Nuisance Laws

The Chron calls them a regulatory silver bullet which allows cities, especially Houston, the ability to regulate activities that might otherwise be out of reach:

Houston Mayor Bill White said the city’s “market-oriented” land-use system — also known as a lack of zoning — means that “use of nuisance laws becomes more important in making sure that somebody’s use of their land does not unreasonably interfere with their neighbor’s property rights.”

White said the city’s use of nuisance litigation in the coming year may or may not increase depending on whether certain businesses decide to change their tunes. He acknowledged that recent successes in this area, aided by some pro-bono work from private law firms, have helped reduce pollution and close sex-related businesses near neighborhoods that had been magnets for crime.

Nuisance laws go back centuries and long have functioned as a tool of governments and private land owners to haul into court those they believe are using their property in a way that infringes on rights of others.

Still, the laws, which have local and state components, largely have been subsumed in modern times with the advent of zoning and other forms of regulation, said Matthew Festa, a South Texas College of Law property land use professor.

What is a Public Nuisance?

On Bill White's wish list below is the power to declare sexually oriented businesses "public nuisances." This allows him a degree of discretion in how he can attempt to regulate them. Their presence presumably creates a nuisance where ever they are located.

He tried to do the same thing with chemical plants in the last legislative session. The pollution they spewed created a nuisance in areas downwind from the plant, and if that area happened to be within Houston's city limits, then he argues he should have the power to regulate them

So here's a question, is the concept of a public nuisance simply an open ended opportunity for a mayor to expand his power? If so, does it invite an arbitrary application of that power? Or is it a necessary way for a mayor to maintain and enhance the quality of life in his or her city?

- Legal Definition.