If I Wanted A Real World Experience As A Planner

In 1969, Massachusetts fashioned the law 40B, famously referred to as the “Anti-Snob Zoning Act”, which allows developers to bypass land use restrictions in towns where less than ten percent of the housing meets the state definition of affordable. There are multiple positions and solutions to friction in Massachusetts largely inspired by controversy surrounding the State's affordable housing law, Massachusetts General Laws chapter 40B between housing advocates and open space advocates. This thesis reviews and critiques the current law, and diagnoses various legislative proposals for the progressive feud.

The majority opinion I feel like changed the way they looked at the Fifth Amendment to the best public purpose not the best public use of the land in order to justify their ruling. I also feel like their ruling left the door open to many more eminent domain cases because they didn’t create a fine line between what was to be considered to be legal and illegal. I feel like the minority was also correct in saying that this will be considered the norm and therefor taking away the rights given to property owners through the constitution. I also couldn’t find anywhere that it was stated that there were negotiations for the property; I did find in an article that the plaintiffs in the case were not hold outs. Either the NLDC should have purchased the property rights from the owners or the City of New London should have to achieve the most efficient

* Thorne is a member of the County Council’s Land Use Committee and one of the promoter of the two amendments applied to the original UGA. Also Thorne is very linked with

By having knowledge of the chromium in the water supply, PG&E should have been required to let the people know that were affected by it. By not telling the citizens, they were withholding information that affected these people’s lives. Because a risk was created, consequences came, and nothing was done to prevent such injuries that did occur, PG&E should have been considered negligent.

Our journal for the third week of class was to watch the movie A Civil Action, since we would not be in class. This movie was interesting because Jan Schlichtmann who was originally a greedy personal injury lawyer decides to take on case due to the potentially large settlement involved. Unfortunately, the case eventually bankrupted him and his staff. At the end of the movie, the viewer is able to see that he did not continue the case for the money once he began understand the entire situation. This movie chronicled the progression of Schlichtmann accepting the case to becoming broke. Because the movie carefully showed the underlying issues of water contamination in Woburn, Michigan. This allowed the viewer to understand that there is a fair amount of meetings and negotiations that happen behind the scenes in the legal system. Despite the fact that he was a talented lawyer who could negotiate. It was awfully apparent that in the short term the legal team with the most money and power would win the case, but not in the long run. When Schlichtmann decided to hand the case to the EPA they were able to out power and outspend Beatrice foods, Riley Tannery and chemical company W.R Grace; the companies involved in the water contamination issue.

The Supreme Court is right when agrees with the lower court in regards to the quasi-judicial nature of the rezoning action. The zoning board has different roles when is involved in the zoning board and the comprehensive plan process. Some of them include enacting zoning ordinances and law

Other amendments to the SAP were approved by the Zoning Ordinance of City of Miami, after the developer purchased adjacent properties that were

In the Kelo case, Legal Reasoning was prevalent in application of law to the outcome of the decision. Justice Stevens followed the guidelines that it was the courts duty to determine the wisdom of the government’s attempt to exercise eminent domain, and that the court should not allow its decision to be deviated by the hardship that one might incur when unwillingly relinquishing their home or property. The large media influence on the Kelo strengthened the importance of Legal Reasoning even more. The court found it necessary to remove all emotions involved in listening about an individual that was about to lose the home that they had lived in their entire life and make a decision that would be for the better good of the people.

Although drinking water is not yet known to have been affected, the groundwater was contaminated with volatile organic compounds and heavy metals (5). Both of these types of contaminants have been linked with one or several of the following: cancer, liver, kidney, and nervous system problems (4). In July 1979, the State Court required that all material be removed from the site by July 1980 (5). The state has spent over $300,000 cleaning this site (5). According to EPA standards, this site is in the "construction completed" stage of clean up. This does not mean, however that actual cleanup is complete because groundwater may need to be treated more than 30 years before contaminants are at accepted levels (5).

While reviewing the site plan, city staff noticed that the proposed barn was within 75 feet of Smith’s 7-acre wetland. A State of Minnesota statute, adopted in 1985, required government municipalities to establish “a minimum 50 foot buffer as the standard for protecting water quality” in state wetlands. Lilliput enacted this policy, but in 1990 the city increased the size of the buffer to 150 feet from a surface wetland. This was based upon City Council concerns that Lilliput’s heavy farming and cattle ranching could pose a threat to the preservation of the wetlands.

During the month of November, me, Luis, and 3 of my other suitemates entered the KEEN Case and Commerce Engineering Challenge at Gonzaga University. In this 12 hour challenge, we were asked to present our solutions to various challenges involving ethics, energy, pollution, and cost. This experience taught us the importance of teamwork and communication when proposing solutions in engineering and to consider the effects the proposal will have on all people in the surrounding community, including the underrepresented populations in the engineering workforce. In our particular case, we had to perform research on the death and suffering that the Native American population endured as a result of the implementation of dams along the Spokane River due to the miscommunication between tribal leaders and government officials. This practice also applies to the Latino community as well since us engineers hold the responsibility of looking out for the well-being of all surrounding communities based off of our proposed solutions and to consider the potential advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, this was a crucial learning point for me that has opened my eyes to the potential negative consequences that can result due to

Facts: The city of New London approved a new development plan to build a new hotel and marina in hopes of revitalizing its economy and infrastructure. New London Development Corporation (NLDC), a private nonprofit entity planned to use the state approved $5.35-million-dollar bond issue to purchase the land needed to build. With approval from the state the NLDC began purchasing properties from willing sellers and use eminent domain to acquire the rest of the properties. Condemnation proceedings later began and petitions argued that they were condemned because they were located in the development area. The Superior Court agreed and granted a permanent restraining

I feel that everything was discussed in a rush that it really did not give the commissioner’s time to really think the issues that were discussed through. The commissioner meetings have an agenda that must be followed and lets them be aware of all the subjects that need to be discussed. I know this meeting was being rushed because there was one time that they even accidently skipped one subject and had to go back to it. I was told that usually commissioner meetings are usually two hours long and this meeting was only one hour and eighteen minutes long. I must also say that not everyone in the council think alike. I felt that some agreed and some disagreed by the comments and suggestions they would give to certain issues.

Your Planning Commission (PC) publicly hears rezoning proposals, considering their long-term effects. Your property is surrounded by Agricultural Zones with Multiple Family Housing across the street. Rezoning to a General Business District would create an unconnected zone called a “spot zone.” This is the allowance of a more “intensive” use of land than your neighbors. While your karate studio may not be bothersome, a zoning change is permanent, meaning your site could become far more intensive in the future and may disrupt your neighbors. It is unlikely the township will favor this option. You could possibly sue. The courts utilize a comprehensive plan, which Lake Township lacks, to judge the legality of the “spot zone.” However, rezoning is still inadvisable since the new zone will compound problems by making your residence a “non-conforming” use. Your house would be “grandfathered in,” meaning you could continue using it, but a non-conforming use cannot expand, change, or significantly improve. . Perhaps the best argument is, a likelier and less intensive route

When offered financial compensation for land used for the pipeline, tribal leaders refused outright. If an agreement is going to be made that satisfies both parties, each will have find the middle ground in certain areas. After the initial Environmental Impact Statement, Energy Transfer Partners agreed to lower the depth that the pipeline runs under Lake Oahe to double the originally planned depth. If Energy Transfer Partners are willing to make changes to their plans, then the Sioux should also. It is understandable that the Sioux refused, as they see the land as their own and do not think that they should be required to make exceptions for corporations to build on it. However, one must acknowledge the realities of the world we live in today and accept that certain projects are going to continue whether the tribe like it or not, so they might as well attempt to get the best deal that they