A special type of court order which legally compels someone to take some type of action or to cease from taking the action
Injunctions are court orders, but they differ in magnitude. For example, a plaintiff may sue for an injunction to stop a building’s ongoing construction because it presents an unreasonable risk of danger to the local community or is causing an unreasonable amount of noise.
Sometimes zoning laws are used to assert or defend against certain types of property use, especially in mixed-use zoning areas.
Courts are reluctant to issue affirmative injunctions (order to do something) such as judicially requiring a business to build a private road, which can become problematic because of the problems with judicial supervision necessary to ensure the order is being done properly.
A prohibitory injunction (order not to do something) is much easier to enforce. For example, an entity either stops doing what the court ordered, or it did not stop. The degree of supervision in the latter case is much more manageable for the court.
There are different types and stages of injunctive relief, temporary injunctions, preliminary injunctions, and permanent injunctions.