AICP Land Use Law and Regulations 2

Question 1

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

Accepted Answer

Police power to protect public health, safety, and welfare

Answer

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.

Question 2

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

Accepted Answer

Involves physical acquisition of property title with payment of just compensation

Answer

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.

Question 3

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

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

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.

Question 4

Inclusionary zoning ordinances typically require developers to:

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

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.

Question 5

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

Accepted Answer

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

Answer

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.

AICP - American Institute of Certified Planners Practice Test

AICP - American Institute of Certified Planners Practice Test

AICP Land Use Law and Regulations 2