Amendments To Zoning Regulations
Amendments to zoning regulations may be subject to judicial review should such amendments be challenged as ultra vires or unconstitutional.
The standard applied to the amendment to determine whether it may survive judicial scrutiny is the same as the review of a zoning ordinance: whether the restriction is arbitrary or whether it bears a reasonable relationship to the exercise of the state's police power.
If the residents in the targeted neighborhood complain about the amendment, their argument in court does not allow them any vested right to keep the zoned district the same. However, they do not have to prove the difficult standard that the amendment amounts to a taking. If the gain to the public for the rezoning is small compared to the hardships that would affect the residents, then the amendment may be granted if it provides relief to the residents.
If the local zoning authority passes the zoning amendment, then spot zoning allegations may arise should the rezoning be preferential in nature and cannot be reasonably justified.
Read more about this topic: Zoning In The United States
Famous quotes containing the words amendments and/or regulations:
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—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“The admission of Oriental immigrants who cannot be amalgamated with our people has been made the subject either of prohibitory clauses in our treaties and statutes or of strict administrative regulations secured by diplomatic negotiations. I sincerely hope that we may continue to minimize the evils likely to arise from such immigration without unnecessary friction and by mutual concessions between self-respecting governments.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)