ZONING SYSTEM AND REGULATION

    ZONING SYSTEM

Zoning system is a process through which a community divides itself into two or more district or zones allowing only designated land uses in each district and imposing certain development activity. Adopting a zoning ordinance is an exercise of regulating powers and ordinance provision must be reasonable, based on a comprehensive plan and related to health, safety, morals and general welfare of the community. Zoning is one of the many measures of government to guise the use and development of privately owned real estate.

Rural zoning is not nearly as wide spread as urban zoning, it early use was to reduce public service costs and prevent personal hardship in land cleared areas.

In Nigeria, especially the Federal Capital City (FCC) zoning is considered a useful tool for combating problems such as:

1. Protecting public health and safety by preventing development that could lead to ground and surface water pollution, keeping flammable structures at distance apart.
2. Preservation and developing the economic base. This is of particular significance in areas where economic existence is based on natural resources, such as agriculture, recreation or running.

iii.              Improving the quality of the physical environment by screening or eliminating unsightly uses of land use as junk poles and damps, prevent lake pollution etc

1. Protecting properly values from being undermined by the development of incompatible uses on adjacent or nearly properties.

ZONING REGULATION

There are three ways to categorized regulation contained in zoning ordinance.

1. The first distinguished between regulating provisions that seek to control the location of different kinds of land uses and those intended to influence characteristics controlling provisions concerning physical aspects within the boundaries of the plot, or tract of land involved as such as the relative position of improvement and the amount of open space.
2. Zoning regulations can also be categorized according to the geographic area of application.

iii.              The third classification separates zoning restriction according to the physical characterized that are affected such as:

1. Those intended to determine population density such as lot size and coverage and type of dwelling.
2. Those concerning land structure relationships minimum set back distance, frontage, and side yard and backyard requirements for residence are almost universal.
3. Those directly controlling land use list of permitted, conditionally permitted, and prohibited uses are set-aside in certain land areas.