Kaveny v. Town of Cumberland Zoning Board of Review

OPINION

WILLIAMS, Chief Justice.

Almost eighty years ago, the United States Supreme Court upheld the power of cities and towns to control land use within their borders as a valid exercise of the police power for the protection of their citizens’ public health and welfare. Unfortunately, that same opinion permitted the exclusion of lower-income housing from residential neighborhoods, stating that “the development of detached house sections is greatly retarded by the coming of apartment houses * * * very often the apartment house is a mere parasite, constructed in order to take advantage of the…