Mango v. Plymouth Township Board of Trustees

This is an appeal from a grant of accelerated judgment1 in favor of the defendants in an action to compel issuance of a building permit.

The seeds of the present controversy were sown in 1957 when Plymouth Township adopted a zoning ordinance changing plaintiffs’ property from a commercial to a residential area. The plaintiffs’ restaurant and tavern thus became a non-conforming use. As these buildings grew older, the plaintiffs desired to tear them down and construct new ones, but this would be impossible as long as the zoning ordinance remained. On April 11,1967, plaintiffs filed a mandamus…