Course Description
601:549. LAND USE LAW & POLICY (3)
Exclusion: Students taking this course cannot also take Regulation of Land Use (601:636).
This course examines how the development and preservation of land is shaped and controlled through government regulation. Among the major issues this course will examine are: the law of zoning, the constitutional constraints on land use regulation, and the establishment and enforcement of subdivision controls, building codes, and other development regulations. The course will explore several current topics in land use regulation, including exclusionary zoning, environmental justice, smart growth, and historic preservation. Students will approach these questions from both theoretical and practical vantage points. A hot topic in New Jersey land use law is the aftermath of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s March 2015 decision in In re Adoption of N.J.A.C. 5:96 & 5:97, 221 N.J. 1 (2015), an opinion that returned Mount Laurel compliance to the trial courts (in place of the New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing), and this course will include consideration of the issues that arise from that landmark opinion.