Carl Stephani - Zoning 101: A Practical Introduction

We have been very gratified about the fact that prior editions of this book have been well received and widely utilized. This book was originally published by the National League of Cities and is now being published by the authors. This edition of the book includes a variety of minor corrections and additions throughout the text, based on suggestions received by the authors. The book remains fundamentally the same with the same intent: to provide an easy-to-understand, short and concise description of the fundamentals of zoning.

Carl & Marilyn Stephani

Zoning is a major and ongoing concern for local governments of all sizes, and often, zoning decisions are controversial. They can dominate the news media and galvanize citizens to spea k out in council meetings. Zoning issues also can be exceedingly complex.

Most zoning disputes, no matter how controversial or complex, are rooted in conflicts related to one or more of the basic principles of the typical zoning ordinance. To help local government officials understand these principles, the National League of Cities has published Zoning 101.

Written especially for local elected government leaders, this guidebook is designed as a primer to

introduce and explain the basic philosophy, terminology, elements, and procedures of zoning. It should be especially useful for local leaders in small communities where there are few, if any, full-time planning staff professionals, and for newly elected government officials who may be unfamiliar with basic zoning definitions and practices.

Carl J. Stephani, a local government planner and manager, and Marilyn C. Stephani, a real estate agent, wrote Zoning 101. The National League of Cities (NLC) appreciates their careful and extensive work on this project. We also thank NLC's Camille Kellogg, Mae Davis, and Jan Hammett for providing editorial, design, desktop publishing, and production support in preparing this guidebook for publication. This latest edition (the first edition was entitled A Practical Introduction to Zoning) contains additions and refinements that enhance the utility of the guidebook, which we believe is a must-have for any local elected government leader.

Donald J. Borut, Executive Director

Jeff Fletcher, Director, Center for Member Programs

National League of Cities

Zoning is the most pervasive public regulation. It is the epicenter of local politics. It touches and concerns the lives of ordinary people every day and in every way. Zoning has its roots in the nuisance avoidance police power regulations of over a century ago, but it has grown in ways never anticipated when the U. S. Department of Commerce proposed the Standard Zoning Enabling Act in the mid- 1920s. As a planner-lawyer, I am inundated with the latest offerings in the esoterica of zoning massive printed treatises and texts of multiple volumes, monographs on such narrowly focused issues as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, and even totally computer-driven regulatory systems with nothing specified and everything by right subject to formulas that can be run if you have a spare gigabyte of memory.

But here in Zoning 101 - A Practical Introduction, we have a plain-language text with its feet firmly planted in the day-to-day realities of zoning theory and administration. From the galaxy of distant treatments of this enormous subject, Zoning 101 lightens our sky with a constellation of just seven basic elements that form the center of the universe for all zoning ordinances. Although ZONING 101 is probably of greatest interest to the inexperienced lay person, even the most hardened zoning veteran will find this book of interest.

The authors combine in their backgrounds more than four decades of professional planning experience, as well as service in elected city and county positions, and in real estate sales and development. That experience brought to bear on this subject makes this second edition of their book essential reading for every citizen who is interested in understanding this important aspect of the operation of their local government. Readers will find this book useful as a primary text for their own education, but I refer to it now and again when I need to give a lecture or run a training session. It's a wonderful source for outlining public presentations. Zoning 101 will turn the novice into an expert and reinforce an expert's understanding of basic principles.

Dwight H. Merriam, FAICP