AICP General 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The 'holding zone' is a zoning tool primarily used to:
- Freeze all development indefinitely
- Reserve land for future uses while allowing limited interim uses until infrastructure is in place (Correct answer)
- Protect agricultural land from all non-farm uses
- Prohibit any new construction within a floodplain
Correct answer: Reserve land for future uses while allowing limited interim uses until infrastructure is in place
Holding zones allow municipalities to control premature development in areas not yet ready for planned uses due to lack of infrastructure or services.
Question 2: Which Supreme Court case established that government may not take private property for purely private benefit, but controversially allowed economic development takings?
- Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City
- Kelo v. City of New London (Correct answer)
- Nollan v. California Coastal Commission
- Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council
Correct answer: Kelo v. City of New London
Kelo v. City of New London (2005) held that economic development could qualify as a public use under the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause, sparking widespread legislative backlash.
Question 3: A 'transect' as used in new urbanist planning refers to:
- A traffic count methodology
- A cross-sectional gradient from rural to urban environments used to organize land use regulations (Correct answer)
- A GIS technique for mapping topography
- A type of environmental impact corridor
Correct answer: A cross-sectional gradient from rural to urban environments used to organize land use regulations
The transect, popularized by Andres Duany, organizes the built environment along a rural-to-urban gradient (T1–T6) to guide context-sensitive land use and form regulations.
Question 4: Under NEPA, a 'Finding of No Significant Impact' (FONSI) is issued after completing which document?
- Environmental Impact Statement
- Environmental Assessment (Correct answer)
- Record of Decision
- Categorical Exclusion
Correct answer: Environmental Assessment
A FONSI is the conclusion of an Environmental Assessment (EA), indicating that the proposed action will not significantly affect the environment and therefore an EIS is not required.
Question 5: Which demographic tool measures the number of live births per 1,000 women of childbearing age (15–44) per year?
- Crude birth rate
- Total fertility rate
- General fertility rate (Correct answer)
- Cohort fertility rate
Correct answer: General fertility rate
The general fertility rate refines the crude birth rate by limiting the denominator to women of childbearing age (15–44), making it a more precise fertility measure.
Question 6: A planner is preparing a housing needs assessment. Which of the following indicators best measures housing affordability for renters?
- Median home value
- Rent-to-income ratio (Correct answer)
- Vacancy rate
- Average household size
Correct answer: Rent-to-income ratio
The rent-to-income ratio (commonly the '30% rule') measures whether households can afford housing by comparing gross rent to gross household income.
Question 7: The principle of 'concurrency' in growth management requires that:
- New development must occur simultaneously in multiple zones
- Public infrastructure and services must be available concurrent with the impacts of new development (Correct answer)
- Zoning amendments must be reviewed simultaneously with subdivision applications
- Environmental reviews must coincide with fiscal impact analyses
Correct answer: Public infrastructure and services must be available concurrent with the impacts of new development
Concurrency, pioneered in Florida's 1985 Growth Management Act, mandates that adequate infrastructure capacity exist or be committed before development is approved.
AICP General 3
The 'holding zone' is a zoning tool primarily used to: