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Land Use Law and Regulations Flashcards

7 cards from real AICP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 Land Use Law and Regulations flashcards as text

  1. The legal basis for most local land use regulations, including zoning, is the government's:

    Answer: Police power to protect public health, safety, and welfare

    Police power is the inherent authority of state and local governments to regulate private conduct—including land use—to protect public health, safety, morals, and general welfare.

  2. Eminent domain differs from a regulatory taking in that eminent domain:

    Answer: Involves physical acquisition of property title with payment of just compensation

    Eminent domain is the government's power to compulsorily acquire private property for public use upon payment of just compensation, whereas a regulatory taking restricts use without a physical taking of title.

  3. The Supreme Court's Dolan v. City of Tigard (1994) decision requires that conditions placed on development approvals must:

    Answer: Have an essential nexus to and be roughly proportional to the development's projected impact

    Dolan established the rough proportionality test, requiring that exactions bear an essential nexus to the development's impact and that the burden imposed be roughly proportional to that impact.

  4. Inclusionary zoning ordinances typically require developers to:

    Answer: Reserve a percentage of new housing units as affordable to lower-income households

    Inclusionary zoning mandates that a specified share of units in new residential developments be made available at below-market prices, often paired with density bonuses as developer incentives.

  5. A Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) program functions by:

    Answer: Allowing unused development potential in a sending area to be sold and applied in a designated receiving area

    TDR programs create a market mechanism where landowners in resource or open-space areas sell their development rights, and buyers can use those rights to develop at higher densities in designated growth areas.

  6. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment is implicated in land use when:

    Answer: A zoning ordinance is applied differently to similarly situated properties without rational basis

    The Equal Protection Clause requires that similarly situated landowners be treated alike; arbitrary or discriminatory application of zoning rules can constitute a constitutional violation.

  7. Procedural due process in land use decisions principally requires:

    Answer: Adequate notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard before a governmental action affecting property rights

    Procedural due process protects property owners by ensuring they receive notice and a fair hearing before the government takes action that affects their property rights.