Land Use
Certificate(s): Public Interest and Social Justice Law (List C)
Course Description:
The Land Use seminar explores legal regulation of land use and land development. The seminar’s main focus is on local land use planning and controls, including comprehensive planning, zoning, subdivision controls, and planned communities. In-depth discussion of major issues in land use law including local environmental controls, affordable housing strategies, and many other city-based or county-based legal controls over how land can be used. The interaction between federal and state law is characteristic of the primarily locally-based land use law regulation in the United States. Certificate(s): Public Interest and Social Justice Law (List C)
Class Notes:
The Land Use Law Seminar provides a unique opportunity to study how local governments regulate the use of land through planning, zoning, subdivision regulation and other controls. In other words, this seminar is about local environmental law. Legal regulation of both private and public uses of land in urban, suburban, exurban and rural areas is one focus of the seminar. Other land use control strategies through nuisance law and private land use arrangements also play a role in local land use control systems. Primarily looking at California law, the seminar also will explore constitutional issues such as takings and First Amendment freedoms of religion and of expression as they arise in local land use controversies. Accommodation of potentially conflicting interests of landowners, neighbors, communities, and regional interests causes regulation of transportation and affordable housing especially challenging. The first reading assignment will be posted on Camino. The top five students on the wait list should attend the first day. The course is graded, based on a seminar paper and participation in weekly seminar discussions.
