Zoning Laws

Zoning laws are found in every municipality in the United States, affecting land use, lot size, parking, building heights, setbacks and other aspects of property use.  Developers as well as individuals require a skilled, masterful attorney to negotiate the obstacles to achieve their goal.  Zoning laws are government regulated restrictions on how a particular piece of land can be used.  These are at least partially an attempt to solve a very real problem.  If an individual purchases a home in a residential area, they do not want a loud or polluting factory to be opened next door to them.  Zoning laws are a seemingly “heavy handed” remedy for problems like these.  Zoning laws are however necessarily arbitrary, they can be non-objective arbitrary powers that inevitably get abused.  Evan a home based business may be breaking a zoning law and not even realize it.  It takes an attorney who has negotiated these types of matters to address your particular problem

Municipal Law

Municipal laws are those which pertain to towns, cities, boroughs, townships and their local government.  The general idea is that municipal law relates to matters of a local nature.  Most people associate municipal law with the construction industry (i.e. building codes or permits), the development industry (i.e. zoning or re-zoning; subdivisions) and municipal bylaws drafting and enforcement.  The realm of municipal work is complex and crosses over into many areas of practice, from contracts to real estate and expropriation (the act of taking quick and forcible possession of) and litigation.