City of San Antonio v. Hunt

In my opinion, to uphold the zoning amendment in this case it is necessary to ignore basic concepts of zoning law and to approve a practice which is the very antithesis of municipal planning.

While it is accepted judicial dogma that the enactment of a municipal zoning ordinance is an exercise of the police power, in Texas, as in most other states, municipalities derive their power to adopt zoning regulations exclusively from the zoning enabling statutes, Articles 1011a et seq., Tex. Rev.Civ.Stat.Ann. Spann v. City of Dallas, 111 Tex. 350, 235 S.W. 513 (1921). In passing zoning ordinances,…