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In rural and peri-urban municipalities, the pressure exerted on elected officials by landowners (especially owners of agricultural land, whether farmers or not) to change zoning and urban planning regulations in their favor is frequently mentioned in research on local land policies. However, the precise nature and purpose on which these claims are based remain poorly known outside local case studies. Beyond the dichotomy between urban development on the one hand and the preservation of natural and agricultural spaces on the other, what forms of leeway are given by the law and locally implemented to favor the building of agricultural and natural spaces? What is the focus of local disputes on zoning regulations? We start from the hypothesis that the analysis of the claims of landowners and residents in a contentious context provides an empirical answer to this question. From a legal sociology perspective, we propose to highlight the way in which claims relating to building rights are filed in courts by conducting an analysis of the arguments developed by the claimants who take legal action against urban planning documents. On the basis of a statistical study conducted in four administrative courts in the Île-de-France region using a sample of approximately 443 legal claims over a 12-year period (2003–2015), and a qualitative survey with local elected officials, the research aims to provide a better understanding of local planning disputes.