ABSTRACT
Most land controls deal with readily measured matters such as the height and bulk of building, the use which it is to serve, and perhaps (more problematically) the transportation implications. However, as the two chapters in this part show, there are increasing concerns for the quality of development. Chapter 8 discusses aesthetic controls. These began with billboards, for reasons which today seem quaint (they were considered to be ‘hiding places and retreats for criminals and all classes of miscreants’). Nowadays, aesthetic controls are explicitly accepted (though not always without protest) in terms of design quality. Billboards continue to attract attention and litigation, but controls now extend to building design and the skyline. Lawyers and architects tend to take a different approach to the issues raising concerns over freedom of speech, due process and equal protection and a taking of private property. There is a wide range of opinion throughout the country on the ethics, law, and practicability of controls.
