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Land Use Law Center

Our History

The Land Use Law Center, founded in 1993, was established to create sustainable communities.

In 1992, the leaders of the countries of the world pledged their cooperative efforts in Rio de Janeiro to foster sustainable development to meet economic needs, achieve equity, and preserve resources for future generations. The Center was one of the first law school-based institutes of its kind in the country to dedicate itself to these goals.

The Center was commissioned by President Bill Clinton’s Council on Sustainable Development to study land use patterns in the Hudson Valley region and to determine whether the region would be sustainable in 50 years. Its conclusion was no: the region’s open space, and associated natural resources, would be reduced from 70% of the land area to 30% as a result of sprawl. This pattern of development was the direct result of the aggregated land use plans and regulations of the 250 local governments in the region. The Council asked the Center to develop a strategy to reverse these trends, and Congress, led by Congresswoman Nita Lowey, promised funding for a sound solution.

John Nolon and students outside looking at map, Land Use Law Center at Elisabeth Haub School of Law

Leaders of the Center then met with Nobel Laureate in Physics, Dr. Murray Gell-Mann and leading land use law professor Michael Heyman, head of the Smithsonian Institution and former Chancellor of the University of California. Based on their successful experience with communities in the San Francisco Bay area and Dr. Gell-Mann’s work on grass-roots sustainability, they recommended that the Land Use Center train local land use leaders in using their considerable legal authority to build sustainable communities and to connect them by building inter-municipal networks.

The Center works with these well-respected leaders who identify their local land use problems and the staff attorneys and students at the Center conduct research nationally to identify relevant best practices for the leaders to consider and adapt locally. This program was awarded the American Planning Association’s national planning award in 2009 and received an award of distinction in 2014 from the International City Management Association. The Regional Plan Association credits the unique progress on sustainability in the Hudson Valley region, in part, to the Center’s training and research programs. The Center established a Land Use Collaborative with the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies where Pace and Yale students work together studying sustainability issues and creating recommended strategies.

Meg Byerly Williams, John Nolon, Jennie Nolon-Blanchard, Tiffany Zezula, and gentleman in office looking at map, Land Use Law Center at Elisabeth Haub School of Law

Past and current topics that local leaders have asked the Center to develop include: urban revitalization, transit oriented development, distressed property remediation, affordable housing, fair housing, gentrification, healthy communities, coastal resilience, inland flood prevention, local environmental law, clean water, renewable energy, agricultural land protection, climate change mitigation, and private/public partnerships, among others. The best practices developed are placed in the Gaining Ground Database for use by land use leaders and their advisers and they are used in a variety of outreach programs including the Center’s annual land use conference, local leader training programs, and regional workshops on breaking topics.

The Center works with local governments, non-profits, state agencies, foundations, developers, environmentalists, and sustainability advocates through a variety of partnerships. These include the Mayors Redevelopment Roundtable and the Corporation Counsels Roundtable, which it created, the New York State departments of State, Environmental Conservation, Energy, and Agriculture and Markets, the Governor’s Storm Recovery Office, FEMA, Cornell University, the Westchester County Association, the Urban Land Institute, and Yale.

  • 1993

    • The Land Use Law Center (LULC) is created with a $25,000 seed grant from Pace Law School and a $65,000 grant from Ciba to work with President Clinton’s Council on Sustainable Development.

    1994

    • LULC establishes model program with President Clinton’s Council on Sustainable Development including the formation of the Hudson River Advisory Board for Sustainable Development. Funding provided by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Surdna Foundation.
    • The Center conducts educational clinics at the local level with support provided by the Open Space Institute and New York Planning Federation.
    • LULC director, John Nolon, is awarded Fulbright Scholarship to Argentina to analyze sustainable development law and practices.

    1995

    • LULC’s Hudson River Advisory Board for Sustainable Development is designated a “national model” by President Clinton’s Council for Sustainable Development.
    • Congress asks the Center to establish a local land use leaders training program to carry out comprehensive strategy.

    1996

    • The Center’s Local Land Use Leaders Training Program is funded by a $200,000 Congressional appropriation through the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
    • First class of 28 local government, environmental, and business leaders graduates from four-day training program.
    • LULC publishes Local Leaders Guide to Land Use Practices.

    1997

    • LUCAS (Land Use and Community Assistance Service)—the Center’s Web site—is initiated as an electronic land use library to support trained local leaders.
    • The Kaplan Foundation’s Furthermore Program funds publication of Center’s technical books to support local leaders.

    1998

    • LULC conducts the Long Island Sound Training Program, resulting in the formation of the first of seven intermunicipal land use councils.
    • LULC holds regional conference on mediating land use disputes.

    1999

    • LULC Cosponsors “Sustainable Communities for a Sustainable Future” conference.
    • Center completes comparative study of land use laws in N.Y., N.J., and CT.
    • Local development law program begins with study and conference on the reform of environmental impact review law. Support provided by the Building and Realty Institute.

    2000

    • Conducts first four-day training program in conjunction with the Hudson River Greenway.
    • Local workshops held in 20 communities with graduates of training program.
    • LULC established its “Conflict Assessment Training” mediation program, designed as a model for other jurisdictions and funded by the NRCS.
    • LULC launches Joint Center for Land Use Studies.
    • Team of LULC students publishes book of sample local environmental laws.

    2001

    • First of a series of three articles is written initiating the Center’s study of local environmental law.
    • LULC forms partnership with Consensus Building Institute to promote mediation of land use disputes.
    • LULC assists in creation of state court system’s first environmental court.
    • Center helps create Joint Degree program between Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and Pace Law School.
    • LULC publishes a Guidebook for Local Governments entitled Preserving Natural Resources Through Local Environmental Laws.

    2002

    • LULC awards first Shamberg Scholarship in Development Law.
    • LULC assists Greenway in forming a Regional Alliance of Intermunicipal Land Use Councils.

    2003

    • LULC creates the first at-home study and certification course for land use leaders in New York State
    • LULC certifies a dozen local boards through its extension course: The Zoning School, developed with the New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal.
    • Develops National Land Use Library with interns and classes at Pace Law School and the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.
    • 50th municipality officially supports LULC’s land use leaders training programs.

    2010

    • Pace Law School establishes the first LLM degree program in Land Use and Sustainable Development Law

    2012

    • LULC founder, Professor John R. Nolon and Professor Patricia Salkin publish the first law school casebook on Land Use and Sustainable Development Law

    2013

    • Jessica Bacher is appointed Executive Director of the Land Use Law Center.

    2014

    • Tiffany Zezula is appointed Deputy Director of the Land Use Law Center, serving as primary trainer and national coordinator for the Center’s award-winning Land Use Leadership Alliance Training program.

    2018

    • LULC collaborates with the Westchester County Association to publish a "Land Use Development Playbook."

    2020

    • Professor Jessica Bacher, Executive Director of the Land Use Law Center, is appointed to a land use panel supporting New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Climate Action Council.

    2021

    • Professor Shelby Green is appointed co-counsel of the Land Use Law Center.

    2022

    • Pace Environmental Law Review Announces First Winner of the John R. Nolon Student Writing Competition, Christen Maccone.
    • Four Land Use Law Center Scholars are published in national journals for their innovation developing the Land Use, Human Health, and Equity project which provides strategies for mitigating the public health impacts of four critical pandemics – inequity, viral disease, housing insecurity, and climate change.

    2023

    • Jessica Bacher, Executive Director of the Land Use Law Center, is one of 28 members named to the Stakeholder Advisory Committee for New York State’s Master Plan for Aging.
    • New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins commissioned Land Use Law Center staff and students to lead an in-depth study of New York State’s village incorporation law which resulted in a package of bills signed into law by Governor Hochul in January 2024.