BH3a DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE HERBERT HOOVER, SECRETARY A ZONING PRIMER BY THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON ZONING APPOINTED BY SECRETARY HOOVER CHARLES B. BALL Secretary Treasurer, City Planning Division, Sanitary Engineer. American Society of Civil Engineers. EDWARD M. BASSETT Counsel, Zoning Committee of New York. Lawyer. ALFRED BETTMAN Director, National Conference on City Planning. Lawyer. IRVING B. HIETT Ex-President, National Association of Real Realtor. Estate Boards. JOHN IHLDER Manager, Civic Development Department of the Housing Consultant. Chamber of Commerce of the United States. MORRIS KNOWLES From the Chamber of Commerce of the United Consulting Engineer. States; Chairman, City Planning Division, American Society of Civil Engineers. J. HORACE McFARLAND Ex-President, The American Civic Association. Master Printer and Civic Investigator. FREDERICK LAW OLMSTED Ex-President, The American Society of Land- Landscape Architect. scape Architects; Ex-President, American City Planning Institute. LAWRENCE VEILLER Secretary and Director, The National Housing Housing Expert. Association. JOHN M. GRIES Chief, Division of Building and Housing, Bureau of Standards Department of Commerce [Revised Edition, 1926] PRICE 5 CENTS SOLD ONLY BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D. C. WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1926 Th CONTENTS Page What is zoning? 1 Why do we need zoning? 1 Zoning protects property and health 2 Zoning reduces the cost of living 2 Zoning is legal 3 How to get started 4 A zoning program _ 5 What cities and towns have accomplished by zoning 6 Where to get information . 7 Zoned municipalities 8 ii A ZONING PRIMER WHAT IS ZONING? Zoning is the application of common sense and fairness to the public regulations governing the use of private real estate. It is a painstaking, honest effort to provide each district or neighborhood, as nearly as practicable, with just such protection and just such lib- erty as are sensible in that particular district. It avoids the error of trying to apply exactly the same building regulations to every part of a city or town regardless of whether it is a suburban resi- dence section, or a factory district, or a business and financial center. It fosters civic spirit by creating confidence in the justice and sta- bility of the protection afforded. Zoning gives everyone who lives or does business in a community a chance for the reasonable enjoyment of his rights. At the same time it protects him from unreasonable injury by neighbors who would seek private gain at his expense. Zoning regulations differ in different districts according to the determined uses of the land for residence, business, or manufacturing, and according to the advisable heights and ground areas. But these differing regulations are the sa.me for all districts of the same type. They treat all men alike. WHY DO WE NEED ZONING? Some one has asked, " Does your city keep its gas range in the parlor and its piano in the kitchen ? " That is what many an American city permits its household to do for it. We know what to think of a household in which an undisciplined daughter makes fudge in the parlor, in which her sister leaves soiled clothes soaking in the bathtub, while father throws his muddy shoes on the stairs, and little Johnny makes beautiful mud pies on the front steps. Yet many American cities do the same sort of thing when they allow stores to crowd in at random among private dwellings, and factories and public garages to come elbowing in among neat retail stores or well-kept apartment houses. Cities do no better when they allow office buildings so tall and bulky and so closely crowded that the lower floors not only become too dark and unsatisfactory for human use but for that very reason fail to earn a fair cash return to the individual* investors. " Live and let live " is a better motto for the modern city than the savage one of " dog eat dog." It is this stupid, wasteful jumble which zoning will prevent and gradually correct. We must remember, however, that while zoning 2890°— 26 2 A ZONING PRIMER is a very important part of city planning, it should go hand in hand with planning streets and providing for parks and playgrounds and other essential features of a well-equipped city. Alone it is no uni- versal panacea for all municipal ills, but as part of a larger pro- gram it pays the city and the citizens a quicker return than any other form of civic improvement. ZONING PROTECTS PROPERTY AND HEALTH Suppose you have just bought some land in a neighborhood of homes and built a cozy little house. There are two vacant lots south of you. If your town is zoned, no one can put up a large apartment house on those lots, overshadowing your home, stealing your sunshine and spoiling the investment of 20 years' saving. Nor is anyone at liberty to erect a noisy, malodorous public garage to keep you awake nights or to drive you to sell out for half of what you put into your home. If a town is zoned, property values become more stable, mortgage companies are more ready to lend money, and more houses can be built. A zoning law, if enacted in time, prevents an apartment house from becoming a giant airless hive, housing human beings like crowded bees. It provides that buildings may not be so high and so close that men and women must work in rooms never freshened by sunshine or lighted from the open sky. ZONING REDUCES THE COST OF LIVING By zoning, millions of waste from the scrapping of buildings in " blighted districts " may be eliminated. A " blighted district " is a district, originally developed for resi- dence, business, or industry, in the future of which people have lost confidence. The causes of such " blight " are manifold. The most familiar case is that of a residential district into which there have begun to creep various uses threatening rapid destruction of its value for resi- dences^ — such new uses as sporadic stores, or factories, or junk yards. It is not that a few such inappropriate uses really spoil the district, but that people having lost confidence, start a panic like a " run on the bank." Hundreds of them hurry up to " unload " their proper- ties at a sacrifice for any kind of use, no matter how objectionable to their neighbors — and the " blight " is on ! Dwellings worth in the aggregate millions of dollars for the purposes for which they were built, and physically fit to serve those purposes for many years to come, with a moderate investment in alterations and improve- ments, are thus annually abandoned to purposes for which they are not fit, or are left to stand practically idle. Expensive public serv- ices of water, gas, electricity, sewers, and transportation are main- tained at great waste in order to get through the " biighted " district to the more distant and newly fashionable location. The total economic loss is enormous, and this loss and the risk of it are paid by the people, in the price of house rents or otherwise, as inevitably as they pay the price of the enormous fire losses, either directly or through insurance. Proper zoning cuts these losses at their source, just as proper build- ing regulations and fire protection cut fire losses at their source. ' A ZONING PRIMER 3 Again, miles of streets and sewers and other utilities, such as are ordinarily built when land is newly subdivided for dwellings, need never be constructed if we know that these areas will be devoted mainly to large factories. Industry will be more efficient, as well as homes more wholesome, if kept generally separate. Separation need not mean great distances for workers to travel. Concentration of uses and a fair apportioning of districts should reduce the amount of all transportation and secure economies not only directly for the worker but indirectly in the costs of production and marketing of goods. // zoning can reduce the cost of living, why not have it? WASTE IN CITY BUILDING ! [ Illustration by courtesy of the Cleveland City Plan Commission ] Owing to haphazard city growth hundreds of perfectly good buildings go to the dump each year. ZONING IS LEGAL When a zoning law is properly drawn there is no doubt that the ''courts will support it. Enough favorable decisions have been handed down to show that the courts regard regulation of the uses of land and structures thereon, in accordance with the kind of district in which they are situated, as a reasonable exercise of the police power " for the public health, safety, and general welfare." In fact, the courts have approved zoning whenever it was done sensibly and comprehensively. The first case arose in Boston, Mass., where two different heights for future buildings were fixed through- 4 A ZONING TBTMEE. out the city. This was supported by the highest court of Massachu- setts and the United States Supreme Court. (Welch v. Swasey, 214 TJ. S. 91.) The next important case arose in Los Angeles, Calif., where, under a zoning plan dividing the city into industrial and residential dis- tricts, a brickyard in a residential district was ousted, although it had been in existence for many years. This was upheld by the California courts and also by the United States Supreme Court as a proper exer- cise of the police power. Modern zoning ordinances are not retro- active, however. (Hadacheck v. Sebastian, 239 U. S. 394.) In New York State the highest court has declared the zoning of New York City to be constitutional, stating that zoning can be done under the police power if done with care and good judgment so as not to be arbitrary or confiscatory. (Lincoln Trust Co. v. Williams Building Corporation, 229 N. Y. 313.) Eecent decisions of some of the highest State courts show how widely and strongly comprehensive zoning is approved. It has been upheld by the highest and appellate courts of New York, Louisiana, California, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Kansas, Ohio, Minnesota, Illinois, and Oregon. Exclusion of stores from residence districts. — Spector v. Town of Milton, 250 Mass. 63 ; 145 N. E. Kep. 265. Zahn v. Board of Public Works of Los Angeles, 234 Pac. Kep. 388. Area and height restrictions in residence districts. — Pritz v. Messer, 113 Ohio State Eep. 89 ; 149 N. E. Eep. 30. Exclusion of two-family houses or multifamily houses in certain districts. — Brett v. Building Commissioner of Brookline, 250 Mass. 73; 145 N. E. Kep. 269. Miller v. Board of Public Works of Los Angeles, 234 Pac. Kep. 381. HOW TO GET STARTED Enabling act. — Before any community undertakes zoning it must make sure that it has the power to pass a zoning ordinance. A gen- eral State enabling act passed by the State legislature is always desirable, and while the power to zone may, in some States, be derived from constitutional, as distinguished from statutory, home rule, still it is seldom that the home-rule powers will cover all the necessary provisions for successful zoning. The United States De- partment of Commerce has issued A Standard State Zoning Enabling Act which contains all provisions needed. This standard act has been the basis of legislation in the following States, though in some cases it applies only to certain classes of cities : Arizona. Louisiana. Oklahoma. Colorado. Nevada. Pennsylvania. Delaware. New Hampshire. Rhode Island. Idaho. New Jersey. South Carolina. Illinois. North Carolina. Utah. Iowa. North Dakota. Wyoming. Zoning is also authorized in the following States : Alabama. Kentucky. Nebraska. Arkansas. Maine. New York. California. Massachusetts. Ohio. Connecticut. Michigan. Oregon. District of Columbia. Minnesota. Texas. Indiana. Mississippi. Virginia. Kansas. Missouri. Wisconsin. A ZONING PRIMER 5 Acts applying to a particular city or cities are in effect in Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Tennessee, and Washington. Several of those in Florida and Georgia are based on the Department of Commerce standard act. Zoning commission. — There must be some local official body to initiate the work of zoning. If there is a planning board or com- mission, that is the logical body to take up the problem. If there is no such body, one should be created, because zoning, to be done with wise foresight, must take account not only of existing conditions and obvious tendencies of growth but of probable changes and im- provements of many sorts. It is part of the general planning prob- lem. It relates to the transportation system, including streets, street railways and other local passenger transportation, railroad freight and passenger service, and water-borne commerce, if any. It relates also to public works and utilities, to parks, schools, and many special public and private undertakings. A ZONING PROGRAM Surveys. — A zoning ordinance needs to be based on a comprehen- sive and detailed study of the precise local conditions, both present and prospective. What fits one city or town may be a bad misfit for another. There is no short cut to good zoning in any com- munity through blindly accepting what has been done for another community. The only safe path is a thorough, open-minded ex- amination of the facts in each community as to existing uses, exist- ing densities, and heights of buildings, the customs of the people, and the trend of affairs. In every city there are citizens and or- ganizations having in their possession valuable knowledge of local conditions. These have a large contribution to make to those re- sponsible for zoning, although those who have lived their whole lives in a community do not necessarily realize all that is going on about them. The zoning of a city requires expert professional knowledge just as the presentation of a case in court requires legal training. But just as the lawyer depends upon the layman to secure his facts, so must the professional zoning expert call upon the citizens for much of the accurate information upon which any good zoning regulations must be based. Technical advice. — The practice of zoning is relatively new in America. We are feeling our way and must learn by experience. Those who have had experience tend to become expert, with broader knowledge of practices that are proving effective. These men are becoming gradually more skilled in the methods of getting at the essential facts of any local situation and in the interpretation of those facts. If they possess insight and sane judgment, their advice becomes increasingly valuable. Scope of a zoning ordinance. — A zoning ordinance consists of one or more maps dividing the city into different kinds of districts ; and a statement of methods of regulation to be employed in each district in regard to the use to which property may be put, the height and size of buildings, and the amount of space to be left vacant, with adequate provisions for enforcement. 6 A ZONING PRIMEE Importance of correct procedure. — Certain points in procedure have proved themselves workable as practical steps for securing carefully drawn zoning measures, and ordinances so adopted are less liable to attack in the courts. These points are set forth in the standard enabling act of the Department of Commerce, with the aim of encouraging proper satisfactory measures well within the police power. The most important of them are : 1. Proper definition of the purposes for which zoning may be undertaken. 2. Uniformity of regulations for each class or kind of buildings throughout each district. 3. The appointment and functioning of a zoning commission. 4. The careful preparation of regulations with reference to the character of the district and its peculiar suitability for particular uses. 5. The holding of public hearings. 6. The method of changing the ordinance. 7. Rules for establishing a board of adjustment. 8. Provision for adequate remedies against violations of the ordi- nance. Getting public support. — In the process of drafting a tentative ordinance it is important, by means of full public discussion, to be sure that the ordinance is an " application of common sense and fairness " and will " provide each district, as nearly as practicable, with just such protection and just such liberty as are sensible in that particular district." It is essential likewise to be sure that public opinion, as a whole, will support it. Zoning in operation. — A zoning ordinance is of value only as it is properly enforced. Because of the difficulty in making with pre- cision the forecasts on which it is based, its operation should be closely followed by those who most intimately understand the rea- sons for its provisions. Thus, improvements and adjustments may from time to time be made intelligently. It is to furnish in excep- tional cases a means for remedying possible injustice that, in the standard act and in some other State laws, provision is made for a board of adjustment or appeals. It is obvious from the nature of the case that, even if a zoning ordinance were drawn with superhuman perfection, time and the natural growth of the community might show the need of modifica- tions. The purpose of a zoning ordinance is not to stifle growth, but only to insure that instead of taking place sporadically and wastefully it shall go on in an orderly way, in response to generally recognized needs and with due notice to all concerned. WHAT CITIES AND TOWNS HAVE ACCOMPLISHED BY ZONING Undoubtedly the most convincing statement which could be made in regard to the value of zoning is that practically all the large cities of the United States now feel that it is impossible to continue to develop further without the adoption of a building zone plan. New York, Chicago, Boston, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Buffalo, and San Francisco head the list of the large cities that already have zoning ordinances in operation. On January 1, 1926, 48 of the 68 largest cities in the United States, having in 1920 a population of A ZONING PRIMER / more than 100,000 each, had adopted zoning ordinances, while most of the others had zoning plans in progress. Moreover, it is not alone our larger cities which realize the necessity for timely regulation of the uses of property. Hundreds of the smaller cities and towns, especially in California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, but also in many other States, have passed zoning ordinances and hundreds more were reported as having zoning plans in progress. In fact, on January 1, 1926, the 426 zoned municipalities in the United States had a total of more than 27,000,000 inhabitants, ex- ceeding half the total urban population of the United States. Thus a majority of all people living in incorporated places with 2,500 or more people now enjoy the protection and other benefits of zoning. On January 1, 1921, there were only 35 zoned cities and towns, with less than 11,000,000 population, so that in a period of five years the number of zoned municipalities increased more than twelvefold. Actual experience with zoning regulations has brought to light certain striking facts. It is stated on reliable authority that the New York zoning regu- lations have prevented vast depreciation in many districts and ef- fected savings in values amounting to millions of dollars in estab- lished sections. Certain districts have been rehabilitated as a direct result of the zoning ordinance. Another interesting result has been the production of a type of high building believed to be far better than the former elongated match-box type. To avoid the common condition that industrial plants encounter of having to do business on a " residential basis," denied large-scale facilities in their vicinity on account of protests by residence owners, Alameda, Calif., among other cities, has established industrial zones in which no new permits to build residences will be granted. A leading municipal engineer is quoted as saying that the prohibition of residences in industrial zones is one of the most important pro- tections to put in a zoning ordinance. This method is being relied upon to develop Hoboken, N. J., as a great industrial terminal. In a number of suburban areas located in large metropolitan dis- tricts it has been found that the unzoned suburban town is at a dis- tinct disadvantage as compared with the community protected by a zoning ordinance. People are asking themselves why they should invest money in a home or lend money on a mortgage in an unpro- tected, unzoned locality. The zoned towns are actually absorbing the better grade of development. The result has been that builders, architects, and real estate owners in unzoned towns are persistently urging their local councils to adopt zoning, so that they may have as good a selling proposition to offer prospective clients as their com- petitors in the zoned towns. WHERE TO GET INFORMATION The Division of Building and Housing of the Department of Com- merce at Washington, D. C, maintains a current list of zoned munici- palities (supplementing those which are listed in the following pages) and of zoning enabling acts passed by State legislatures. The divi- sion is always glad to answer inquiries in its field of work, A. list 8 A ZONING PBIMER of the publications of the Department of Commerce relating to hous- ing, zoning, building codes, plumbing codes, and home ownership is obtainable on application. ZONED MUNICIPALITIES The following cities, towns, villages, and other incorporated places were known to have zoning regulations in effect January 1, 1926: ALABAMA Montgomery. ARKANSAS Little Rock. Pine Bluff. CALIFORNIA Alameda. Albany. Bakersfield. Berkeley. Burbank. Burlingame. Coronado. Fresno. Glendale. Inglewood. Long Beach. Los Angeles. Mayfield. Monrovia. Oakland. Palo Alto. Pasadena. Petaluma. Piedmont. Pittsburg. Pomona. Reclondo Beach. Redwood City. Richmond. Riverside. Sacramento. San Buenaventura. San Diego. San Francisco. San Gabriel. San Leandro. San Mateo. San Rafael. Santa Barbara. Santa Clara. Santa Cruz. Santa Monica. Selma. Sierra Madre. South Pasadena. South San Francisco. Stockton. Torrance. Turlock. Venice. Visalia. Whittier. COLORADO Colorado Springs. Denver. Pueblo. CONNECTICUT . Enfield. Fairfield. Hartford. New Britain. Norwich. West Hartford. DELAWARE Wilmington. DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Washington. FLORIDA Bradentown. Jacksonville. Orlando. St. Augustine. GEORGIA Atlanta. Savannah. ILLINOIS Aurora. Batavia. Berwyn. Carbondale. Chicago. Cicero. Decatur. Deerfield. Des Plaines. Downers Grove. Elmhurst. Evanston. Glencoe. Glen Ellyn. Highland Park. Hinsdale. Ken il worth. La Grange. Lake Bluff. Lake Forest. Lyons. Maywood. Illinois — continued Mount Prospect. Naperville. Oak Park. Palos Park. Park Ridge. River Forest. Riverside. Rockford. Springfield. Villa Park. Waukegan. Western Springs. Wheaton. Wilmette. Winnetka. INDIANA Anderson. Elkhart. Evansville. Gary. Indianapolis. Kokomo. Mishawaka. Muncie. Richmond. South Bend. Terre Haute. Valparaiso. IOWA Ames. Cedar Rapids- Davenport Iowa City. Red Oak. Waterloo. KANSAS Hutchinson. Kansas City. Manhattan. Salina. Topeka. Wichita. LOUISIANA Shreveport. MARYLAND Baltimore. A ZONING PRIMER MASSACHUSETTS Arlington. Belmont. Boston. Brockton. Brookline. Cambridge. Chelsea. Dedham. Haverhill. Holyoke. Lexington. Longmeadow. Lowell. Lynn. Maiden. Medford. Melrose. Milton. Needham. New Bedford. Newton. North Adams. Paxton. Revere. Salem. Somerville. Springfield. Stoneham. Swampscott. Taunton. Wakefield. Walpole. Waltham. Wellesley. Westfield. West Springfield. Winchester. Winthrop. Woburn. Worcester. MICHIGAN Ann Arbor. Battle Creek. Dearborn. East Grand Rapids. Grand Haven. Grand Rapids. Grandville. Grosse Point. Ironwood. Jackson. Kalamazoo. Midland. Muskegon. Owosso. Ypsilanti. MINNESOTA Duluth. Minneapolis. St. Paul. MISSOURI Kansas City. Richmond Heights. University City. Webster Groves. NEBRASKA Fremont. Omaha. Reno. NEW JERSEY Audubon. Beachwood. Belleville. Bloomfield. Bogota. Boonton. Bound Brook. Bradley Beach. Caldwell. Cliff side Park. Clifton. Cranf ord Township. Cresskill. Deal. Demarest. Dunellen. East Orange. Elizabeth. Englewood. Fairview. Fanwood. Fort Lee. Freehold. Garwood. Glen Ridge. Glen Rock. Hackensack. Haworth. Hawthorne. Highland Park. Hightstown. Hoboken. Hohokus. Irvington. Jersey City. Kearny. Lakewood. Leonia. Linden. Long Branch. Lyndhurst Township. Madison. Maplewood. Maywood. Merchantville. Milburn. Montclair. Newark. New Brunswick. North Plainfield. Nutley. Orange. Passaic. Paterson. Plainfield. Pompton Lakes. Rahway. Ridgefield Park, Ridgewood. Eoselle. new jersey — continued Roselle Park. Rutherford. Seagirt. South Orange Township. Summit. Tenafly. Totowa. Verona. Weehawken Township. Westfield. West Hoboken. West Orange. West New York. NEW YORK Albany. Auburn. Baldwinsville. Brightwaters. Bronxville. Buffalo. Cayuga Heights. Cedarhurst. Dobbs Ferry. Eastchester Town. East Rockaway. Elmsford. Endicott. Farmingdale. Floral Park. Freeport. Fulton. Garden City. Glens Falls. Gloversville. Great Neck. Greenburgh. Harrison. Hastings. Hempstead. Irvington. Ithaca. Jamestown. Kenmore. Kingston. Larchmont. La Salle. Lawrence. Long Beach. Lowville. Lynbrook. Mamaroneck. Mamaroneck Town. Mineola. Mount Vernon. Newburgh. New Rochelle. New York. Niagara Falls. North Pelham. Oneida. Ossining. Patchogue. Pelham. Pelham Manor. Penn Yan. Plandome. PENN STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES 10 A ZONING PRIMEK ADDDD71 c iETb7S new york — continued ohio — continued RHODE ISLAND Port Chester. Lakewood. Cranston. Potsdam. Lima. Newport. Rochester. Madison. Providence. Rockville Center. Mansfield. Westerly. Rome. Marion. Woonsocket. Rye. Maumee. Saltaire. Oakwood. SOUTH CAROLINA Sands Point. Toledo. Columbia. Saratoga Springs. Warren. Scarsdale. Willoughby. TENNESSEE Seneca Falls. Worthington. Memphis. Syracuse. Wyoming. Tarrytown. UTAH Troy. OKLAHOMA Salt Lake City. Tuckahoe. Union Corners. Oklahoma City. VIRGINIA Utica. Watertown. Waverly. Tulsa. OREGON Norfolk. Petersburg. Richmond. White Plains. Medford. Suffolk. Wilmont. Portland. Yonkers. WASHINGTON NORTH CAROLINA PENNSYLVANIA Olympia. Aldan. Seattle. Raleigh. Beaver. Tacoma. NORTH DAKOTA Bellevue. Ben Avon. WISCONSIN Bismarck. Chester. Appleton. Fargo. Connellsville. Beloit. Jamestown. Edgewood. Cudahy. Edgeworth. Eau Claire. OHIO Emsworth. Green Bay. Akron. Haverf ord Township. Janesville. Ashtabula. Ingram. Kenosha. Bay Village. Monaca. La Crosse. Bexley. Monessen. Madison. Bratenahl. Narberth. Milwaukee. Cincinnati. New Castle. Neenah. Cleveland Heights. Oil City. Racine. Columbus. Pittsburgh. Shorewood. East Cleveland. Scranton. Waukesha. Euclid Village. Sewickley. Wausau. Grandview Heights. Swiss vale. Wauwatosa. Idlewood. Westview. West Allis. Cities reported zonec 1 since January 1, 1926 . CONNECTICUT IOWA NORTH CAROLINA Greenwich. Clinton. Des Moines. Greensboro. High Point. MICHIGAN Southern Pines. ILLINOIS Holland. OHIO Dayton. MISSOURI Hamilton. Freeport. Homewood. St. Louis. PENNSYLVANIA Libertyville. Bethlehem. Mundelein. NEBRASKA Crafton. Lincoln. Johnstown. INDIANA NEW YORK WISCONSIN Sheboygan. Michigan City. Glen Cove. o Two Rivers. 1 \