The Supreme Court has ruled that land use regulation is constitutional so long as it “substantially advance[s] legitimate governmental interests” to protect public safety, health, and welfare. Regulations must follow constitutional due process and equal protection. Government has a role in setting and enforcing reasonable and common sense laws for the communities in which we live, …
Part #1 of my series on the U.S. Constitution and land use touched upon the constitutionality of municipal zoning regulations. It is one thing to have regulations. It is another thing to use them. It is this latter item – how regulations are used – that generates a lot of legal push and pull, and …
Constitutional law can be exciting, confusing, and controversial. People appropriately chafe at burdensome laws, yet civilized societies are not civil without laws. There is a balance. Democracy is not just about finding a meaningful consensus and the majority opinion prevailing when a vote is taken, but it is also about engaging people to find solutions …
There’s a controversy in Hartford about eleven people, many unrelated to each other, living in a house zoned for single-family use. Because Hartford’s zoning regulations do not define them as being a “family”, they are in violation of the regulations about who may reside in a single-family house. “Family” is one of those words that …
Affordable means different things to different people at different times. This holds true when one is talking about housing. There is the general concept of affordable housing that applies when talking about communities or demographic groups. There is the specific reality of affordable housing that is pertinent to individual homeowners and homebuyers. Planning and zoning commissions need to …
Slippery slopes are tricky things. Their dangers are underestimated. The ability to navigate them is overestimated. Forgotten past experiences are remembered only after sliding down them. The current situation in Iraq is a slippery slope. “It’s déjà vu all over again”, as Yogi Berra once quipped. In 2011, the U.S. withdrew military forces from Iraq …
Every June 1st, it is National Cancer Survivor Day. One day each year. But, every day, someone is either given the diagnosis of or is undergoing treatment for it. Cancer affects many people. You may know someone. The American Cancer Society estimates there are approximately 14.5 million cancer survivors in the U.S. …
There are two questions that pop up during every meeting I attend of Woodstock’s Planning and Zoning Commission. Why are you doing something? Why are you not doing something? These questions can refer to a specific part of a land use application or to the general concept of planning and zoning. They also may be …
Colorectal cancer affects many people. Every day someone is either given the diagnosis of or is undergoing treatment for it. You may know someone. It is the third most common cancer in the U.S. The American Cancer Society estimates there will be approximately 135,430 people in the U.S. (approximately 1,600 people in Connecticut) given a new diagnosis of …
“Family” is one of those words that everyone knows, yet at times struggles to fully define. Over time, the thinking of what constitutes a family has changed as the actual composition of what is a family has evolved. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2013 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey, …