Local Authority: Communities Have Means of Influencing Land Use

This case analysis examines several court decisions, including the results of three New York Court of Appeals cases where litigants challenged the constitutionality of municipal land use decisions. In each case, the court afforded the municipality deference and found that their objectives were rationally related to the decisions, mostly decisions to deny development. However, this presumption of validity given to local legislatures and quasi-judicial agencies presents a problem when land use decisions affect outside municipalities. Thankfully, through the use of training programs, municipalities are learning to work together to resolve intermunicipal land use issues