From Euclid to Growing Smart : The Transformation of the American Local Land Use Ethic into Local Land Use and Environmental Controls

This article examines the relationship of smart growth, Growing Smart and local environmental law with a particular focus on what states can do to empower and encourage the enactment of meaningful local environmental land use laws. Part I briefly discusses the history of land use reform in the United States to set the context of the reform efforts presently underway. Part II considers the impact of state-level smart growth reforms with respect to the traditional notion of the primacy of local governments in land use control. Part III reviews the American Planning Association's (APA's) Growing Smart Legislative Guidebook (Growing Smart). Part IV discusses the continuing role of the federal government in fostering state and local land use reform efforts, and concludes with recommended next steps to sustain the momentum of land use law reform for greater local environmental protection