Policy Study
"washing Penor May 1999,
LAND USE REFORM THROUGH
PERFORMANCE ZONING
vam 8 epgers
|. INTRODUCTION
Lancuse zoning is not likely to disappear anytime in the near
future, ithas become ingrained on the American conse‘ousness
like fast food restaurants, baseball, and apple pie. A majority of
Americans have never lived in a community that did not have
zoning's myriad land-use restrictions and regulations. However,
up unill 73 years ago when, in 1918, New York City became the
first major city to pass a large-scale zoning ordinance, zoning as
an institution did aot realy exist in the United States. Instead, for
the most part, property owners determined how fo use their
proserties,
However, by the 1920s, policymakers, evaking @ new-found faith
in the benefits of “ational plaming," segan promoting zoning as
an anvdote to rising citizen concerns over raoid urbanization,
Zoning spread quickly throughout the country as people locked to
land-use regulations to preserve or plan treit communities. In the
19508 the zoning bug spread beyond major cies, and oy 1970
zoning could be faund in most of the nation’s cites, suburbs, and
even rural areas,
Historically, zoning hes always had erities among those who
porcelved It as an erosion of basic propery rights. However, one
need not even delve into the moral and philosophical objactions
to zoning from @ property-rights perspective in order to argue forthe scrapping of conventional zoning. From a practical standpoint
zoning has simply not worked well. Slowly, policymakers have
grudgingly acknowledged that conventional. "Euclidean" zoning
isnot all ils cracked up to be. It has distorted land markets by
Inoreasing land orices In some zones whi depressing prices in
others. Ithas failed to ensure quality development. Itnas
contributed to increased housing prices in soma instances. It has
sometimes inhibited economic growth which, in turn, has
contrizuted to the economic stagnation and suasequent
deterioration of some communities. Further, zoning’s volumincus
regulations have rarely been falry oF consistently applied.
Captured by powertu' poltical interests, since its inception, zoning
has been syronomous with abuse.
In short, itis time to ciscard the tired baggage of conventional
zoning and siart afresh with a new aporoacii to land-use poiicy.
What is neaded ars lang-use policies that recognize the
Importance of the market as & Tlexibie institution tor meeting the
changing needs of @ cammunity. At present it's unrealistic to
expect communities to revert back to a completely laissez faire
Jand-use system, Yet there are feasible alternatives that might
move us in the direction of a more market-oriented and floxible
approach to land-use decisions,
Any alternative eporoach to zoning should strive to: 1) achieve a
high degree of flexibility; 2) increase certainty in land-use policy;
S) increase use of market signals to determine land-use; 4)
reduce pelleymaker discretion and arbitrary land-vse decisions by
policymakers; §) reduce delays in the application approval
rogess: and tirally 6) strengthen protection of property against
Uncormpensated "takings."
An alternative system that accomplishes some but not ail of these
objectives was frst instituted in 1981 In the city of Fort Collins,
Caloraco. Fort Collins, @ city of 90,000 residents and growing, has
cone the unthinaable. The cky has dropped zoning and replaced
itwith @ system based on performance criteria rather than
predetermined planners’ grids. Fort Collins's experience
demonstrates how a community can fend off ano-crowth
movement by a Skil{Ll use of deregulation and markat incentives,coupled with measures to miigate the advarse effects of
development-for example, traffic congestion, pollution, erosion,
noise, and so on,