Zoning

Early Development

Zoning as a technique for land use control originated in Germany. The Hamburg suburb of Altona adopted the first zoning ordinance regulating the bulk of structures in 1884, and similar ordinances soon appeared in numerous German cities. The technique was first fully embraced in the United States by advocates of the progressive reform movement in the early years of the 20th century, but recognition of zoning as a useful regulatory device can be seen even earlier in the garden city and city beautiful movements of the late 19th century. These roots of zoning were contradictory, however. City planners and housing advocates saw zoning as a tool to guide urban development for community betterment, but real estate and business interests saw it as a way to maintain property values and increase the productivity of land.

Control in the United States

Prior to the introduction of zoning as the fundamental method of land use, the use of land and buildings was controlled by a combination of restrictive covenants and common-law nuisance actions. Restrictive covenants, and similar devices known as equitable servitudes, allow a property owner to place restrictions in the deeds of land sold for development. If drafted properly, these deed restrictions can be enforced by one owner against another owner of property governed by the restrictions. These private covenants were in common use in the United States by the start of the 20th century and, while often used for legitimate purposes such as restricting the property to use as a single-family dwelling, also frequently barred racial and religious minorities from ownership. In 1948, however, the Supreme Court ruled that racially restrictive covenants, and [Page 790]by implication religiously restrictive covenants, could not be enforced by the courts (Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 [1948]). Restrictive covenants remain a significant tool for imposing private (i.e., nongovernmental) controls on the use of land and are commonly placed in deeds by developers, with enforcement powers granted to a homeowners’ association.

...