In my last post, “Real Estate Alphabet Soup: Y Is for Yard”, I continued my primer on the “alphabet soup” of real estate. This post continues to stir the “alphabet soup” and completes the recipe with the final ingredient, the letter Z.
I once heard a marketing consultant suggest that everyone should have a brief “elevator speech” for responding to inquiries about what you do for a profession and, in my case, what areas of law I practice. So my short response became that I primarily focus on all matters of real estate law, including everything from “A to Z,” from “acquisitions to zoning,” among other things. Hence, the genesis for this blog series was born, and I decided to present a basic real estate primer, from “A to Z.” And, finally, I have reached the letter Z.
Z is for “Zoning.” Black’s Law Dictionary defines “zoning” as “the division of a city by legislative regulation into districts and the prescription and application in each district of regulations having to do with structural and architectural designs of buildings and of regulations prescribing use to which buildings within designated districts may be put.” Zoning regulation authority is not limited only to cities, towns and municipalities, but also to the surrounding counties.
In the State of Maryland, local zoning authority is derived from the state enabling legislation set forth in the Annotated Code of Maryland, Land Use Article, which grants authority to municipalities and counties located in the State of Maryland to establish zoning regulations to govern the use of land within their respective geographic area of jurisdiction. The Land Use Article defines “zoning law” as “the legislative implementation of regulations for zoning by a local jurisdiction” and includes “a zoning ordinance, zoning regulation, zoning code, and any similar legislative action to implement zoning controls in a local jurisdiction.” The Land Use Article also provides authority to a local jurisdiction to establish a planning commission to promote and execute local planning and zoning matters, and to recommend zoning classifications for local properties. The final authority to establish various “zones” and to approve the zoning or rezoning of individual properties located within the local jurisdiction, however, is granted exclusively to the local legislative body.
“Zoning” is generally established by categories of use as defined and set forth in a “zoning” ordinance. For example, jurisdictions will have “zones” for residential and commercial uses, but may also have “zones” for industrial, agricultural, and natural resource uses. Within those individual categories of “zones” there are different enumerated types of uses permitted within the respective “zones”, which are usually set forth is some form of zoning use matrix or list. For example, there may be multiple residential zoning categories, with each category allowing a different type of residential use, such as single family homes, town houses, duplexes, and multi-family housing. In a commercial zone, there may be multiple categories of various commercial uses and specific types of uses within each of those categories. So, for example, within the commercial “zone” there may be categories for various retail, office, professional, business and service uses. And within each category there may be specific types of uses permitted. So, for example, in a commercial “zone” that allows for retail uses, the matrix or list of uses may include multiple different types of retail uses, such as clothing, grocery, and furniture stores. And the same would be true for each “zoning” category, which would include a variety of permitted uses within each specific “zone”.
In addition to uses that are permitted within a specific “zone” there may also be certain uses that are allowed only on a seasonal or temporary basis, or allowed only after first undergoing some further review authority to establish any additional specific conditions for the proposed use at that particular location within that “zone”.
“Zoning” categories may also include certain “overlay” zones, which are placed on a property, in addition to the underlying base “zoning” of the property, in order to establish additional standards and review criteria for certain types of areas. For example, some jurisdictions may have an established historic district or allow for the establishment of a historic “overlay” zone for the purpose of protecting specific properties which have been determined to have some historic or architectural significance. Other types of overlay “zones” may be established to protect certain cultural or natural resources. “Zoning” categories may also include certain types of “floating” zones, which may be designated on a specific property in order to provide flexible procedures, standards and criteria for development of the property, while taking into consideration the impact of the uses proposed at that specific location on the neighboring and surrounding properties. Floating zones may include, for example, institutional use zones for government and other public types of buildings, mixed use zones that allow for a combination or mix of residential and commercial uses, or zones for parkland and open space.
“Zoning” is required to be reviewed by a municipality or county on a regular basis as part of a comprehensive plan review process, which reviews the zoning for the entire jurisdiction. Individual property owners may also request to have a property rezoned outside of the regular comprehensive plan review process; however, the individual rezoning process applies a different and stricter standard of review.
Once a municipality or county designates the “zoning” of certain areas or individual properties, the local legislative body then adopts and enacts an ordinance to amend the official “Zoning Map” to show the location of various categories of zones within the geographic boundaries of the municipality or county.
“Zoning” ordinances and “zoning” maps are the blueprint for a well planned community and are important resources to review prior to renting or purchasing a property. Just as a good cook needs to follow the recipe to ensure a tasty result, a savvy purchaser or renter should review the official “zoning” ordinance and “zoning” map to ensure that the property can be used for their intended purpose.
And with this final ingredient the recipe for this real estate “alphabet soup” is now complete. Bon appetite!
Opinions and conclusions in this post are solely those of the author unless otherwise indicated. The information contained in this blog is general in nature and is not offered and cannot be considered as legal advice for any particular situation. Any federal tax advice provided in this communication is not intended or written by the author to be used, and cannot be used by the recipient, for the purpose of avoiding penalties which may be imposed on the recipient by the IRS. Please contact the author if you would like to receive written advice in a format which complies with IRS rules and may be relied upon to avoid penalties.
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