As the population of America's urban areas explodes, the need for centralized planning efforts to organize and regulate land use is increasing. Municipal and local governments are able to use two great powers on behalf of these efforts: the police power and the power of eminent domain. Realtors and private groups also 'are able to contribute to planning efforts. Important weapons at their disposal include private deed restrictions or covenants. Although private and public planners often have similar goals in mind, they inevitably come into conflict on some occasions.
The purpose of this comment is to examine the consequences when conflicts arise between private and public efforts to regulate land development. The comment discusses the effect of private covenants on the exercise of the police power through zoning and on the exercise of the power of eminent domain, and concludes that in both of these areas the courts generally have failed to analyze the problems fully and have resorted to arguments of form rather than substance. It is suggested that when the problems are studied in terms of policy, the results tend to favor the public planners more than past cases have.
