Green River Ordinances : Where Does the Burden Belong?

Over the years, many communities have attempted to restrict door-to-door salespersons. Green River Ordinance is a term derived from an ordinance adopted in Green River, Wyoming, in November, 1931. The measure declared the practice of going in or upon private residences for the purpose of peddling, or soliciting orders for the sale of goods without prior consent of the owners or occupants of the residence a nuisance and subjected such activities to criminal penalties. The popularity of, and controversy over, these ordinances continue to this day

Green River Ordinances : Where Does the Burden Belong?

Over the years, many communities have attempted to restrict door-to-door salespersons. Green River Ordinance is a term derived from an ordinance adopted in Green River, Wyoming, in November, 1931. The measure declared the practice of going in or upon private residences for the purpose of peddling, or soliciting orders for the sale of goods without prior consent of the owners or occupants of the residence a nuisance and subjected such activities to criminal penalties. The popularity of, and controversy over, these ordinances continue to this day

A Time to Open and a Time to Close—Municipal Regulation of Business Hours

In examining this area of regulation, it is necessary to consider (1) what purposes for municipal restrictions on business hours are valid, (2) what purposes are improper, (3) other limitations on governmental exercise of authority besides the properpurpose requirement, such as prohibitions against discrimination, (4) the forms of legislation available for use, and (5) the division of authority between state and local governments. An examination of these topics will delineate the circumstances under which legislative bodies are likely to impose, and courts are likely to uphold, restrictions on business hours

The Reasonableness of Amortization Periods for Nonconforming Uses—Balancing the Private Interest and the Public Welfare

The purpose of this Article is to consider the validity of amortization for terminating nonconforming uses and to determine how to decide what amounts to a reasonable period of time for amortization

“Spot Zoning”—A Spot That Could Be Removed from the Law

This Article proposes that courts abandon spot zoning terminology and instead focus on the underlying reasons for invalidating zoning: lack of a relationship to a valid police-power purpose, inconsistency with the community plan, or unreasonable discrimination between parcels of land. First, this Article surveys spot zoning cases to demonstrate that courts invalidate zoning for the three reasons just stated, and not simply because it is spot zoning. Second, this Article demonstrates that the term spot zoning is no longer a useful legal term. Finally, this Article argues that courts should abandon the term spot zoning in favor of general principles of zoning law