ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the tools available to the municipality to effectuate its land-use plans. It explores subdivision controls, zoning, and several miscellaneous types of land-use controls. Essentially there are two broad categories of direct actions by which a municipality can shape its land-use pattern. There are (1) public capital investments and (2) land-use controls. Capital expenditures are generally financed with bonds. A bond is basically a promise to make repayments to the buyer on a regular, prearranged basis. In contrast to capital expenditures, the ordinary operations of state and local governments are funded with current revenues rather than with bonds. Most local governments maintain a separate capital budget and capital improvements plan (CIP). Planned unit development (PUD) has been widely used in the last several decades, and its popularity is still growing. Some PUDs are entirely residential, and some are entirely commercial. In many cases, however, PUDs contain a greater mix of uses than would be permitted under conventional ordinance.