Land Use Law

This three-credit course covers legal aspects of land resource allocation and development, including private controls like covenants and easements, public zoning and subdivision regulations, eminent domain, and issues such as growth management, historic preservation, environmental rules, and urban development. Throughout the course, students learn to understand land use laws from statutes and court decisions, explain key concepts and their role in planning and regulation, attend and evaluate local land use hearings for due process, and write clearly to describe and apply land use rules to hypothetical cases. Students also develop skills to present clear legal analyses assessing whether government actions violate private rights.