Walnut Creek Zoning Attorney

Find the right Zoning Planning & Land Use attorney in Walnut Creek, CA

Zoning Planning & Land Use Law in California

The laws controlling how land can and cannot be used in Walnut Creek, California are fairly intricate, and can be confusing to laypersons. This should provide a basic overview.

Local governments will normally divide the city or town into sections, called "zones," each of which is designated for a specific use, such as residential homes, commercial businesses, agriculture, manufacturing, etc. This process is known as "zoning."

There are a lot of rationales and purposes for zoning laws. In general, they're based in common sense: chemical plants shouldn't be created next to daycare centers, pig farms should not be created 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.

Zoning laws typically 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 Walnut Creek, California

If something on your property is in violation of a Walnut Creek, California zoning law, the landowner has many avenues.

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

Of course, just fixing a zoning violation isn't always modest or easy, and may interfere with your planned use of your property. For instance, you might have just undertaken a considerable remodeling of your home, and later found out that some small part of it technically doesn't conform to Walnut Creek, California'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 extremely minor, and enforcing the ordinance would be unduly burdensome and not in the public interest.

Moreover, 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 Walnut Creek, California Attorney Do?

If you find yourself facing zoning or other land use issues, it's critical to have good legal advice. A seasoned Walnut Creek, California attorney will help you work within the law to ensure that you are as free as possible to make the use of your land that you want.

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Life in Walnut Creek

Walnut Creek is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is near Concord, Sacramento, and San Jose. Many view Walnut Creek at the "business and entertainment hub" of Contra Costa County because of its central location to California's capital and Silicon Valley.

Many Walnut Creek residents are employed by Aetna, HCR Manor Care, Nordstrom, John Muir-Health, Kaiser Permanente, Safeway, Macys, and the City of Walnut Creek. Top corporations in Walnut Creek include Carollo Engineers, American Reprographics, and PMI Group.

with such a working force, legal issues naturally arise. Walnut Creek is home to many small and mid-size firms with excellent attorneys who practice in all areas of law.

Popular attractions include the California Symphony and the Center Repertory Company. Walnut Creek also has a beautiful downtown with great shopping and dining.

Some famous residents include Alice Greczyn, Lester Rodney, Jeff Richards, Jason Newsted, Randy Johnson, and Luke Whitehead.

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