Liberty Zoning Attorney

Find the right Zoning Planning & Land Use attorney in Liberty, MO

Zoning Planning & Land Use Law in Missouri

The laws that regulate how land can be used, and what structures can be built on individual pieces of land in Liberty, Missouri can sometimes be a bit confusing. This article will not make its reader an expert, but should serve as a good introduction to the subject.

Municipal governments which practice zoning normally follow a similar scheme: the town or city is divided up into "zones," or areas in which particular types of use are permitted. For instance, the downtown area might be zoned for commercial and office use, and perhaps for large, multi-unit apartment buildings. The surrounding areas will normally be zoned for residential and small-scale commercial use, and the outskirts zoned for manufacturing and other heavy industry.

There are a lot of rationales and purposes for zoning laws. In general, they're based in common sense: chemical plants shouldn't be constructed next to daycare centers, pig farms should not be constructed in the middle of a residential neighborhood, and other simple principles similar to that. Zoning laws, by keeping conflicting land uses separate, make life easier for all parties, ensuring that property values will be preserved, and that necessary industries can be conducted where they will not bother anyone.

On the other hand, zoning laws recognize and attempt to accommodate the necessity of factories and other industrial activities. They just seek to ensure that such activities are performed in a way that they don't conflict with the rights of adjacent landowners to use and enjoy their property in peace.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Liberty, Missouri

You have quite a few options if you find that a planned or prevailing use of your property breaks Liberty, Missouri's zoning regulations.

It should be apparent that the first option you should consider is to correct the violation. If doing this wouldn't cost you very much, or pose a huge inconvenience, you should obviously do this.

Of course, just fixing a zoning violation isn't always inexpensive or easy, and may interfere with your planned use of your property. For instance, you might have just undertaken a substantial remodeling of your home, and later found out that some small part of it technically doesn't conform to Liberty, Missouri's zoning laws. If this happens to you, you can apply to your local zoning board for what's known as a "variance." This is simply a decree by the zoning board that the particular rule your property violates no longer applies. The Supreme Court has held that local zoning boards have to grant variances when the violation is quite minor, and enforcing the ordinance would be unduly burdensome and not in the public interest.

Additionally, if the zoning laws governing your property have changed, and some aspect of it is now violating the new rules, these changes can usually not be enforced against you, because it would be unfair to apply a new law retroactively.

What Can A Liberty, Missouri Attorney Do?

If you are in the process of physically altering your property, you are almost sure to face some concerns having to do with local zoning laws. If you find that zoning laws are making it very challenging to use your property as you see fit, you may have legal recourse, typically in the form of a variance. Of course, your chances of success in any zoning dispute will be immeasurably increased if you have the assistance of a qualified Liberty, Missouri attorney.

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Life in Liberty

Liberty, Missouri is a city in Clay County, and is a suburb of Kansas City. It has a population of about 30,000 people.

Liberty, Missouri was first settled in 1822, and was made the county seat of Clay County shortly thereafter. In 1830, a lawyer named David Rice Atchison opened a practice in Liberty, where he took it upon himself to defend the religious freedoms of Mormon settlers, who were an unpopular and persecuted group at the time. During the Civil War, sympathies for the Confederacy were very prevalent in the area around Liberty, and this thwarted Missouri's plans to remain neutral in the conflict. Liberty, and other parts of Missouri, hosted several important battles of that war, so there are many historic landmarks in the area.

Modernly, Liberty is one of Kansas City's largest suburbs. Major corporations, such as Hallmark, have distribution centers in Liberty. It also hosts the headquarters of Ferrellgas, one of the nation's largest suppliers of Propane and Propane Accessories.

If you have a legal issue, chances are good that there's a lawyer in or around Liberty, Missouri who can handle it. Liberty, Missouri lawyers are competent and well-rounded, and should be able to help you.

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