Municipal Corporations-Master Plans-Power of Cities to Zone for Future Conditions

After purchasing land which was subject to a zoning ordinance requiring a minimum lot size of 21,780 square feet, plaintiffs, real estate developers, challenged the ordinance as unreasonable and confiscatory. Defendant city argued that the ordinance was based upon a comprehensive master plan and had the purpose of limiting future density of population in accordance with sewage capacity. On appeal from the circuit court order invalidating the zoning ordinance as applied to plaintiff's property, held, judgment affirmed, three judges dissenting. A city zoning ordinance requiring a minimum lot size for the purpose of limiting future density of population in proportion to sewage capacity is arbitrary, unreasonable, unrelated to the present needs of the community and, therefore, invalid.

Christine Bldg. Co. v. City of Troy, 367 Mich. 508, ll6 N.W.2d 816 (1962).