15 terms beginning with Z.
A district within a municipality subject to uniform restrictions on building size, land use, and development. The classification must bear a substantial relation to public health, safety, morals, or general welfare to withstand constitutional challenge.
A geographic or relational area within which a person faces a foreseeable risk of physical injury from a defendant's negligent conduct. The concept determines whether the defendant owes a duty of care to the plaintiff in negligence actions, including claims for negligent infliction of emotional distress. A plaintiff outside that area ordinarily cannot recover for emotional harm caused solely by witnessing peril to another.
The area within which a person is exposed to a foreseeable risk of physical injury from a defendant's negligent conduct. A defendant owes a duty of care only to plaintiffs situated inside that area at the time of the negligent act. Plaintiffs outside the area are unforeseeable and therefore receive no protection even if they suffer actual harm.
A range of fundamental privacy rights implied by the Bill of Rights guarantees that protect intimate personal decisions and confidential information from unwarranted governmental intrusion.
A doctrinal limit on the scope of duty in negligence that confines liability to those plaintiffs situated within the range of reasonably foreseeable risk created by the defendant's conduct. A defendant owes no duty to a plaintiff outside that range even if injury occurs in fact.
A doctrine in tort law that permits recovery for negligent infliction of emotional distress when the plaintiff was located in the dangerous area created by the defendant's negligence and frightened by the risk of harm. The rule limits duty to those plaintiffs within the range of reasonably foreseeable risk at the time of the negligent act. A defendant owes no duty to a plaintiff outside that range even if injury in fact occurs.
An area of personal autonomy protected by implied constitutional guarantees emanating from the Bill of Rights. These zones shield intimate decisions such as those concerning marriage and contraception from unwarranted governmental intrusion.
A system of land-use regulation by which a municipality divides its territory into districts and restricts the uses, structures, and densities permitted within each district. The restrictions must bear a substantial relation to the public health, safety, morals, or general welfare to withstand constitutional challenge. Preexisting lawful uses receive protection as nonconforming uses, and rezonings must follow statutory notice and hearing procedures while avoiding arbitrary spot zoning.
A legislative change to a zoning ordinance or map that alters the permitted uses or development standards for designated land. The change requires notice and a public hearing and must bear a substantial relation to public health, safety, morals, or general welfare. Such amendments may create or eliminate nonconforming uses, confer vested rights when substantial expenditures occur in reliance on prior zoning, or trigger challenges for spot zoning when they single out one parcel without a legitimate public purpose.
A state statute that delegates to municipalities the power to enact zoning ordinances regulating the use of privately owned land. The statute supplies the specific grant of authority required because a general police power delegation does not extend to zoning. Municipalities may exercise only the powers expressly conferred or necessarily implied by the enabling act.
A municipal regulatory scheme that divides land into districts and restricts permissible uses within each district. The scheme is valid when the classification is reasonable and bears a substantial relation to public health, safety, morals, or general welfare. Application of the scheme to a particular parcel may be invalid if the restriction lacks that relation or rests on prejudice rather than a legitimate governmental interest.
A body of local ordinances that divide land into districts and prescribe permitted uses and structures within each district. Amendments to such ordinances must follow notice and hearing procedures and bear a substantial relation to public health, safety, morals, or general welfare. Application of the ordinances to particular parcels is subject to constitutional limits under due process and equal protection.
A municipal regulation that divides land within a city into districts and restricts the uses to which land in each district may be put. The regulation typically also controls building height, lot coverage, and density. Such an ordinance is valid when the classification bears a substantial relation to public health, safety, morals, or general welfare, but it is invalid when applied arbitrarily or without that relation.
A municipal regulation that divides land into districts and restricts permissible uses within each district. The regulation is valid when the classification bears a substantial relation to public health, safety, morals, or general welfare. Application of the regulation to a specific parcel or group may be invalid if it lacks any legitimate governmental interest or arbitrarily deprives an owner of beneficial use.
A special administrative decision that allows particular properties to fall out of compliance with zoning rules. The decision permits uses or structures that the ordinance would otherwise prohibit when the owner demonstrates hardship unique to the parcel.