Ocala Zoning Attorney

Find the right Zoning Planning & Land Use attorney in Ocala, FL

Zoning Planning & Land Use Law in Florida

The laws governing how land can and cannot be used in Ocala, Florida are fairly complex, and can be confusing to laypersons. This should provide a basic overview.

Localities typically divide their jurisdictions into segments, referred to as "zones," on which particular types of use are permitted. For example, one area of a town might be zoned for residential use, a nearby one for commercial use, and areas on the outskirts zoned for industrial use. This practice is called "zoning."

Zoning serves several different purposes - but it its main one is to increase or preserve property values by ensuring that conflicting uses don't result in legal disputes. Obviously, if you bought a house in a residential neighborhood, and your neighbor could simply convert his property into a steel mill, your property's value as a residential lot would decrease significantly.

Zoning laws don't exist just to protect residential use - it also protects people who engage in other types of use of land, by making sure that they are able to do their business, without bothering neighboring landowners, and thereby avoiding legal disputes.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Ocala, Florida

Suppose you find that some condition on your land is in violation of Ocala, Florida's zoning laws. In cases like this, you have quite a few options.

It should be clear, however, that the ideal solution is to simply fix any condition on your property which is in violation of a local zoning law. If the violation is not serious, and correcting it won't significantly interfere with your use of your property, this is probably the best course of action.

But what happens if you've invested a large amount of effort and money into improving your land, and you later discover that you've committed some relatively minor zoning violation? You are generally entitled to seek what is known as a "variance" in these cases. A variance is simply when your local government makes a small exception to the zoning rules to accommodate a small violation that would be difficult to fix. A variance will usually be granted if the violation doesn't harm anyone, and enforcing Ocala, Florida's zoning laws to the letter would not, in this case, advance their purposes.

You are also protected if your land is currently in full compliance with local zoning regulations, but the area where your land sits is re-zoned, and your property is suddenly not in compliance with the new zoning regulations. Generally, these new regulations cannot be used to force you to change existing conditions on your property. No laws can be applied retroactively, under the U.S. Constitution. Of course, if you make any improvements on your land after the law changes, you'll have to comply with the new law.

What Can A Ocala, Florida Attorney Do?

If you are in the early stages of a major construction or remodeling project on your property, especially if it is in a residential area (where zoning laws tend to be most restrictive), you are likely to encounter one zoning law issue or another. Of course, having read this article, you should now be aware that you have rights when it comes to contesting a zoning law as applied to you. While such contests do not always come out on the side of the landowner, the assistance of a good Ocala, Florida real estate attorney will greatly improve one's chances.

Talk to a Real Estate Law Attorney now!

Life in Ocala

Ocala is located in Marion County, Florida. About 54,000 people call Ocala home.

In this small city, the median income for a household is approximately ,000. Many residents commute outside of Ocala or making a living doing small labor here and there.

A popular attraction of Ocala is the Ocala Symphony Orchestra. Another popular attraction is the Ocala Civic Theatre. Evidently, Ocala is a small city that is big on the fine arts!

Being so small, Ocala has some small law offices. For larger, more complex legal matters, residents of Ocala can go to neighboring cities for legal services.

All in all, Ocala is a quaint city in Florida, offering tourists a very different feel from the stretch of beaches and metropolitan atmosphere.

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