A “referendum” broadly speaking is the reservation by the people of the State, or local subdivision, of the right to have submitted for their approval or rejection, under certain prescribed conditions, a law or part of a law passed by the law making body. More ...

Months before the ball drops at Times Square heralding the arrival of 2008, the year 2008 comprehensive zoning map process begins in Baltimore County. The year 2008 comprehensive rezoning actually commences September 4, 2007. All landowners - whether needing a zoning change for proposed new ...

Baltimore County’s updated and revised planned unit development (PUD) regulations offer an innovative approach to land use approvals. PUDs Defined PUDs are defined in a widely quoted New Jersey court decision as “getting away from the Euclidean principle of blocking out designated districts for specific ...

The Oregon Supreme Court has just upheld a sweeping voter initiated measure that allows a property owner to seek compensation from the government if land use regulations reduce the value of their land. Given that Oregon’s land use laws are often cited as the philosophical ...

Baltimore County property owners have a new arrow in their quiver for large scale redevelopment in older communities. With the adoption of the Renaissance Redevelopment Pilot Program, by Bill 120-04 effective for five years beginning December 19, 2004, the County Council tweaked the collaborative design ...

In a major victory for property rights, on November 2, 2004, Oregon voters passed Ballot Measure 37 with 60% of the vote. The measure provides that an owner of private real property is entitled to receive just compensation when a land use regulation is enacted ...

Much attention is being paid to a recent decision by the Court of Appeals of Maryland that vacated an order of the Wicomico County Board of Zoning Appeals because the Board improperly denied a variance request to build a hunting camp within the Chesapeake Bay ...

Zoning is a relatively new invention in Maryland. Zoning did not exist when the province of Maryland was first granted in 1634 and it was not until nearly 300 years later that the courts first upheld the enactment of a zoning ordinance in Baltimore City. ...