Measuring Local Government
Land Use Autonomy
New Metropolis Lecture Series
October 24, 2006
Virginia Tech
Alexandria, Virginia
Jesse J. Richardson, Jr.
Associate Professor
Urban Affairs and Planning
Virginia Tech
The smaller the society, the fewer
probably will be the distinct parties and
interests composing it; the fewer the
distinct parties and interests, the more
frequently will a majority be found of
the same party; ... and the smaller the
compass within which they are placed,
the more easily will they concert and
execute their plans of oppression.
(Madison 1787)
Overview
• Introduction
• Local Government Autonomy
• Land Use Autonomy
• Classifying and Ranking Land Use
Autonomy
• Conclusions
Sprawl and
Local Government Autonomy
• Communities struggling with rapid growth
• Who should manage growth and how?
• Is more local government autonomy good
or bad for Smart Growth?
Background
• Zimmerman (1981) Index
- structure
- function
- finances
• No index focuses on land use autonomy
• Zimmerman Index is dated
This study
• State statutes and constitutions
• Case law
• Literature
• Secondary sources
• Outgrowth of “Is Home Rule The Answer?
Clarifying The Influence Of Dillon's Rule
On Growth Management”, Richardson,
Gough and Puentes (The Brookings
Institution 2003)
Local Government Autonomy
• The Tenth Amendment of the United States
Constitution provides that, “[t]he powers not
delegated to the [federal government] by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States,
are reserved to the States respectively, or to the
people.”
• “[Local governments] are the creatures- mere
political subdivisions- of the state, for purpose of
exercising a part of its power.” (Atkins v. Kansas
(1903)
Existing Literature
• Some authors bemoan lack of local
government autonomy (Frug 2001, Barron
2003)
• Others state that local governments have
too much autonomy (Cashin 2000, Garnett
2005)
“Municipal corporations owe their origin to,
and derive their powers and rights wholly
from the Legislature. It brea