Land Use

Find and fix common land use mistakes in your city's ordinances.

Learn the basics of why and how cities engage in land use planning and regulation.

Learn about variances as a way cities may allow an exception to part of their zoning ordinance.

Learn the basics of conditional use permits (CUPs) in administering the city’s land use ordinances.

Learn the nature of a city’s decision-making authority and the legal standards associated with variances, conditional use permits, and nonconformities.

Learn the procedures for incorporating, consolidating, and dissolving cities and the related procedures of concurrent annexation and detachment.

Find out about the most significant environmental regulations to help protect and improve your city’s natural resources.

Learn the framework of municipal zoning and basics of other land use controls available to cities to complement zoning controls.

Learn the framework of municipal subdivision regulation, a basic building block in city land use and development plans.

What a city can do about land uses or structures that don't comply with its current zoning ordinance.