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 Hazelwood, Missouri can sometimes be a bit difficult. This article will not make its reader an expert, but should serve as a good introduction to the subject.

Municipal governments which practice zoning usually 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 usually 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 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 Hazelwood, Missouri

Zoning laws are commonly quite extensive and meticulous, and it's extremely possible that your property in Hazelwood, Missouri contains some minor zoning violation that you don't know about. If this happens to you, you have considerable legal protections.

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 massive inconvenience, you should obviously do this.

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 normally be granted if the violation doesn't harm anyone, and enforcing Hazelwood, Missouri's zoning laws to the letter would not, in this case, advance their purposes.

You also have considerable protections if a zoning law changes, and you find that the land you've been living on for years is suddenly in violation of the new law. In general, zoning laws cannot apply to structures and uses which were built or commenced before the law was changed. Under the U.S. Constitution, it's not permissible for state or local governments to pass laws which have retroactive effect. You should know, however, that any future changes you make to your property will have to comply with the new zoning law.

What Can A Hazelwood, Missouri Attorney Do?

If you find yourself facing zoning or other land use issues, it's critical to have good legal advice. A seasoned Hazelwood, Missouri 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.