Laserfiche WebLink
STAFF <br /> Page 4 <br /> May 20, 2003 <br /> expect the buyer of a residential homesite to review the ordinance that rezoned the <br /> property. We should probably also put the same clause in other ordinances that restrict <br /> specific uses, such as on commercial or industrial property, although in those cases I <br /> would expect a purchaser to review the rezoning ordinance as a matter of "due <br /> diligence", at least for undeveloped property. In these cases, though, the intent is not that <br /> the covenant be a permanent private covenant, merely something that gives notice to <br /> subsequent purchasers of the terms of the rezoning ordinance. For that reason, the <br /> rezoning ordinance can subsequently be amended by the council, to remove the <br /> restrictions, and in that case, the "covenant" does not restrict the property anymore, <br /> unless the landowners have chosen to also make it a private covenant enforceable by the <br /> lot owners. <br /> By the way, "contract zoning" is a label, like "spot zoning", that is used by different <br /> people in different ways. These labels sometimes suggest too much. Some situations <br /> that the term "contract zoning" is sometimes used to cover are clearly illegal It is illegal <br /> for the government to actually make a contract promising to rezone property if the private <br /> landowner does certain things. This is illegal because the government's power to zone is <br /> part of its "police power", which cannot be bargained away by contract. It is also illegal <br /> for the government to rezone property based upon the landowner's agreement to do <br /> things that are in no way rationally related to the impacts of the rezoning. One example <br /> is a developer promising to make substantial cash payment to the government for the <br /> privilege to rezone, when the payment is not based upon impacts from the project in <br /> question. But the modem trend has been to call imposing site-specific conditions of the <br /> type discussed earlier in this memo "conditional zoning", and legally permitted, rather <br /> than "contract zoning." <br /> CJY:pak <br /> Wpwin60/Chris/Conditional Zoning.doc <br /> <br /> cc: Honorable Bobby-Jean Leithead-Todd <br /> <br />