Land use controls Practice Questions
75 questions on land use controls, each with an explanation. This area covers zoning, variances, eminent domain, private restrictions.
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An ordinance lists a small machine shop as neither a permitted nor a conditional use anywhere in the district. What relief must an applicant seek to operate one there?
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10 sample land use controls questions, answered
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1. An ordinance lists a small machine shop as neither a permitted nor a conditional use anywhere in the district. What relief must an applicant seek to operate one there?
Why: Because the district does not authorize the activity at all, permission requires a use variance or a legislative rezoning. A conditional use permit exists only for uses the ordinance has already identified as acceptable with conditions.
2. Before lots in a new subdivision may be conveyed by lot and block number, the developer normally must:
Why: Subdivision review ends with approval and recording of the plat, which creates the lot and block descriptions later deeds rely on. A certificate of occupancy comes much later and applies to a completed building rather than raw land.
3. A city condemns homes and conveys the land to a private developer under a redevelopment plan expected to create jobs and tax revenue. Under federal constitutional analysis:
Why: Federal analysis reads public use broadly as public purpose, so a comprehensive economic development plan can qualify, although many states have since narrowed that authority by statute. Public use has never required physical occupation by the public.
4. A buyer intends to add a sign to a commercial building. Why should sign rules be checked separately?
Why: Local controls can regulate sign size, placement, lighting and other features. Permission for the underlying business does not resolve every sign requirement.
5. A developer offers a strip for a public street. What should be checked before assuming it is an accepted public road?
Why: An offer of dedication and effective public acceptance are distinct issues. A drawn street does not necessarily establish public maintenance or access status.
6. A zoning map places a site in an R-2 district, but the buyer does not know what R-2 permits locally. What should be reviewed?
Why: Zoning labels are locally defined. The applicable text establishes permitted uses, dimensions and procedures for that mapped district.
7. Which feature most distinguishes a planned unit development from conventional lot-by-lot zoning?
Why: A PUD approves one plan for the whole tract, so overall density governs and buildings may be clustered around shared open space with mixed housing types. A PUD never excuses the project from building codes or permits.
8. Under a cumulative or pyramidal zoning scheme, which of the following is permitted?
Why: Cumulative zoning stacks uses so that a district admits its own use plus every more restricted use above it, which is why housing may go into a commercial zone. Placing commercial activity in a residential zone reverses the pyramid and is not allowed.
9. A 20,000-square-foot lot sits in a district with a maximum floor area ratio of 1.5. What is the largest total floor area the ordinance allows?
Why: Floor area ratio multiplies lot area by the ratio, so 20,000 times 1.5 permits 30,000 square feet of floor area spread over any number of stories. Dividing lot area by the ratio yields 13,333 square feet and inverts the formula.
10. A city charges each new house in a subdivision a sum earmarked for expanding school and sewer capacity. That charge is a:
Why: An impact fee shifts the cost of added public capacity onto the development that creates the demand, and it must bear a reasonable relationship to that demand. A special assessment instead charges existing owners for an improvement benefiting their parcels.
Vocabulary this area tests
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Weightings come directly from the test provider’s published examination content outline for the national portion of the salesperson exam. PSI publishes percentages only; Pearson VUE publishes scored-item counts only. PSI and Pearson VUE use different content taxonomies, so their weightings are not interchangeable and should not be averaged. Check which provider administers your state’s exam, and confirm against the current candidate handbook before you study. Outlines are revised periodically and older versions stay in circulation online. View the PSI outline.