Land Use Controls Glossary

Buffer Zone

A strip of land separating incompatible land uses, such as residential and industrial zones.

Cluster Zoning

A zoning technique that groups buildings closer together on part of a site to preserve open space elsewhere.

Comprehensive Plan

A local government's long-range guide for growth and development, which zoning ordinances must generally be consistent with.

Conditional (Special) Use Permit

Government approval allowing a use not normally permitted in a zone, subject to specific conditions.

Cumulative Zoning

A zoning approach where higher, more restrictive uses like residential are allowed in areas zoned for lower uses like industrial.

Dedication

The voluntary transfer of private land to public ownership, often required for streets or parks in a subdivision.

Development Moratorium

A temporary halt on new development or permits, often used while a community updates its land-use plans.

Downzoning

A zoning change that reduces the permitted density or intensity of use for a parcel.

Eminent Domain

The government's power to take private property for public use upon payment of just compensation.

Exclusionary Zoning

Zoning practices that effectively prevent low-income or minority residents from moving into a community, often challenged as illegal.

Floor Area Ratio (FAR)

The ratio of a building's total floor area to the size of the lot it sits on, used to control density.

Inverse Condemnation

A legal action by a property owner claiming government action has effectively taken their property without formal condemnation.

Nonconforming Use

A land use that was legal when established but no longer conforms to current zoning; often 'grandfathered' in.

Nonconforming Use

A property use that was legal when established but no longer conforms to current zoning, often allowed to continue under grandfathering.

Planned Unit Development (PUD)

A flexible zoning approach allowing a mix of uses and densities within a single development plan.

Plat

A recorded map showing how a parcel of land is divided into lots, blocks, and streets.

Police Power

The government's authority to regulate land use to protect public health, safety, and welfare.

Regulatory Taking

A land-use regulation so restrictive it deprives an owner of all economically viable use, potentially requiring compensation.

Setback

The minimum distance a structure must be positioned from a property line, street, or other structure.

Transfer of Development Rights (TDR)

A zoning tool allowing a landowner to sell unused development rights to another parcel, preserving the original land.

Variance

Permission to deviate from a zoning requirement due to unique hardship, without changing the underlying zoning.

Zoning

Local government regulation dividing land into districts and restricting the use of property within each.

Study the concepts behind these terms: Land Use Controls study guide