This workshop will provide local officials and the citizens who serve on local planning commissions and boards of adjustment with a basic understanding of the constitutional and statutory framework for comprehensive and regulatory planning in Alabama. Although a number of constitutional issues and landmark cases will be included in the material presented, they will be discussed from a layman’s point of view and not from a legalistic view point.
TOPICS I NCLUDE: (1) The evolution of legal principles relating to the public regulation of private property; (2) The origins of the current Alabama planning enabling legislation and recent efforts to amend it; the landmark decisions of the US Supreme Court relating to the regulatory and planning powers of local governments; (3) The major constitutional issues being raised in current land use litigation; (4) The procedural and strategic aspects of land use litigation; (5) Alternative approaches to the resolution of regulatory issues and developmental conflicts.