Levittown Zoning Attorney

Find the right Zoning Planning & Land Use attorney in Levittown, NY

Zoning Planning & Land Use Law in New York

In Levittown, New York, there are laws which determine what can and can't be done on certain parcels of land. These laws get pretty involved sometimes, and aren't always very accessible to laypersons. This article should serve as a good overview of these laws.

Localities typically divide their jurisdictions into segments, referred to as "zones," on which particular types of use are permitted. For instance, 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."

Local governments have numerous different reasons for enacting zoning laws, ranging from ensuring that residential areas are peaceful and quiet, to safeguarding property values. For instance, most people wouldn't buy a home in a neighborhood where they knew it was possible for a neighbor to turn their house into a factory.

Zoning laws generally acknowledge the necessities of things like factories, sewage treatment plants, and stockyards, but recognize that such activities shouldn't be done in residential areas.

Possible Outcomes of Boundary and Title Disputes in Levittown, New York

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

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

What if, however, you've invested a significant amount of time and money into making an improvement on your property, only to find that it breaks your local zoning laws in some minor way? In this case, you can apply for a variance. This is essentially an exception to the zoning rules. If declining to enforce these rules would not harm anyone, and would not do much to advance the purpose of Levittown, New York's zoning laws, a variance will usually be granted.

Furthermore, if you have been residing on your property for a long time, and made improvements on it that complied with the zoning laws in effect at the time, a new zoning law that would be violated by your prevailing use of your property, the new law cannot be enforced against you. The U.S. Constitution bars the passage of "ex post facto," or retroactive, laws. Once the laws take effect, however, you'll have to comply with the new zoning laws with respect to any new improvements you want to make on your property.

What Can A Levittown, New York Attorney Do?

If you want to make improvements to your property, apply for a variance, or contest a zoning regulation as being applied to you retroactively, you have a right to do so, including some constitutional protections. However, your chances of prevailing in a zoning dispute will be markedly improved if you hire an experienced Levittown, New York real estate attorney to help.

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Life in Levittown

Levittown, New York is a hamlet, and census-designated place, located on Long Island, in Nassau County. It has a population of about 55,000 people.

Levittown was built as a planned community, starting shortly after the end of WWII, with construction complete in the early 1950s. It was one of the first planned communities in the U.S., and one of the largest at the time. It quickly became a symbol of suburban America and the unbridled optimism of the postwar era. Levittown is named after the construction firm Levitt Sons, which developed the community, and is largely credited with inventing modern suburban America, for good and ill. "Levittown" became a disparaging term for large, bland, suburban developments featuring identical homes. Ironically, however, the homes currently in Levittown have been remodeled or rebuilt to such an extent that there is now a great deal of architectural variety.

Modernly, Levittown is an affluent community, with a median family income of over ,000, and just over 1% of the population living below the poverty line.

Accordingly, the lawyers in Levittown, New York are used to handling fairly sophisticated cases. If you have a legal issue, whether it deals with real estate, family, criminal, or any other area of law, you can be sure that there is probably a Levittown, New York lawyer who can help.

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