive or master plan which is a long range vision for the community and includes a future land use plan that is used in making zoning decisions. Protecting property values from incompatible development is only one of many, many objectives of zoning. While zoning often separates incompatible uses, it also is used to encourage the mixing of land uses to create a vital and viable community. This article includes many serious errors and needs to be corrected, there's no citation because the statement is incorrect.

i agree: this article indeed is a mess and starts on the wrong foot. the background of zoning is poorly described. zoning is a very old procedure and has been practiced in ancient times. mostly it developed naturally, sometimes it was planned. there were central commercial areas and markets and areas set aside for certain purposes, especially trades. regulations of building hights, right of way and security measures are also very old. government regulated zoning became necessary in the stormy development of cities that came with the industrial revolution. they needed a tool to ensure development in an orderly fashion, starting with general accessibility and safety for individual buildings, later including measures in the public interest: lanes for traffic, green space, areas for public utilities and seperation of functions that disturb each other. zoning never was considered a tool against urban sprawl. and zoning in democratic countries has always been a difficult balancing act between public and private interests. critics of zoning should check out kathmandu. in many neighbourhoods the only way to get in is on foot or perhaps by bike. there better not be a fire or an earth quake.Sundar1 (talk) 14:58, 10 November 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I am not sure this is the proper way to contribute to Wikipedia (too complicated for a casual user like me) but as a planner (non-practicing the profession and thus with no vested interest) I agree with you. This is a poorly written editorial, not an encyclopedic article on zoning. The first phrase should be changed or just thrown away. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.1.250.51 (talk) 00:20, 8 April 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Criticism

This article needs a criticism section. I'll get right on it. - Phattonez (talk) 20:57, 3 May 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Zoning by Income?

The article states:

In French zoning by income instead of with mixed occupation is called "zonage à l’américaine".

but there's no description of what "zoning by income" means. What exactly is this? 86.7.31.97 (talk) 18:14, 9 September 2011 (UTC)[reply]