Introduction
Zoning refers to the regulations and laws of a local authority or municipality that says how the real estate properties may or may not be used in some areas. Zoning laws may restrict industrial or commercial usage of the available land to restrict the construction of facilities for manufacturing processes in the land meant for residential purposes.
However, there are provisions that allow the withdrawal or modification of these zoning laws if a particular construction of a facility is proved to serve or help the community or neighbourhood in advancing economically by creating jobs to the locals and paying taxes to the government.
Understanding Zoning
Zoning will specify the kinds of operational and developmental usage of land permitted on a given geographic area and is called the master plan. Based on this, the local authorities, such as the municipalities or the local governments will go on to partition the neighbourhoods of the districts allocating the land accordingly for all kinds of requirements, such as agriculture, residential purposes (both single-use and multi-unit), education facilities and commercial (both heavy and light).
The factors, such as noise levels, traffic levels anticipated, requirements for residential space, and others would be considered in order to protect the resources from being abused.
Why is Zoning Needed?
The local authorities may go on to restrict the use of residential spaces for commercial usage in order to limit the commercial activities to a particular part of the city. These zones may create conflicts if the residents go on to raise a dispute on such designated usage.
The laws of zoning may regulate the construction of the number of floors in a building. The constructions of the high-rise buildings may be prohibited in certain areas in order to protect the interest of the residents living in the neighbourhood.
