Land Use Control Techniques END 301: Perspectives on Land Use and Development October 26, 2017 Overall Structure Zoning Subdivision regulations Supplemental regulations Tax policies Other tools 1
Zoning Use Size, siting, and density requirements Flexibility zoning Overlay zones Floating zones Size, Siting, and Density Requirements Minimum property size Setbacks, yards, and coverage Building height and bulk Off street parking and loading 2
Supplemental Regulations Building codes Building permits Police power Housing codes Applied to housing already built Continued safety and healthfulness Police power Tools used in urban renewal areas Health and sanitary regulations Air pollution, sewage disposal, water supply, public and private swimming pools, restaurants and food services, hotels, mobile home parks Tax Policies Primarily designed to raise revenue for funding public expenditures Possible to serve planning purposes Income taxes Homeownership vs {renting and speculation in land} More houses consumed Depreciation of rental housing 3
Property Tax A: Tax on the land B: Tax on the improvements Increase B Discouraging development Encouraging speculation What if decrease B and increase A? Split Rate Tax (Differential Tax) Most U.S. cities a singular tax rate to A and B Some Pennsylvania cities, the land is taxed higher than improvements on the actual buildings (A>B). Incentivize improvement Reduce deadweight loss Ex: Pittsburgh, PA 4
Milton Friedman: the least bad tax is the property tax on the unimproved value of land In Pittsburgh, the largest city to employ the strategy, the council hiked the land tax to six times the property billings, in 1989. Eight years later, a review of the city s practice concluded that it churned out revenues with no damaging side effects on the urban economy. Land Tax The extreme side Henry George advocated a single tax on land alone. Speculation in vacant lands In fill developments British Columbia s observations in 80s Lower real cost of housing Stimulus to use of land Rebuilding central areas 5
Effects? Other Empirical Studies? Fringe area sprawl, caused by tax? No firm evidence Nonetheless strongly advocated by many planners https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/land_value_tax_in_the_united_states Rates in PA as of 2013 6
Subdivision Regulations Legal description of setting new boundaries Legalized after Standard City Planning Enabling Act, 1928 Multiple purposes Water supply and sewage disposal system Land title records Tax assessments Adequate construction of streets Fire fighting access Reserving schools State level Variations Local governments exercise police power by state enabling legislation. Kentucky: regulates even minor subdivisions FL, HI, NY, VT: intervene in the local subdivision process 7
Other Techniques Financial planning Revenue program on various taxes CIP Special districts (by public authorities) Public utilities Transportation Public recreation and open space Education and related functions Health facilities and services Air pollution control Urban renewal Other Tools Impact fees Transit impact fee example Effluent fees Mill location example Transfer of development rights (TDR) NYC historic preservation example Performance zoning Industrial use example Growth management 8
Growth Management Regulation of development Amount, timing, location, and character Institutionalized since the late 1960s Goals Desirable land development patterns Environmental considerations Preserving and existing lifestyle Fiscal considerations Keeping the good things to ourselves Where? Common Suburban areas Cities having growth potentials Not common In older central cities Shrinkage/stagnation rather than rampant growth Poor communities are more likely to be progrowth (jobs/revenues) Buffalo? 9
Winners & Losers Assuming GM slows residential growth relative to employment growth Who are winners and who are losers? Home owners Owners of rental properties Renters Nonresidents who desire to become residents Builders, construction workers, real estate brokers Between Towns Financial Effects Town X and town Y in the same metropolitan area (the same housing market) What if town X reduces its rate of housing construction? Housing prices in town Y 10
Between Towns Fiscal Effects What if town X restricts residential development, but accepts a new corporate headquarters? A [ ] B A: Tax revenue from the headquarters B: New expenses the head quarters will impose on the town Tax rate of town X: Tax rate of town Y: Boulder, CO Building permit restriction (new residential units / year = fixed) Number of persons / unit No population growth Permanent open space outside the city Restriction: Housing > commercial Workforce grows faster than the housing stock 20% affordable housing requirement 11
Side Effects Prevent peripheral growth Higher house prices More restrictions on residential than commercial development Higher labor market pressure State level Growth Management Hawaii in the early 1960s The first state to adopt Geography Strong growth pressures Important agriculture to the state economy The state designate developable urban areas Inside: Counties may permit development. Outside: State Land Use Commission 12
Other States Florida, 1985 Growth Management Act Concurrency requirements Infrastructure prior development Oregon, 1973 The state Department of Land Conservation and Development certifies local development. Urban Growth Boundaries Local governments encourage developments inside UGB. Dense development in central areas Contributing to revitalization of central areas Washington, GM 1990 & 1991, GM act: plans, consistency, critical areas Critical areas and designation of resource lands (all local govts.) Not all cities and counties required to plan Growth Management Hearings Boards 13
Urban Growth Boundary Hepinstall Cymerman J CSHLR. Urban growth patterns and growth management boundaries in the Central Puget Sound, Washington, 1986 2007. Urban Ecosyst. Urban Ecosystems. 2013;16(1):109 129. Growth Controls & Sprawl Fischel, William A. (1991), Good for the Town, Bad for the Nation? A Comment, Journal of the American Planning Association 57(3), 341 4. Key argument: Local growth controls contribute to metropolitan sprawl. Growth Controls: raise prices of existing houses; lower the price of undeveloped land; increase metro wide house prices. 28 14
Land Use Control Overall Structure Zoning Subdivision regulations Supplemental regulations Tax policies Other tools Paper 3 Instructions http://buffalonews.com/2015/07/16/letterstate should allow cities to test split ratetaxation/ Instructions on UBLearns 15