Public Restrictions on Land Rights (a/k/a "Zoning")

Overview of Zoning

“Zoning” refers to the use of regulation to control how development occurs in any given municipality. While it has many definitions, one simple one is that “zoning is the creation by law of districts in which regulations differing in different districts prohibit injurious or unsuitable structures and uses of structures or land.”^[1] Indiana Courts have stated that:

Zoning ordinances are enacted for the purpose of promoting the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of a community by regulating the use and development of land. The ultimate purpose of zoning ordinances is to confine certain classes of uses and structures to designated areas.^[2]

The Indiana Code takes a similar view in I.C. § 36-7-4-201^[3], which states:

(b) The purpose of this chapter is to encourage units to improve the health, safety, convenience, and welfare of their citizens and to plan for the future development of their communities to the end:

(1) that highway systems be carefully planned;

(2) that new communities grow only with adequate public way, utility, health, educational, and recreational facilities;

(3) that the needs of agriculture, forestry, industry, and business be recognized in future growth;

(4) that residential areas provide healthful surroundings for family life; and

(5) that the growth of the community is commensurate with and promotive of the efficient and economical use of public funds.

In essence, zoning divides land into broad types – “residential, commercial, business, and industrial”^[4] – and then divides them into sub-zones, with each zone and sub-zone addressing different types of development and use.

Zoning is a complex kettle of fish and could easily be the subject of its own course. Therefore, we will necessarily avoid too much depth and complexity in what follows, while at the same time attempting to cover the important bases.

[1] Williams, Frank B. The Law of City Planning and Zoning, New York: Macmillan, 1922. 204. Print.

[2] Deiss v. Bd. of Zoning Appeals of Boone County, 926 N.E.2d 63, 67 (Ind. App. 2010).

[3] Zoning is such a big topic that the entirety of I.C. § 36-7-4 deals with it.

[4] City of Carmel v. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc., 883 N.E.2d 781, 787 (Ind. 2008).