Also known as: zones · zoning · zoned · zoning ordinance
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
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 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.
Zephyr Zola owns land in a newly zoned residential district. She obtains a final judgment in the United States District Court for the District of Guam upholding the zoning classification. She files a notice of appeal. The court of appeals accepts jurisdiction because the order constitutes a final decision of a district court within the territories covered by the statute.
An area of protected personal autonomy emanating from Bill of Rights guarantees. State regulation that intrudes into intimate decisions within this area, such as marital use of contraceptives, triggers heightened scrutiny.
Zander Ziegler and his wife consult a physician in their state about obtaining contraceptives for use within their marriage. The state statute prohibits distribution to married persons. The couple challenges the law, arguing that it invades the protected marital zone and lacks sufficient justification under heightened scrutiny.
An area of protected personal autonomy emanating from Bill of Rights guarantees. State regulation that intrudes into intimate decisions within this area, such as marital use of contraceptives, triggers heightened scrutiny.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Zoya Zafar owns a tavern that operated lawfully before the city enacted new zoning rules banning liquor sales in the district. She continues the use without interruption. The city seeks to shut down the tavern immediately, but Zoya retains the vested right to continue the nonconforming use until abandonment or amortization occurs.
Zack Zuniga offers into evidence a document bearing the official seal of a municipal zoning board. The opposing party objects for lack of authentication. The court admits the document without extrinsic evidence because the seal satisfies the self-authentication rule for seals of United States territories.
Zelda Zavala purchases land subject to a municipal zoning ordinance limiting building height. A neighbor claims the ordinance creates an enforceable servitude. The court holds that public land-use regulations such as zoning fall outside the definition of servitudes under the Restatement.
Zenon Zeller owns a parcel reclassified by the city from commercial to residential use with no relation to health or safety concerns. The new classification prevents any economically viable use of the land. Zeller sues, claiming the ordinance as applied constitutes an arbitrary deprivation of property without due process.
The use must have been lawful when established. The owner generally retains a vested right to continue it unless the use is abandoned, discontinued for the statutory period, or subject to a valid amortization ordinance.
The restriction must lack a substantial relation to public health, safety, or welfare and must arbitrarily deprive the owner of all beneficial use of the property. Courts examine whether the classification or boundary is reasonable under the circumstances.
No. Zoning and other public land-use regulations are expressly excluded from the definition of servitudes because they arise from governmental power rather than private agreement.
Later cases extended the privacy right recognized in Griswold to other intimate decisions, including contraception for unmarried persons and abortion, though the scope and doctrinal foundation have evolved.
…v. Botsford , 141 U.S. 250 (1891), the Court has recognized that a right of personal privacy, or a guarantee of certain areas or zones of privacy, does exist under the Constitution. This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment's concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as…