Title: Spot Zoning Explained
Headings: Avoid Spot Zoning To Be Seen as Fair
Avoid Spot Zoning To Be Seen as Fair
Why Do Courts React Negatively to Spot Zoning?
What Can Citizens Do About a Potential Bad Land Use Decision
When Rezoning Seems Contrary to Sound Land Use Principles
Also of Interest:

Content: If you want to plunk down a commercial designation on a residential lot that is situated mid-block in a subdivision, that sure sounds like a spot zoning  in almost all conceivable circumstances. If the parcels are larger than a typical subdivision lot, though, and the property seeking the rezoning to commercial is surrounded on three sides by residential zoning, but on the fourth side by a neighbor having commercial zoning already, the picture becomes more gray. This practice may occur because people favor or dislike a rezoning applicant, but more often, it seems to occur because the local planning commission and city council lack the courage to say no. Now we will make our example harder. What if this is a development influenced by new urbanism and the mixed-use concept, and the proposed commercial lot is at the end of the residential block, instead of in the middle? In many cities corner stores are a traditional neighborhood layout. What  if there are architectural controls or urban design standards that would limit the mass, height, setbacks, and appearance of any new building on the parcel in question, holding to the same standards that would apply to a house? Some would say that the land use itself doesn't matter nearly as much as the building form. This line of thinking has given rise to an approach known as form-based codes. Proponent of this theory would de-emphasize any talk of spot zoning and instead choose to focus on whether buildings and their performance are substantially consistent with one another.