"Handling the Land Use Case"

A guest post from Prof. James L. Olmsted:

Dear Land Use and Zoning Colleagues:

I am writing to inform you about an article that I know many of you will find useful, entitled "Handling the Land Use Case: A User's Manual for the Public Interest Attorney." Although, the article was published in 2004, its subject matter is of current interest in that it provides a nuts and bolts guide for new land use and zoning attorneys to develop a land use practice. As the article is written for new attorneys, it will also be of great interest to your students who are interested in pursuing careers in this field.  The article will likewise be fascinating to experienced practitioners and academics as the article candidly and comprehensively  reveals the tactics that are invariably deployed, both openly and secretively, by both sides in any major land use battle. Few, if any, other articles expose this under-belly of the land use process in such detail. If anyone can help make this article available to colleagues or land use and zoning oriented law students by directing them to my SSRN site I would greatly appreciate it. Also, I invite anyone who would like to co-author an update of the article to contact me at www.landprotect.com.  This would be an interesting and most worthwhile project, and I can guarantee publication in a law review (e.g., I am certain that the Journal of Environmental Law & Litigation would love a chance to update this article). Also, if anyone would like to co-edit a book with me on the subject of land use planning and zoning in the 21st century, I would also be most interested in such an offer.  My preferred publisher would be Island Press, and I would do the leg work of drafting the publication proposal.  On my SSRN site “Handling the Land Use Case” can be downloaded for free.

Best regards, James L. Olmsted, Adjunct Faculty University of Oregon School of Law.

We welcome guest posts from land use professors and practitioners - our contact info is available in the bar on the left side of this page.

Jamie Baker Roskie