Revitalizing land use law: The burdens-benefits ratio principle

Abstract

As a way of celebrating its centenary, I sketch out a vision of how to revitalize land use and zoning law. Such a vision is called for not merely because of the marking of 100 years of zoning. Due to the immense impact land use laws have on human lives and their surroundings, it is crucial to regenerate the land use law system and to ground it within an ethical foundation. A land use law system should be based on an ethical commitment to fairness and sustainability. It should be guided by principles of democracy and transparency; by norms of accessibility, diversity, and density; and by a requirement to preserve a fair ratio between the distribution of burdens and the allocation of benefits. This chapter's focus is on the latter principle, which is demonstrated by two examples: on how to substantiate development agreements, and on how to analyze the distributive effect of eminent domain.