Fla. L. Rev. Forum

Land use law suffers from something of a split personality. On the one hand, zoning and land use controls represent the product of a planning process aimed at improving municipal design. Urban planners set forth aspirational goals that zoning and land use controls seek to achieve. On the other, modern land use practices tend to treat zoning as a framework for bargaining between developers and municipal officials. Some municipalities set aside large swaths of land in holding zones so that any development will require negotiation. And even where practices are not so explicit, most development projects of any significant size will require discretionary approvals that provide an opportunity for bargaining between developers and municipal officials. Read More.