The 1920’s saw a continuation of the codification of urban planning across the united States and Canada. Here are some key milestones:

First Historic Preservation Organization 1920

The Preservation Society of Charleston is the oldest community-based historic preservation organization in the United States. The group first met on April 21, 1920, and voted to try to save the circa 1803 Joseph Manigault House which was slated for demolition to make way for a gas station.*

In 1931 the Society was instrumental in persuading Charleston City Council to pass the first zoning ordinance enacted to protect historic resources. The ordinance established the first Board of Architectural Review and designated a 138-acre (0.56 km2) “Old and Historic District”. The ordinance limited alterations to the exteriors of historic buildings and made provision for prosecuting violations.

In 1957 the Society took on its current name to reflect an expanded mission to protect not only dwellings but all sites and structures of historic significance or aesthetic value. The Society has sought to fulfill its mission through programs that focus on preservation education, advocacy, and planning.

 

First Off Street Parking Requirements 1923

Columbus, OH was the first city to establish off-street parking requirements in its zoning codes in 1923. Fresno, CA followed suit in 1939. Others were slower to implement similar zoning codes—New

York City did not have off-street parking requirements until 1950. However, by the late 1940s requirements for adequate off-street parking had become a regular feature of municipal planning and zoning in a number of cities.

Prior to the first off-street parking facilities, on-street parking had not been regulated. With the advent of off-street parking, many larger cities like Chicago, Detroit, and Philadelphia began eliminating on-street parking to improve traffic flow. Taking a different approach, in 1935 Oklahoma City was the first city to regulate on-street parking using meters.

 

Canada’s First Zoning Bylaw 1924

Canada’s first zoning bylaw was passed by the Municipality of Point Grey (British Columbia) in 1924. The bylaw restricted the area to only allow development of homes and their related outbuildings. Point Grey was considered one of the strictest towns that implements zoning laws earning a reputation of tight regulations outlining building and landscaping. In 1926, the Point Grey Town planning commission had this vision:

a city in which the best type of home could not only be built, but also adequately safeguarded from the encroachments of undesirable types of development.

When Point Grey merged with Vancouver in 1929, officials agreed that Vancouver should acknowledge Point Grey’s zoning by laws. Effects of these laws can still be seen today, with much of the community consisting of single family households.

Kitchener, Ontario also passed a zoning bylaw in 1924.

 

1925 City Plan for Cincinnati

Cincinnati was the first city in the United States to have a comprehensive plan approved by City Council.*

Sponsored by the United City Planning Committee and paid for by donations, the plan was started in 1922 and finished in 1925. It was let by Alfred Bettman, a Cincinnati lawyer, Ladislas Segoe, an immigrant planner from Hungary, and George B. Ford and Ernest P. Goodrich, of New York the owners of the first American planning consulting firm.

The plan was long-range and sought to reduce the influence of machine politicians on the city government. It was unique in controlling the growth of new subdivisions by requiring installation of utilities prior to approval.

 

Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. 1926

Euclid v. Ambler was a United States Supreme Court case argued in 1926. It was the first significant and landmark case regarding the relatively new practice of zoning, and served to substantially bolster zoning ordinances in towns nationwide in the United States and in other countries of the world including Canada.

The Court found that as long as the community believed that there was a threat of a nuisance, the zoning ordinance should be upheld. The exclusion of business, trade, apartment buildings from residential districts was legitimate as a police power. This is the first supreme court case to deal with zoning and validate police power as a way to initiate it/maintain it.

At the time of Euclid, zoning was a relatively new concept, and indeed there had been rumblings that it was an unreasonable intrusion into private property rights for a government to restrict how an owner might use property. The court, in finding that there was valid government interest in maintaining the character of a neighborhood and in regulating where certain land uses should occur, allowed for the subsequent explosion in zoning ordinances across the country. The court has never heard a case seeking to overturn Euclid.*

 

Standard State Zoning Enabling Act 1926
Standard City Planning Enabling Act 1928

In the 1920s, President Coolidge formed the Advisory Committee on City Planning and Zoning. The Committee’s first task was the publication of the Standard State Zoning Enabling Act (pdf) in 1926. This act was never passed by Congress; rather it was written as model legislation for state legislatures.

The Commission later published the Standard City Planning Enabling Act (SCPEA) (pdf) in 1928 for use by local governments. The SCPEA covered six subjects:

1. the organization and power of planning commissions, which was directed to prepare and adopt a master plan;
2. the content of the master plan;
3. provisions for a master street plan;
4. provisions for approval of all public improvements by the planning commission;
5. control of private subdivision of land; and
6. provisions for the creation of regional planning commissions.

 

Other Posts in this Series

• Introduction
• Pre Columbian cities,
  • Part 1
  • Part 2
  • Part 3
• 1500s
• 1600s
• 1700s
• 1800s
• 1900s
  • 1900-1909
  • 1910-1920