11/19/2015 TheStandardStateZoningEnablingActExplained

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TheStandardStateZoningEnablingAct
Explained
ThebasicfoundationforplanningandzoningintheU.S.waslaidbytwostandardstateenabling
actspublishedbytheU.S.DepartmentofCommerceinthe1920s.Formanystates,theStandard
Acts, as they are known, still supply the institutional structure, although some procedural and
substantivecomponentsmayhavechanged.

Thefirst,AStandardStateZoningEnablingAct(SZEA),wasdevelopedbyanadvisorycommittee
on zoning appointed by Secretary of Commerce (and later President) Herbert Hoover in 1921.
After several revisions, the Government Printing Office published the first printed edition in May
1924,andarevisededitionin1926.

The SZEA had nine sections. It included a grant of power, a provision that the legislative body
coulddividethelocalgovernment'sterritoryintodistricts,astatementofpurposeforthezoning
regulations, and procedures for establishing and amending the zoning regulations. A legislative
body was required to establish a zoning commission to advise it on the initial development of
zoningregulations.

InMarch1927,apreliminaryeditionofthesecondmodel,AStandardCityPlanningEnablingAct
(SCPEA), was released, and a final version was published in 1928. The SCPEA covered six
subjects:

1. theorganizationandpoweroftheplanningcommission,whichwasdirectedtoprepareand
adopta"masterplan"
2. thecontentofthemasterplanforthephysicaldevelopmentoftheterritory
3. provisionforadoptionofamasterstreetplanbythegoverningbody
4. provisionforapprovalofallpublicimprovementsbytheplanningcommission
5. controlofprivatesubdivisionofland
6. provisionfortheestablishmentofaregionalplanningcommissionandaregionalplan

NewYorkCityprecedent
The first Standard State Zoning Enabling Act, (or "SZEA") was written by a New York City
commission headed by Edward Bassett and signed by Mayor John Purroy Mitchel in 1916 to
regulatebuildingsandlandusageinNewYorkCity.Itwasbroughtforthaspartofthereactionto
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11/19/2015 TheStandardStateZoningEnablingActExplained

theconstructionoftheEquitableBuildingwhichstillstandsat120Broadway.Thebuildingtowered
over the neighboring residences, completely covering all available land area within the property
boundary, blocking windows of neighboring buildings and diminishing the availability of sunshine
forthepeopleintheaffectedarea.Theselawsbecametheblueprintforzoningintherestofthe
UnitedStates,becausetheywereacceptedalmostwithoutchangebymoststates.

ThesetbackcodeledtoadoptionofstylessuchasthatoftheChryslerBuildingandEmpireState
Buildingwithtieredarchitectureinitstopfloors.Theeffectofthezoningregulationsontheshape
ofskyscraperswasfamouslyillustratedbyarchitectandillustratorHughFerriss.

By the 1960s, many architects had responded to the code by adopting the plaza style of
architecture, in which vertical buildings rose from the middle of a concrete plaza, such as the
TwinTowersoftheWorldTradeCenter.

Seealso
1916ZoningResolution
Original1926StandardStateZoningEnablingActandOriginal1928StandardCityPlanning
EnablingAct

References
"AmericanPlanningAssociation"
[https://myapa.planning.org/growingsmart/pdf/LULZDFeb96.pdf|"TheRealStoryBehindthe
StandardPlanningandZoningActsof1920s,"byRuthKnack,AICPStuartMeck,FAICPand
IsraelStollman,FAICP,''LandUseLaw&ZoningDigest'',February1996.]
[https://myapa.planning.org/growingsmart/pdf/PAS462.pdf|"ModelPlanningandZoning
Legislation:AShortHistory,"byStuartMeck,''ModernizingStatePlanningStatutes:The
GrowingSmartWorkingPapers'',Vol.1,PlanningAdvisoryServiceReportNo.462/463
(1996).]

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