By Kara Baskin
law briefs
In a forthcoming article in the Georgetown Law Journal, “Singling Out Single-Family Zoning,” Suffolk Law Professor John Infranca contends that exclusively single-family zoning districts represent the most “normatively problematic and legally questionable” component of zoning.
Early defenders of single-family zoning, he writes, justified it as a component of a comprehensive zoning regime grounded in careful consideration of a community’s existing needs and future demands. He argues that most contemporary zoning fails to allow for the development necessary to meet those needs, undermining earlier justification for single-family districts.
"My hope is that, by carefully documenting the intellectual and legal history of single-family zoning, this article will sharpen contemporary criticism of this form of zoning—both in the courts and more generally—and help inform the efforts of zoning reformers,” says Infranca, who specializes in property, land use, and urban law and policy.
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winter 2023
Photograph by Michael J. Clarke
