It's a fact. The zoning problem you're struggling with today has probably already been solved by somebody else. But how can you find out what's working without spending a lot of your valuable time?

Zoning Practice isn't just an interesting read. It's a toolbox chock full of information geared to inform and inspire, and to implement by planners for the purpose of smarter land-use practice.

Current Issues

January 2010

A Sound Approach to Regulating Social Service Facilities

The real and perceived impacts of social service facilities have been a controversial topic of discussion in many jurisdictions across the country. This issue takes a look at how communities can make room for uses such as homeless shelters, halfway houses, supportive housing, and soup kitchens while ensuring the health of urban neighborhoods.

Author Margaret Wuerstle, AICP, is the chief planner and zoning hearing examiner for the City of Cincinnati. She has worked in various capacities in the planning field for more than 30 years and is a former mayor of Dunkirk, New York.

December 2009

Lending a Helping Hand: What Planners Can Do to Turn Around Distressed Properties

Many older, distressed properties are trapped inside zoning restrictions that preclude attempts to reposition them in the marketplace and return them to profitability. This issue takes a look at how planners can loosen the joints of zoning while still respecting local plans and neighborhood character.

Author Dwight Merriam, FAICP, founded Robinson & Cole's Land Use Group in 1978. He is past president of the American Institute of Certified Planners and received his Master's of Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina and his Juris Doctor from Yale.