By Dr. Wayne Batchis+ + Assistant Professor, University of Delaware. Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University, 2009; J.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1999. Excerpt from Suburbanization and Constitutional Interpretation: Exclusionary Zoning and the Supreme Court Legacy of Enabling Sprawl, 8 Stan. J.C...
By Richard D. Vetstein, ESQ Mayor Menino Targets Eyesore Satellite Dishes Consistent with his reputation as the "urban mechanic," Mayor Thomas M. Menino, along with the City Council, want to pass a new ordinance to clean satellite dish clutter on residential properties in Boston. As reported...
by the Zoning and Land Use Group Pennsylvania has enacted an important amendment to the Permit Extension Act that will extend the life of certain zoning and land-use permits and approvals to July 2016. Embedded in a finance bill (S.B. 1263, Act 87), the law was enacted by the Pennsylvania legislature...
By Richard D. Vetstein, ESQ Local Groups Wield Much Power Over Real Estate Permits & Projects If you have ever had to deal with zoning or permitting in the City of Boston, you have probably come across local neighborhood "civic associations" in which the fate of your project or permit...
By Phillip Tate Rialto Citizens for Responsible Growth v. City of Rialto ___ Cal.App. ___ (July 31, 2012, No. E052253) On July 31, 2012, the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth District held that the trial court erred in invalidating the City of Rialto's (the "City") approval...
By Richard D. Vetstein, ESQ Fate of New Long Wharf Waterfront Restaurant At Stake A neighborhood fight to preserve prime public waterfront space at the tip of Boston's Long Wharf will be heard by the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) in November. [ Editor's Note : Oral arguments were held Nov...
By Richard D. Vetstein, ESQ Does Lodging House Law Apply to Student Apartments? The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has agreed to hear the Worcester College Hill case [ enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers ] which may significantly impact landlords renting apartments to students...
Real Cases in Real Estate is a weekly update on real estate law, with legal principles illustrated and explained by lawsuits from around the country. The topics are wide-ranging for appeal to a broad spectrum of readers including lawyers, homeowners, investors and the general public. Andrea Lee Negroni...
Brian Margolies, Partner, Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP In its recent decision in State Farm Fire& Cas. Co. v. Anderson , 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 57837 (S.D. Miss. Apr. 23, 2013) [ enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers ], the United States District Court for the Southern...
By Richard D. Vetstein, ESQ 58 Legislators Pushing Comprehensive Zoning Reform Bill - "Inclusionary Zoning" Provision May Expand Controversial 40B Law With "Smart Growth" advocates strongly behind them, a cadre of Beacon Hill lawmakers are pushing a controversial bill that for...
By J. Wylie Donald, Partner, McCarter & English Columbia Law School convened a panel on hydraulic fracturing ("fracking") earlier this month. One of the subtopics was its effect on climate change mitigation. Professor Michael Gerrard laid out the pluses and minuses. On the plus side...
Not all counties are created equal when it comes to zoning. Recently, I’ve been involved in a number of zoning disputes in different Indiana counties. It’s remarkable to me that a farm situated on a county line—as many farms are—will face drastically different zoning requirements...
This article, written by a partner at a Shanghai, China, law firm, covers the conflicts between land zoning power and land development rights in China. It discusses the structure and legal attributes of the land zoning power in China, whether development rights in China are public or private, the scope...
By the Ballard Spahr LLP Zoning and Land Use Team The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a ruling in a long-running land use case holding that “extortionate demands” by the local government entity constituted illegal interference with a property owner/developer’s right to just...
BY: RONALD R. ROGERS & LEMUEL (“UEL”) DUNCAN WHITSETT, V Many North Carolina counties and cities rely on their Boards of Adjustment to review petitioners’ applications for variances, , and appeals of land use ordinance interpretations. Recently enacted legislation makes...
Updates for the Week of December 26, 2013 An outdoor wedding business “tolerated” by the city despite restrictive zoning did not “lawfully exist.” The City of Kennewick, Washington sued Cole and Julie Morgan, who operated a home-based wedding business. Kennewick, having received...
By Lawrence H. Baumiller The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that several critical provisions of Act 13, the General Assembly’s 2012 comprehensive update to the former Oil and Gas Act, are unconstitutional. In addition to invalidating a key section of Act 13 placing limits on the...
Apparently, the automobile industry is doing very well here on Long Island, New York. In any event, there is an increasing inventory of new cars being delivered to dealers who cannot sell them fast enough to consumers. Accordingly, several of our landowner clients have been approached by car dealers...
Updates for the Week of July 2, 2014 New Orleans restaurant cannot use an adjoining lot as a patio bar . The saga of Phillips’ Bar & Restaurant’s use of an adjoining lot as a reception venue and for food and alcohol sales lasted more than a decade, pitting the owners against both...
Updates for the Week of July 8, 2014 Washington subdivision homeowners cannot prevent neighbors from renting their homes for short terms . The Wilkinsons challenged a covenant adopted by a majority of homeowners in Chiwawa, a planned single-family residential community in Chelan County, Washington...
Last month, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court issued an opinion, [ enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers ], invalidating additional sections of Act 13 of 2012, Pennsylvania’s comprehensive overhaul of the former Oil and Gas Act. The cumulative effect of this ruling, combined with...
By Michael C. Murphy Citing a recently decided case in Colorado, the bankruptcy trustee for Norse Energy filed a motion in early August urging the New York Court of Appeals to re-hear arguments in the case, [ enhanced version available to lexis.com subscribers ]. In June, the Court of Appeals issued...
By David L. Reifman , Richard F. Klawiter , Paul W. Shadle , Jesse W. Dodson , and Daniel Kraft , Attorneys, DLA Piper Chicago’s City Council has introduced a proposed amendment to the existing affordable housing ordinance (the 2015 ARO) which, if passed, will change, and in most cases increase...
By Theodore J. Novak , Richard F. Klawiter , Paul W. Shadle , Mariah F. DiGrino , David L. Reifman , Jesse W. Dodson , Katherine C. Jahnke Dale , Daniel Kraft Chicago’s City Council has approved an amendment to the existing affordable housing ordinance (the 2015 ARO) which will change, and...