What's Legally Required? 8th Edition by Michael Zizka ($35)
Mike Zizka has collaborated with UConn CLEAR on the printing of his latest (8th) edition of What's Legally Required?: A guide to the legal rules for making local land use decisions in the State of Connecticut. This 273 page book is the definitive reference guide for land use planners and commissioners in the State of Connecticut. It covers:
- Basic concepts in land use regulation
- Scope of municipal land use authority in CT
- Special issues in land use administration
- Steps in processing applications
- Procedures and standards for making a decision
- Special statutory procedures and standards
- Enforcement
Updates:
- The endnotes for appendix 8 can be found here. They were inadvertently left out of the book.
- Updates and Errata Sheet as of May 17, 2023.
- 2023 Legislative Update
Proceeds from the sale of this book will be used to support Land Use Academy programs and resources.
Additional Resources
Land Use Fact Sheets
These factsheets cover a wide variety of topics, providing key information about local commissions and their responsibilities, along with supplemental information on surrounding areas.
Webinars
As a part of UConn CLEAR's (Center for Land Use Education and Research), the Land Use Academy contributes webinars on various topics, to the CLEAR collection. Visit CLEAR's Webinar Library for a complete list.
CT DEEP Additional Trainings and Certificate Courses
A variety of trainings provided by CT DEEP to assist municipal staff in completing regulatory requirements as well as other informational courses.
UConn CLEAR Programs and Tools
Education & Training Programs
NEMO (Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials) provides information, education and assistance to local land use officials and other community groups on how they can accommodate growth while protecting their natural resources and community character.
The program's goal is to help municipal land use officials, staff and commission members understand and apply geospatial information technologies to help solve local land use problems and to develop environmentally sensitive land use plans. The program focuses on the use of geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing (RS) and global positioning system (GPS) technology and online mapping and introduces new users to these technologies through hands-on training courses.
Forest Stewardship Planning provides education for natural resource professionals, elected and appointed officials, volunteers and private woodland owners who care for this valued resource and landscape. Extension educators—in cooperation with many organizational partners—seek to improve the health, care, diversity, and management of Connecticut’s trees and forests.
Planning Tools
CT Low Impact Development (LID) Atlas
Low impact development (LID) is designed to reduce the negative impacts of traditional development on our water resources. This website allows you to retrieve LID sites from the inventory by clicking on the interactive map or selecting sites by the LID treatment practice. You can also find companies that design and install these LID practices.
Local Watershed Assessment Tool
New high-resolution land cover data for Connecticut has made it possible to look at the land/water connection at a finer scale than ever before. Using this tool, you can learn about the relationship between watershed health and land cover, explore the landscape surrounding the over 4,300 local waterways in our state, and test out landscape change scenarios to see what effects they might have.
Connecticut's Changing Landscape (CCL)
Changing Landscape is a remote sensing-based land cover study that charts landscape changes in Connecticut and portions of New York. It covers the 25-year period from 1985 to 2010 (with in-between dates of 1990, 1995, 2002 and 2006). It includes information on basic land cover, as well as subsidiary analyses of riparian corridor land cover, impervious cover and agricultural field and soil analysis.
CT Environmental Conditions Online (CT ECO)
Maps & Geospatial data for everyone.
For citation purposes: University of Connecticut’s Center for Land Use Education and Research. (May 10, 2022). Land Use Academy Resources. https://clear.uconn.edu/lua/resources.