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What would be the difference between an anti-nuisance law and a zoning law if both prohibit industry in residential areas?

• watwut 4y ago
  Anti nuisance law allow shops and other small businesses to scattered through area. Zoning does not.
  • sofixa 4y ago
    Unless the zone is 'mid-rize residential with small shops and offices', like is the norm in many European cities.
• larsiusprime 4y ago
  Scope. Anti nuisance laws are specific and targeted whereas zoning laws are overly broad and tend towards central planning of the built environment.
• 2ICofafireteam 4y ago
  One prohibits industry and the other prohibits obnoxious behaviour. No matter what, zoning won't let me have a machine shop in my garage. The thing is that machine shops aren't all the same: If I'm servicing heavy equipment there will be low-beds delivering equipment, a driveway full of grit, disassembled machines and oil stains along with welding and arc-air gouging, etc. Not something you want next door; nuisance laws stop this. If I'm making parts for medical instruments, everything is inside, you can't see or hear any of it when I close the door, and traffic consists of me making weekly trips to buy bar stock and the occasional courrier van. What nuisance is that? Both are machine shops but they are far from having the same impact on a street.
  • ecshafer 4y ago
    I grew up next to a small factory / machine shop. By small I mean a factory the size of 3 acres and maybe 30 employees. There was essentially zero nuisance, I couldn't hear the machine shop running unless I was within 10 feet of the wall. This would fall under light industrial most likely, essentially no pollution. I see no reason why this small factory, or similarly a small coffee shop would be banned from being in a residential neighborhood. The "nuisance" argument is exaggerated to absurd levels when you can barely notice them.
    • 2ICofafireteam 4y ago
      Right on. It would be safe to assume a business with 30 employees would bring nearly 30 cars into the street and a coffee shop could increase foot traffic. These things aren't necessarily true, but those assumptions aren't necessarily unreasonable. I think this is where things break down. Out my way, when zoning does allow home-based business, restrictions are mainly about yard/accessory building usage, customer traffic/parking, and number of non-resident employees(I assume because of parking). I see it as an honest attempt to prevent nuisance activity while allowing some flexibility but it also seems lazy and too restrictive. My hypothetical garage based machine shop could be non-conforming and be one complaint away from being shut down no matter how unobtrusive it is.
• elliekelly 4y ago
  Zoning is preventative. It can stop a nuisance neighbor before they ever start. When a neighbor creates a nuisance the existence of an anti-nuisance law does nothing except provide a potential basis for a potential reprieve several months or years down the line if you have the resources and resolve to see it through. Do you want to live in a home where your neighbor definitely won’t open a night club next door? Or do you want to live in a home where, in the event your neighbor opens a night club next door, you have a solid argument to make when asking for a restraining order. Keep in mind actually enforcing the restraining order is another matter entirely.