Courses taught by Rich Collins through the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning in the School of Architecture.
Legal Aspects of Planning
Prerequisites/Requirements Satisfied: Grades for this course will be based on: a) a single mid-term examination (25%); b) two papers of approximately 10 pages in length (1st – 30%; 2nd – 30%; and c) class preparation and participation including the work from the comparative legal project (15%).
The mid-term examination will be conducted prior to the Spring Break and will use short essays to determine the level of comprehension of the key themes of property, policy power, zoning and planning legal evolution, and U.S. Constitutional law as it affects land regulation.
Course Description: Land use law is not a single body of doctrine but an array of overlapping categories of laws including constitutional, administrative, municipal, and environmental law. The course will assist the student in understanding the relevant intersections among these categories for the development of a planning professional. Special emphasis will be placed on the key decisions that mark the boundaries of regulation from common law nuisance to sophisticated management of growth will be tracked and considered.
The following objectives should be realized in the course. Students may value and emphasize the attainment of some objectives over others.
- Place land use planning law and the associated legal processes within a national Constitutional framework. This will go beyond land use, narrowly conceived; it will include an understanding of the key provisions affecting the Bill of Rights, Federalism, and other key Constitutional factors that overlay land use planning and regulation.
- Increase the appreciation for the ethical, political, and economic dimensions that support differing perspectives on the role of government as it respects landed property in a democracy. This is particularly relevant when the system includes judicial review of legislation for constitutional conformity.
- To better acquaint the planning student with the legal institutions, rules of decision, and strategic ploys that are integral to legislative and judicial decision making.
- To acquaint the student with the administration and management of land use planning in frequent, everyday practice.
- To consider special fields of interest such as historic preservation, farmland protection, hazardous sites, wetland protection, etc.
- To develop survival skills in legal research and analysis in order to better communicate effectively with lawyers, elected officials, citizen planners, and (importantly) citizens.
Preservation Planning
Prerequisites/Requirements Satisfied: None
Course Description: This course presents a framework of values, institutions, practices, laws, and policy issues surrounding the conservation of cultural, historic, and natural resources. The course offers an opportunity to consider both ecological and cultural resources in an enveloping context, while also allowing for specialized study and practice in specific resource areas. Thus, practices for conserving farmland, scenic or historic landscapes, building landmarks, historic districts, or archeological resources, are examined in terms of preparing for professional practice.
This course is intended to increase the contextual and technical knowledge of those intending to act as professionals in urban planning, environmental planning, or historic preservation planning. Although these fields overlap and share some common fields of action, there is enough difference to permit specialized study of areas of interest. The instructor encourages a focus upon specific conservation or preservation issues by individual students. Outside resource specialists will present to the class on matters of professional interest and practice.