Zoning in The United States - Origins and History

Origins and History

During the 1860s, a specific state statute prohibited all commercial activities along Eastern Parkway (Brooklyn), setting a trend for future decades. In 1916, New York City adopted the first zoning regulations to apply city-wide as a reaction to construction of The Equitable Building (which still stands at 120 Broadway). The building towered over the neighboring residences, completely covering all available land area within the property boundary, blocking windows of neighboring buildings and diminishing the availability of sunshine for the people in the affected area. These laws, written by a commission headed by Edward Bassett and signed by Mayor John Purroy Mitchel, became the blueprint for zoning in the rest of the country, partly because Bassett headed the group of planning lawyers which wrote The Standard State Zoning Enabling Act that was issued by the US Department of Commerce in 1924 and accepted almost without change by most states. The effect of these zoning regulations on the shape of skyscrapers was famously illustrated by architect and illustrator Hugh Ferriss.

The constitutionality of zoning ordinances was upheld in 1926. The zoning ordinance of Euclid, Ohio was challenged in court by a local land owner on the basis that restricting use of property violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Though initially ruled unconstitutional by lower courts, the zoning ordinance was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in Village of Euclid, Ohio v. Ambler Realty Co..

By the late 1920s most of the nation had developed a set of zoning regulations that met the needs of the locality.

New York City went on to develop more complex zoning regulations encompassing floor-area ratio regulations, air rights and others according to the density-specific needs of the neighborhoods.

Among large populated cities in the United States, Houston is unique in having no zoning ordinances. Houston voters have rejected efforts to implement zoning in 1948, 1962 and 1993. It is commonly believed that "Houston is Houston" because of the lack of zoning laws. However, large cities throughout the Sun Belt are newer than many other metropolitan areas, such as New York City, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis, and San Francisco, so consequently the cities of the Sun Belt have experienced the bulk of their population growth during the Age of the Automotive. These largest of these cities, such as Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Tampa, Dallas, Phoenix, and Kansas City, have all experienced urban sprawl such as experienced by Houston despite having zoning systems. It should be noted, however, that urban sprawl in Los Angeles County existed even before the introduction of its zoning laws during the 1950s. Also, many private properties in Houston have legal covenants or "deed restrictions" that limit the future uses of land, and that have effects similar to those of zoning systems. Houston's municipal code also contributed to this automobile-dependent urban sprawl by requiring the existence of large minimum residential lot sizes and large commercial parking lots. Wide road widths and long city blocks further discourage walking in and around Houston.