No. I.

Note G

THE ITALIAN EXPROPRIATION LAW OF 1865"

CHAPTER VI

OF REGULATORY BUILDING PLANS

ART. 86. Those communes having a population of at least 10,000 may, for the public welfare, to be determined by actual need to provide for health and for the necessary communications, make a regulatory plan in which shall be shown the lines to be observed to attain the desired improvement in the reconstruction of the parts of the commune in which the faulty arrangement of the buildings is to be remedied.

ART. 87. The projects for the regulatory plans shall be made public by the mayor in accordance with the terms of articles 17 and 18 and must be adopted by the Communal Council, which shall consider any objections that may be presented.

If the Communal Council shall disallow the objections, the Provincial Deputation shall be asked for its opinion upon the merits of the project and the objections to it.

The regulatory plans shall be approved in accordance with the provisions of article 12," after the Superior Council of Public Works and the Council of Sanitation, when necessary, have been heard.

In the decree approving the plan, the time within which it must be executed, not to exceed twenty-five years, shall be fixed.

fects, the remedy of which is the object of lively interest on the part of Government authorities. Both the Building Act of 1874 and the TownPlanning Act of 1907 are at the present moment under revision.* The primary object of this revision is to tackle what we may call the rookery problem, that is to say the unregulated, huddled and planless building over of areas just outside the boundaries of the urban communities proper. In this respect two ways may be followed: either to extend a compulsory planning to such an extent that no building operations of any magnitude may be started at all without a detailed plan for their arrangement; or to set up and try to carry into effect certain fundamental requirements in building without going so far as to insist upon the elaboration of a complete town plan in every case. Both methods have distinct advantages and no less distinct drawbacks; and it cannot yet be foreseen which will be chosen by the legislature. One thing is certain, however, and that is that we may very soon expect a forceful intervention with the object of guiding building operations, even outside the borders of the present urban communities, into sound ways controlled by public authorities."

20

Adopted June 25. Raccolta ufficiale delle leggi e dei decreti, 1865, No. 2359, p. 1477.

81 Of this law.

On December 15, 1920, the committee in charge of the matter brought in a report, with the draft of an amended law, for which see Betänkande med Förslag till Stadsplanlag, published by the Kungl. Boktrycleriet, P. A, Norstedt, & Söner, Stockholm, 1920.

ART. 88. The decree approving the plan shall be published by the Mayor and within one month brought by him, in the form of summons, to the attention of each owner of property comprised within the plan.

ART. 89. When the regulatory plan has become final, the owners of lands and of buildings comprised within it who wish to make new constructions or rebuild or modify existing constructions, whether of their own volition or through necessity, must, from the day of the publication of the plan, conform to its provisions.

ART. 90. Works made in violation of the preceding article shall be destroyed and the owner shall be fined not more than 1000 lire. ART. 91. The area of the buildings and lands upon which construction is prohibited, as well as the public area upon which private buildings are to be erected, do not cease to belong to the respective owners until the deposit or the payment of compensation shall have been made according to articles 39 and 40.

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ART. 92. The approval of the regulatory plan is equivalent to a declaration of public utility and confers power to expropriate property comprised within it; provided, however, that the provisions of the present law are observed.

CHAPTER VII OF EXTENSION PLANS

ART. 93. Those communes for which the actual necessity of extending the inhabited part is proved may adopt a regulatory plan of extension, in which shall be shown the rules to be observed in the construction of new buildings so as to provide for the health of the inhabited part, and for its safest, most convenient, as well as its suitable and dignified arrangement.

To these plans the provisions of the preceding chapter are applicable.

ART. 94. If for the execution of the extension plan the commune must proceed to the construction of the public ways, the owners shall surrender the necessary land without other formality.

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The compensation shall be determined in accordance with articles 39, 40, and 41; but the owners shall also be liable for such contributions for the construction and maintenance of ways as may be imposed upon them by local bylaws.

No. 2. THE PRUSSIAN STREET AND BUILDING LINE LAW OF 1875, AND HOUSING LAW OF 1918

The Prussian statute of July 2, 1875 (to be found in the Gesetz Sammlung, or Collection of Laws of Prussia for that year, p. 561)

Of this law.

popularly known as the "Street and Building Line Law," practically unchanged until 1918, was materially amended by the Housing Law of that year (passed March 28, to be found in the Gesetz Sammlung, p. 23). The law of 1875 is here given as amended, the portions of it stricken out by the law of 1918 being enclosed in brackets, ([ ]) and the additions made by that law being placed in italics.

The Housing Law of 1918 consists of amendments to the law of 1875 which appear in italics in the law of 1875; of matter of interest to the reader in this country which is given in full as it appears in the law of 1918; and of matter of little interest to such a reader or not relevant to this work, which is summarized. In this note the amended act of 1875 is first given, followed by all the provisions of the act of 1918, in full or in summary, or an indication where in this work they can be found.

LAW WITH REGARD TO THE LAYING OUT AND CHANGE OF STREETS AND

SQUARES IN Cities and rural localities, OF JULY 2, 1875

SEC. 1. The street and building lines for the laying out or change of streets and squares and also gardens, play and recreation grounds in cities and rural places, in accordance with public needs, shall be established by the Executive Branch of the Local Council in concurrence with the Local Council, with the consent of the local police authorities.

The local police authorities may require the establishment of street and building lines when the public interests in their charge or the rise of a need of small or medium sized dwellings render it necessary. In the latter case, the consent of the Supervisory (State) Committee is required.

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In the meaning of this statute, the street includes the road bed and the sidewalks.

As a rule the street lines are also the building lines. For special reasons, however, a building line back of [different from, but as a rule not more than 3 m. back of] the street line, may be established.

SEC. 2. Street and building lines (sec. 1) may be established for single streets or parts of streets, squares (and gardens, play and recreation grounds), or for large areas, in accordance with the probable needs of the near future, by the establishment of building plans.

If, in consequence of destruction by fire or other catastrophes, it is a question of rebuilding entire sections of a place, then the municipality shall come to a speedy decision whether and to what extent a new building plan shall be proposed; and if proposed, to provide for its immediate establishment.

"Bezirksausschuss. Prussia is divided into provinces, the provinces into Bezirke, or large administrative units, and the Bezirke into smaller units called Kreise, translated as "districts."

SEC. 3. In establishing street and building lines due regard shall be paid to the need of dwellings as well as the requirements of traffic, safety from fire, and public health; and care shall also be taken that there shall not be any disfigurement of the streets or of built-up localities or country landscapes.

Streets shall therefore be sufficiently broad, and, in new sections, the connection with existing streets, good.

In order that the need of dwellings may be met, care shall also be taken that squares (also garden, play and recreation grounds) have been laid out in abundance, that opportunity has been provided to erect church and school buildings in suitable places, that for dwelling purposes blocks of a suitable depth and streets of less than the ordinary width in accordance with housing needs of various sorts have been constructed and that by the fixing of the necessary lines building land in proportion to the need of dwellings has been opened up. SEC. 4. Every establishment of street and building lines (sec. 1) shall contain an accurate designation of the lots and parts of lots affected and shall fix the grades and indicate the method of drainage of the streets and squares in question.

SEC. 5. The local police authorities shall have power to withhold their consent (sec. 1) only when the public interests in their charge or the rise of a need of small or medium sized dwellings require it. In so far as consent is refused on account of the rise of a need of small or medium sized dwellings, it requires the concurrence of the supervisory authorities.

If the Executive Branch of the Local Council does not acquiesce in the refusal, it may appeal to the District" Committee.

It is authorized to act with regard to the question of need on petition of the local police authorities, when the Executive Branch refuses to accept the fixation of lines demanded by the local police authorities (sec. 1, par. 2).

In so far as such a petition is based upon the rise of the need of small or medium sized dwellings, it may be made only in concurrence with the local supervisory authorities.

For the district committee in any city which constitutes a district and in any city of more than 10,000 inhabitants which forms part of a rural district," is substituted the Supervisory (State) Committee; in Berlin the Minister of Public Works.

SEC. 6. If the plan to be established affects a fortress (sec. 4), or there are within its limits public streams, state roads, railways or railway stations, then local authorities shall see to it that the authorities concerned are given a reasonable opportunity to safeguard their interest.

SEC. 7. When the local police authorities, or, as the case may be, the District or Supervisory Committee (sec. 5) has given its consent, then the Executive Branch of the Local Council shall furnish the public an opportunity of inspection, public notice of which shall be given in the manner customary in the locality, This notice shall contain a statement that objections to the plan may be made to the Executive Branch of the Local Council within a given time, which shall be not less than four weeks. If the establishment affects only single pieces of land, then notice to the real estate owners concerned may be substituted for the opportunity for general inspection with notice.

SEC. 8. In so far as objections raised (sec. 7) are not settled in negotiation between the Local Council and the objectors, they shall be decided by the District Committee, or, in any city which constitutes a district or a city of more than 10,000 inhabitants in a rural district," by the Supervisory Committee; in Berlin by the Minister of Public Works. If there are no objections, or when they are finally disposed of (sec. 16), then the Local Council shall formally establish the plan, lay it open for public inspection and make it known in the manner usual in the locality.

SEC. 9. If several localities are concerned in the fixing of street and building lines, the Executive Branches of the Councils of the localities involved shall discuss the matter and try to come to an agreement.

On matters in which an agreement cannot be reached, the District Committee decides, or in any city which constitutes a district, or city of more than 10,000 inhabitants belonging to a rural district, the Supervisory Committee; and in Berlin, the Minister of Public Works.

SEC. 10. Street and building lines, whether established before or after the passage of this statute, can be abolished or changed only in accordance with the foregoing provisions.

For the establishment of new or the change of existing building plans in the cities of Berlin, Potsdam, Charlottenburg and their immediate surroundings, royal consent is necessary.

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SEC. II. On and after the day on which the plans are made public, as provided in section 8, the owner holds his land subject to the restriction that all building beyond the building line may be forbidden. At the same time the municipality acquires the right to appropriate the land destined by the established street lines for streets and squares, and also for gardens, play and recreation grounds.

SEC. 12. By local statute it may be provided that on streets or parts of streets which are not yet, in accordance with the building police regulations of the locality, completed for public traffic and

Many but not all cities of more than 10,000 inhabitants have become Stadtkreise.

37 Now the consent of the State.