The Long Arch of Local Environmental Law

• Author: John R. Nolon
• Pages: 1-21

1

Chapter 1:

The Long Arch of

Local Environmental Law

I. The Ancients Stole All Our Good Ideas1

A. Antecedents From Before the Common Era

By one standard, 2013 was the 100th anniversary of the birth of comprehen-

sive zoning in America: our principal method of controlling the private use of

the land. In 1913, a commission was formed in New York City that later led

to the adoption of the country’s rst comprehensive, citywide zoning law in

1916. Before then, cities used their police power to protect the public health,

safety, and welfare to pass laws prohibiting nuisance-like uses, such a s horse

stables a nd brick manufacturing, in developed neighborhoods. Zoning—a

function of local government—became America’s method of determining

the use of land: exac tly what goes where on the landscape. e ideas behind

public control of private land use and the law’s struggle to balance land devel-

opment and natura l resource conservation, however, are much older. Many

of our contemporary strategies, such a s green infrastructure, environmental

impact review, open space preservation, and smart growth, for example, have

been around for a long time.

Truly ancient antecedents stem from 450 BCE when a Roman commission

adopted a land use law governing lot development, including the placement of

hedges and pedest rian paths. is is possibly the oldest local environmental

law whose objective, in today’s terms, was to insinuate green infra structure

into the local urban fabric. Under the 1572 Law of the Indies, King Philip

II of Spain developed guidelines for city de velopment that varied depending

on climate, terrain, and the characteristics of the place. Latin American vice-

roys completed surveys, simila r to today’s environmental impact statements.

ese sur veys were sent to Spain, where planners de veloped the blueprints

for many of Latin America’s great cities and regional centers, introducing

parks, plaza s, and open space into city design. Street widths, solar exposure,

and connections between residences and t he public rea lm were central to

city pla nning: all topics t hat c an be found in the credits and prerequisites

2 Standing Ground

of today’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design-Neighborhood

Development (LEED-ND) rating system.

B. Early U.S. Efforts to Balance Conservation and Development

For over 150 years, American planners have advocated for a sensitive balance

between development and resource conservation. One of the most inuential

early American planners was Frederick Law Olmsted Sr., famous for his work

on New York City’s Centra l Park, a s well as the Chicago suburb known as

Riverside. His 1869 design plan for R iverside included spaced-out houses,

curvilinear street design, lack of fencing, and abundant parks within the

development, all intended to foster a sense of open space a nd living among

natural settings while in a suburban neighborhood.2 is pre-dated our

emphasis on open space land acquisition and conservation by over a century.

Olmsted moved to Brookline, Massachusetts in 1883, where he was inu-

enced by the structured planning of Alexander Wadsworth, who designed

Linden Place, Massachusetts in 1843, and of Henry Hobson Richardson.

In the mid-1800s, Olmsted and Richardson collaborated to create a series of

parks around Boston.

Riverside, d esigned by Frederick Law O lmsted. http: //www.riversi de.il.us/inde x.

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