Bartley, Ernest R.

English

University of Florida Levin College of Law

Florida Law Review Volume 28 Issue 1 Article 21 September 1975 Williams: American Planning Law: Land Use and the Police Power Ernest R. Bartley Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr  Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Ernest R. Bartley, Williams: American Planning Law: Land Use and the Police Power, 28 Fla. L. Rev. 306 (1975). Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol28/iss1/21 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 REVIEWAMERICA PLANNING LAW: LAND USE AND THE POLICE POWER. By Norman Wil-liams, Jr.' Chicago: Callaghan & Company. 1974. Pp. 3,640. Five volumes.$225.00.This is a monumental treatise - monumental in physical dimension, monu-mental in conception, and monumental in its contribution to the planningand land use control field. To the reviewer, of course, this treatise representsa monumental problem: no review can encompass all of the comments thatmight be made, or even a fraction of those that should be made.Professor Williams brings to his effort a wealth of background and ex-perience. He is an attorney, professional planner, author of note, and teacher.He has served as a citizen member of planning boards. The richness of thisblend of theory and practice is reflected time and again in this, his magnumopus.He has done all the customary tasks expected in a work of this type. Hehas dutifully worshipped at the feet of the gods of the traditional approach,reading perceptively, analyzing, and organizing over 10,000 reported casesdealing with land use controls (primarily, of course, zoning) in the process.One hesitates to say that he has performed this function "better" than pre-vious writers of treatises on this topic, but he has certainly done it as well asany.Had Professor Williams stopped at this point, his efforts could be dulynoted and his work cited occasionally in briefs and judicial opinions. Hecould have retired gracefully into the academic mists, to be recognized dimlyfrom time to time as a person who wrote a set of books on something orother. Such obscurity is unlikely either for Professor Williams or for thistreatise.Unlike other major treatise writers in the field, he has deliberately chosento emphasize the relationship between the law and comprehensive planningactivity (as the professional planner understands that term). His theme isthe developing relationship between the comprehensive plan and implemen-tation mechanisms requiring the utilization of the police power. The bench,the bar, and professional planners in Florida can read and utilize profitablythe extensive materials on this topic, for Florida adopted in 1975 the LocalGovernment Comprehensive Planning Act.2 This epochal Act requires thatall public and private development and all actions taken to implement anadopted comprehensive plan be in conformity with that plan. The tremorsroused by this revolutionary act will be a long time subsiding in Florida.The ivory tower of objective analysis is not for Professor Williams. Onewill find in reading almost any portion of the work that his normative assess-ments of judicial decisions are unusually clear, though sometimes irritating1. Professor of Urban Planning, Rutgers University; Member, New Jersey Bar,2. Fla. Laws 1975, ch. 75-257.1Bartley: Williams: American Planning Law: Land Use and the Police PowerPublished by UF Law Scholarship Repository, 1975BOOK REVIEWto those who may not concur in his views. It is not unlikely that his workwill receive criticism on this score, but certainly not from this reviewer.No other treatise writer has even attempted the sort of analysis thatconstitutes another special feature of Professor Williams' work - determiningwhat actually happened after the decisions in a number of leading cases inthe field. Thus, as an example, one will find not only the expected discussionof the United States Supreme Court's opinion in Village of Euclid v. AmblerRealty Co.,3 but also a note on the history of the subject property followingthe decision, together with illustrations. Post-decisional histories in the real-life sense, not limited merely to the use of such decisions as precedent, canhave great utility. One regrets that financial limitations prevented ProfessorWilliams from doing more of this type of follow-up analysis, and one truststhat he may have stimulated his successors to attempt more of it.One of Professor Williams' major interests in the land use control fieldis reflected in his material on "exclusionary zoning." This reviewer has reada good many articles on the subject and has been personally involved inseveral pieces, of litigation in which the issue has been raised. The 150-pagetreatment of the topic in Williams' treatise should be regarded as a "must"for anyone working with the topic.Practicing attorneys will not pay much attention to Williams' discussionof the future. One suspects strongly, however, that Williams was thoroughlyenjoying himself when he wrote of the future and how it relates to whathas been prologue. His discussion of constraints and opportunities in andfor the American land use control system is a thoughtful one. He recognizesand articulates dearly the shortcomings of reliance on law alone to solve theproblems inherent in land development. His plea for the involvement of alltypes of professionals in attempting solutions and his recognition of thefutility of instant solutions and gimmicks are well-founded in practical ex-perience.This major contribution to planning and land use control law has itsshortcomings, however. Some of them are dearly recognized and stated byProfessor Williams - the underemphasis on environmental law, the lack ofattention to other types of land use controls, such as minimum housing codesand the like. The author has sometimes permitted himself the luxury of in-dulging at too great length on particular topics that interest him. It is some-times difficult to follow an organizational pattern over several pages and,indeed, several chapters.On balance, however, one can only give Professor Williams a "well-done"on his effort. Here are volumes to which the bar, bench, and professionalplanner can repair with confidence in times of stress - and trial. Even bytoday's standards the price of the treatise is considerable. The price is worth it.ERNEST R. BARTLEY*3. 272 U.S. 365 (1926).*Professor of Political Science and Urban and Regional Planning, University of Florida.1975]2Florida Law Review, Vol. 28, Iss. 1 [1975], Art. 21https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/flr/vol28/iss1/21HOW TO TRY A FEDERAL CRIIONAL CASEBYPAUL C. MATTHEWSOf the Illinois and North Dakota BarsProfessor of Law, University of ArizonaTwo VolumesWith pocket partsupplements$50.00Step by step procedure in logical sequence, beginning with the initial arrestand ending with pardons, paroles and commutation.0 Defending0 Prosecuting0 What to do-How to do it0 Modern-ComprehensiveWith forms for every stage of the trialIncluding Federal Rules of Criminal ProcedureDENNIS & CO., INC.Law Book Publishers251 Main StreetBuffalo, New York 14203DatePlease send me MATTHEWS-HOW TO TRY A FEDERAL CRIMINAL CASE,2 Volumes at the Special Introductory Price of $50.00 with 1972 Supplement.NAMEAddressCityEl Check EnclosedZone - StateEl Send C.O.D. 0l Charge my accountComing in te]Nexg Issue oLaw, Capitalism, and the FutureThe Dead Hand: The Last GraspNuclear Power Plant SitingFlorida's Campaign Finance LawThe Search for a Television Allocations PolicyForeign Direct Investment in United States RealtyUniversity of Florida Law ReviewCOLLEGE OF LAW, LAW CENTER- GAINESVILLE, FL 326113Bartley: Williams: American Planning Law: Land Use and the Police PowerPublished by UF Law Scholarship Repository, 1975

Williams: American Planning Law: Land Use and the Police Power

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Williams: American Planning Law: Land Use and the Police Power

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University of Florida Levin College of Law

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