Newman Equities v. Meridian Charter Township

This is a zoning dispute. Flaintiff, a real estate developer, donated land for, and helped pay the costs of constructing, a road to relieve traffic problems in the area east of the Meridian Mall, a regional shopping center. The parcels of plaintiffs property through which the road was constructed, as well as an adjoining parcel, were then rezoned for commercial use by defendant’s township board. Shortly thereafter, the voters of defendant township reversed that rezoning through a referendum vote and the parcels at issue reverted to their previous residential zoning designations. We conclude…