Here’s a big “Thank You!” from our Zoning Guru, Rodney Nanney, to Shelley Tucker and the Michigan Townships Association for hosting such a great series of “Summer Evening” planning/zoning workshops across the state!

All four sessions were well attended, and all four venues were top notch. It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to present our “Nine Golden Rules for Defensible Decision-making” workshop, and to have a few extra minutes to talk about what Planning Commissions should be doing right now during this period of very tight budgets and little development activity.

If you would like to invite Building Place Consultants and Rodney Nanney out to make a presentation to your community group, check out our Speaking Opportunities page or click here to contact Rodney directly.

Solar panels OK for home, legal battle over for Canton couple

The push for alternative and renewable energy production in Michigan received a small but important boost recently when a Canton, Michigan homeowners’ association (HOA) backed down from its initial decision to deny the installation of solar cells on the roof of a home.  Here is an excerpt from the Detroit Free Press article: (more…)

2010 Michigan Townships Association Educational Conference Session

Thank you to everyone who attended our recent session on regulating small wind turbines at the recent Michigan Townships Association conference in Grand Rapids. Click here to view our PowerPoint presentation, and to download the handout materials. Click here to contact Mr. Nanney directly with any additional questions.

The following was adapted from an update prepared by Kurt Schindler at MSU-Extension; reprinted with permission from the author:

The Michigan Commission on Agriculture has adopted a new Generally Accepted Agricultural Management Practice (GAAMP) for farm markets (effective January 2010).

NOTE:  Under Michigan’s sweeping Right to Farm legislation, if the subject is covered by GAAMP standards issued by the Michigan Department of Agriculture, then it entirely preempts local zoning, including any special use approval or prohibition of the land use!

What is a “farm market” under the new GAAMP?

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The following case summary was adapted from one prepared by Kurt Schindler at MSU-Extension; excerpts reprinted with permission from the author. The Zoning Guru chose this case because it answers the $Million question elected officials face when confronted with a development-related lawsuit:

“Do we defend our master plan?“

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From the Planning and Zoning Center at Michigan State University:

Registration for the Fall 2009 Michigan Zoning Administrator Certificate Program offered by the Planning and Zoning Center at MSU is now open.  There are eight modules included in each training program leading to a certificate of completion for those that pass an exam associated with each module. Each module is about three hours of instruction (24 hours total).

Dates and locations:

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Apparently we should designate August as the “Planners in Literature Month” here at the Building Place Notebook.

It is true that the dog days of summer are a great time to enjoy a quiet evening with a little light reading.  We have a great “light” book to recommend today as part of the Building Place “planning fiction” series of short stories or vignettes.

Today’s posting is an excerpt from the Tom Bodett book, The End of the Road - a collection of light-hearted short stories about the people of the town of “End of the Road, Alaska.”  This book is a rarety in that it includes a couple of stories involving a professional land use planner (Mr. Emmitt Frank) as a major character.

A summary of The End of the Road from the back cover:

It’s a small Alaska town where people leave their pretensions back where they came from, and urban planners push more snow than pencils. Where New Age missionaries make appearances at the bowling alley, and the police chief weeps over the plight of Bambi. And where the Mayor stays in office mostly because folks don’t want the bother of trainin’ up a new one….

Excerpt from The End of the Road, by Tom Bodett

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The Zoning Guru frequently receives suggestions on new community planning and urban design related websites to check out.  Dwell.com and Inhabitat.com are two of the latest.

Intriguing e-magazine sites covering architecture, urban design, and sustainability topics, these two websites recently co-sponsored the “Reburbia” design competition, which was intended to “to come up with some radical new ideas as to how turn the bleak future of the suburbs around.”

One of those “radical” ideas is entitled, “Entrepreneurbia,” which takes the concepts of “home occupation” and “home-based business” out to and far beyond their logical extreme…

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The following case summary was adapted from one prepared by Kurt Schindler at MSU-Extension; excerpts reprinted with permission from the author.  For the Zoning Guru, this case raises an important question for planners and zoning administrators:

“Do you know what’s in your zoning ordinance?“

Court: Michigan Court of Appeals (Unpublished No. 283202, March 17, 2009)

Case Name:  Richie v. Gladwin County

Background:

Mr. Ritchie (the plaintiff) removed a barn from his square (four sides of equal length), corner lot at Highwood and Hay Roads in Gladwin County, and constructed a quonset hut on the barn’s foundations.

“At issue was whether the portion of plaintiffs’ property on Hay Road was…

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The term ‘spot zoning’ does not appear in the compiled laws of the State of Michigan, and is rarely mentioned in local zoning ordinances.  Spot zoning is a legal concept determined by judges or juries ruling on individual cases, so the meaning and interpretation of the concept can vary considerably from place to place.

Justice Potter Stewart, U.S. Supreme Court

The most common response I’ve heard to the question “What is spot zoning?” is an echo of Justice Potter Stewart’s quote about pornography:  “I can’t tell you exactly what spot zoning is, but I know it when I see it.”

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Rodney C. Nanney, AICP, principal planner for Building Place, is an innovative provider of solutions to community planning, zoning, and local economic development challenges.  As a writer, public speaker, and community planning consultant, Mr. Nanney consistently strives to translate the tangled legalisms and technical jargon of zoning and land development into everyday language.

Mr. Nanney currently has several openings available to speak on these and related topics before your local business or community group.  Possible topics include:
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Click here for full size image

The Michigan Association of Planning, the statewide organization for planning commissioners and professional community planners, is offering excellent introductory workshops this spring, which are especially good for new planning commissioners and zoning board of appeals members.  “Planning and Zoning Essentials” will…

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“Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.” - Benjamin Franklin

With 3,288 miles of shoreline in the State of Michigan (second only to Alaska) and 11,000 inland lakes, Michigan planners working for local government regularly come into contact with two state agencies with jurisdiction over our water, the Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) and the Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).

It is the MDNR side that is the focus of our next Building Place Notebook case summary, posted below courtesy of Kurt Schindler at MSU-Extension.

This is a cautionary tale about why it is better for state agencies and other entities considering projects over which local  authority is in question (such as new public school construction) to take the extra time to work collaboratively with local governments on projects in their jurisdiction.

What attracted The Zoning Guru’s attention to this case was the fishy smell wafting off of a state agency’s attempt to preempt local regulations…

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A key objective of community planning is the building of healthy, vibrant, and distinctive neighborhoods.

Proximity, association, and accessibility between home, work, and leisure activities are essential factors in building places with a strong sense of community.  In the book A Pattern Language, author Christopher Alexander advocates for a comprehensive change in the nature of zoning.  He envisions a work - home relationship where…

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Justice William J. Brennan, U.S. Supreme Court

To be effective, professional planners must stay up-to-date on the twists and turns of case law involving planning, zoning, and land development litigation.  Fortunately, we Michigan planners have several excellent resources available, including Kurt Schindler at MSU-Extension and Mark Wyckoff’s Planning and Zoning News.

Our first case summary for the Building Place Notebook is offered below courtesy of Mr. Schindler.  This rezoning case caught my attention because I happened to be there for part of it (early in my career as an entry-level staff planner).  Also, the “Penn Central” test described below is from a “landmark” U.S. Supreme Court case involving regulatory takings, which frequently appears on the American Planning Association’s AICP certification exam (please pardon the obscure pun)….

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UPDATE: Thank you to all that attended our recent conference session entitled “Brevity or Ambiguity: What’s in Your Zoning Ordinance?” Click here for the PowerPoint presentation and links to more information.

ORIGINAL POST:

“Brevity” and “clarity” are not words that leap to mind when referring to the character of most zoning ordinance language.  Local zoning ordinances have a broad impact on residents, property owners and business owners.   Too often the text of such ordinances, having accumulated years of amendments, has become ambiguous and unintelligible.  Clear, brief, and unambiguous writing is a key to developing a zoning ordinance that is easy to understand, administrate and enforce.

State-of-the-art zoning regulations must be well organized and easily understood by those who do not possess advanced degrees in either law or community planning.  Here are the top ten ways for planning commissioners and elected officials to apply the principles of brevity and clarity to a zoning ordinance:

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