Spot Zoning

The granting to a particular parcel of land a classification concerning its use that differs from the classification of other land in the immediate area.

Spot zoning is invalid because it amounts to an Arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable treatment of a limited area within a particular district and is, therefore, a deviation from the comprehensive plan.

Cross-references

Land-Use Control; Zoning.

spot zoning

n. a provision in a general plan which benefits a single parcel of land by creating a zone for use just for that parcel and different from the surrounding properties in the area. Example: in a residential neighborhood zoned for single family dwellings with a minimum of 10,000 square feet, the corner service station property is zoned commercial. Spot zoning is not favored, since it smacks of favoritism and usually annoys neighbors. An existing commercial business can be accommodated by a "zoning variance" (allowing a non-conforming use for the time being) or a "grandfathered" right to continue a use existing when the zoning plan was adopted and which will terminate if the building is torn down. (See: grandfathered in, zoning)

Mentioned in

Zoning

References in periodicals archive

Coleman said to Peden: "The fact that it is a text amendment does not necessarily insulate this court [from] analyzing it [as to whether] it constitutes a case of spot zoning?"

Supreme Court panel puts city of Ridgeland on Costco hot seat

Joseph George, a resident of the neighborhood for 67 years, said the requested zone changed amounted to spot zoning.

Some interest, maybe, in Central Building

At a Planning Commission hearing last month, John Pinkstaff, a lawyer for the Springfield landowner, called the proposed language "spot zoning," and said allowing a VA clinic on the Chad Drive site would draw more traffic than typical industrial-zone use, and so a traffic study would be needed before the language is changed.

Code changes for VA clinic on hold

After convincing former mayor Ed Koch to rezone the parcel from industrial to mixed use, and battling a lawsuit in court accusing Silverstein and City Hall of engaging in illegal spot zoning, Silverstein built River Place and Silver Towers, a cluster of sleek glass rental buildings that are home, he said, to a total of 2,200 families.

Move over people, a new look is on the way

"Previous decades of spot zoning and neglect in planning these communities have resulted in an extreme imbalance," said council member Jan Perry, who authored the ordinance.

Los Angeles takes on fast food growth

But Ratigan opposed the plan as "illegal spot zoning," and Bass also without disclosing her relationship with Barking Dog--"was instrumental" in getting the planning board to come out against the initiative in 2004, according to the federal suit filed by Monadnock View.

Disciplinary panel sinks water firm's ethics charges

Sound town planning cannot allow for the creation of spot zoning for 100 units in the middle of a single family residentially zoned area.

Racism and housing project

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that a township ordinance to rezone a property from a special use district, which permitted shopping centers, to a business park, which did not permit shopping centers, did not constitute invalid spot zoning.

Township rezoning ordinance does not constitute spot rezoning

To combat the proliferation of small shopping areas that has contributed to the deterioration of the downtown area, Pierce and Blankenship said The Alliance and Downtown Development are proposing that the Pine Bluff City Council restrict spot zoning in the city.

Lights Not Out Yet in Pine Bluff

It could be considered spot zoning and drafted with the intent to keep a single agency off of Main Street.

Petition against Main Street clinic may be too late; Planned Parenthood is ahead of foes

The company also argued the rezoning was "spot zoning."

Ruling to allow Shaw's at Yoken's site