Risk Management for Land Use Regulations: A Proposed Model

This Article constructs a conservative legal framework to guide planners in conventional planning activities. It further proposes that planners should apply the model to these conventional activities, but work closely with the municipal attorney before adopting more innovative and controversial planning devices.This Article proceeds in four major sections. Section I commences, with historical reviews: major changes in land use planning within the last 50 years, the land development problems associated with those changes, and judicial responses to these same problems. Comparisons are frequently made between cases from a rustbelt Midwestern state (Ohio) and cases from a faster growing sunbelt state (North Carolina).

Section I concludes by assessing the case law's effectiveness (as both a check on the abuse of planning powers and a guide for planning offices) and by previewing a responsive planning model. The remainder of the Article develops the office procedures model. The office procedures are grouped under three major headings: Section II discusses long range planning procedures, Section III discusses implementation of planning policies through ordinance drafting and mapping, and Section IV discusses the day-to-day administration of planning regulations.