Kropf v. City of Sterling Heights

Much of the law of zoning is premised on the assumption that zoning decisions of a local legislative body necessarily represent legislative action.

On that premise, the courts require a property owner dissatisfied with a zoning use restriction to prove that the "legislation” is irrational — the burden generally imposed when an act of the Legislature is attacked as unconstitutional. That approach is sound if maintenance of a use restriction truly reflects legislative action; the courts may then properly require a person attacking the restriction to prove that no use permitted is reasonable.…