Equitable Building Co. v. City of Royal Oak

In 1972, plaintiff initiated this action in Oakland County Circuit Court to have defendant’s zoning ordinance declared unconstitutional as applied to plaintiff’s property. The trial court rendered judgment for plaintiff, and defendant now appeals.

Plaintiff’s property, purchased in 1964 for approximately $40,000, consists of approximately 2.3 acres of undeveloped land located in the northern section of Royal Oak. The property has been zoned single-family residential since 1957, and it is surrounded primarily by single-family dwellings. In early 1969 and again on later occasions, plaintiff…