Abstract

Excerpted From: William West, Racial Impact Assessment in Land Use Planning and Zoning, 40 Pace Environmental Law Review 656 (Summer, 2023) (196 Footnotes) (Full Document)

Land use planning and zoning built racial segregation. Recently, local governments have adopted racial impact assessments to address that history, its continuing effects, and its contemporary formulations. Racial impact assessments are new tools that attempt to predict the effects of actions to help policymakers evaluate the consequences of those actions before their implementation. The assessment's premise is that policies have consequences that could be predicted and avoided if only procedures provided the necessary information. This article briefly explains the history of race and land use in the United States, the development of racial impact assessments, and the emerging trend of racial impact assessments in land use planning and zoning.

Part I shows how land use law and policy has contributed to segregation in the United States. Part II explores racial impact assessments in non-land use contexts, including criminal justice, federal agencies, and private advocacy. Part III provides examples of racial impact assessments in land use from three local governments: New York, New York; Seattle, Washington; Montgomery County, Maryland. Part IV explores unresolved issues that challenge the implementation of racial impact assessments in land use planning and zoning. By focusing on institutional structures and systems, this article introduces how municipalities can use racial impact assessments to address the persistent inequity stemming from land use law and policy.

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Racial impact assessments are an emerging trend in land use planning and zoning. As local governments continue to implement this tool, they can learn from the experiences of other racial impact assessments.

William West is a graduate of the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.