Larsen, Wendy U.

Siemon, Charles L.

English

University of Florida Levin College of Law

Florida Law Review Volume 39 Issue 4 Article 7 September 1987 Urban Planning and Land Development Control Law, Second Addition Charles L. Siemon Wendy U. Larsen Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr  Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Charles L. Siemon and Wendy U. Larsen, Urban Planning and Land Development Control Law, Second Addition, 39 Fla. L. Rev. 983 (1987). Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol39/iss4/7 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by UF Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Florida Law Review by an authorized editor of UF Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact kaleita@law.ufl.edu. BOOK REVIEWURBAN PLANNING AND LAND DEVELOPMENT CON-TROL LAW, SECOND EDITION. By the late Donald G. Hagmanand Julian Conrad Juergensmeyer.1 St. Paul: West Publishing Co.1986. Pp. 925. One volume, $24.95.The task of succeeding the inestimable talent and ability of thelate Don Hagman in any undertaking should be daunting. Yet Profes-sor Julian Juergensmeyer has done just that in his update of Hagman'shornbook, D. HAGMAN & J. JUERGENSMEYER, URBAN PLANNINGAND LAND DEVELOPMENT CONTROL LAW (2d ed. 1986). The volumetakes on a nearly impossible task: to digest and analyze the rapidlyexpanding and mercurial subject of land use and planning law, and todo so in a single volume update of Hagman's widely used and highlyregarded hornbook.Even a cursory review of URBAN PLANNING AND LAND DE-VELOPMENT CONTROL LAW reveals that the book is a compromisebetween breadth and depth, and between philosophies and perspec-tives. Juergensmeyer admits as much in the preface when he recountshis decision to abandon his original intention of simply updating theHagman version, a compromise required by the rapidly evolvingcharacter of land use and planning law, and by Juergensmeyer's differ-ing perspectives about the "necessary" scope of a one volume "hand-book." Happily, the compromises work and the result is a volume thatshould become a standard for the subject of land use and planning inlaw school, courthouse, and practitioners' law libraries.One of the greatest strengths of URBAN PLANNING AND LANDDEVELOPMENT CONTROL LAW is the scope of subjects treated injust 925 pages. Subjects that are all too often ignored or are mereafterthoughts in planning law (including some multi-volume treatises),such as agricultural preservation, transferable development rights,and vested rights, are discussed in sufficient detail to be of value andassistance to the student or practitioner confronting these esotericsubjects. A second great strength of the book is its plain languageand straightforward use of the vocabulary of contemporary land useand planning law. Too many books, for example, hide the substance1. Professor, University of Florida. B.A., 1959, J.D. 1963, Duke University; cert. D'EstudesPolit., 1960, Bordeaux, France; Diplomas I & II Comparative Law, 1969, Strasbourg, France.1Siemon and Larsen: Urban Planning and Land Development Control Law, Second AdditionPublished by UF Law Scholarship Repository, 1987UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LAW REVIEWof the 'taking issue" behind euphemistic titles like "the constitutionallimitations on land use controls," so that the practitioner challengedby a "taking issue" question finds assistance in the literature onlythrough a process of elimination and chance encounter. No more: the"taking issue" is discussed as the taking issue and even a novice couldunderstand the treatment of the subject in URBAN PLANNING ANDLAND DEVELOPMENT CONTROL LAW. Both the detailed Table ofContents and the helpful Index are effective in directing a reader totreatment of a subject in the text. Similarly, the subject of vestedrights, long a stepchild in the land use and planning law family, isgiven titled treatment, making it easy for a practitioner to find ameaningful entry into the doctrinal contortions of this subject.Not every subject Professor Juergensmeyer tackles comes off withequal success. However, those few shortfalls that have occurred flownot from the inadequacy of the author's effort, but from the hopeless-ness of treating a rapidly evolving and complex subject with sufficientbrevity to leave room for the broad range of topics included for thepractitioner's benefit. Practitioners who specialize in land use andplanning law will undoubtedly wish that Professor Juergensmeyer hadtreated subjects like vested rights and procedural due process in moredetail. The focus of the book, however, is as a "practitioner's guide"and the author has quite properly constrained himself in regard tothe depth of treatment.Another, perhaps equally valuable asset of the book is the author'swillingness to describe the principles of law presented, rather thanresort to extensive quotations from this case and that case. Seminalquotations are included where appropriate, but for the most part Pro-fessor Juergensmeyer has, as he promises in his preface, given thereader his view of the law, supported by ample citations to primaryand secondary authority, together with helpful West Publishing refer-ence information directing the reader to both the West key numbersystem and WESTLAW.One part of the book does not work as well as might have beenhoped - the "practitioner's chapters." The chapters are capably writ-ten and chock full of useful materials but come across as inconsequen-tial appendages without any apparent regard to the well-conceivedorganization that directs the first twenty chapters of the book. Oneof the great values of Juergensmeyer's effort is his presentation'scontext, and the lack of cohesion and context in the presentation ofthe practitioner's chapters reduces the effectiveness of this section.Nevertheless, the chapters do present important material that will beinvaluable to the general practitioner confronted with complex landuse and planning law problems.[Vrol. 392Florida Law Review, Vol. 39, Iss. 4 [1987], Art. 7https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol39/iss4/7BOOK REVIEWIn the final analysis, URBAN PLANNING AND LAND DEVELOP-MENT CONTROL LAW does what it is supposed to do. It summarizescontrolling principles of law in plain and meaningful language andprovides the reader with a useful entry point into the case law andliterature of land planning law.Charles L. Siemon2Wendy U. Larsen32. Partner in planning law firm of Siemon, Larsen, & Purdy, Chicago, Illinois; Sarasota,Florida; and Newport Beach, California. B.A., 1964, Emory University; J.D. 1973, Florida StateUniversity.3. Partner in planning law firm of Siemon, Larsen & Purdy, Chicago, Illinois; Sarasota,Florida; and Newport Beach, California. B.A., 1967, Hollis College; J.D., 1974, De Paul Univer-sity.3Siemon and Larsen: Urban Planning and Land Development Control Law, Second AdditionPublished by UF Law Scholarship Repository, 19874Florida Law Review, Vol. 39, Iss. 4 [1987], Art. 7https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol39/iss4/7

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