In Michigan, there are several potential reasons an individual might contest a land use development project. This may depend on local zoning laws, environmental laws, or even concerns over how it impacts the harmony of a community.
Zoning Violations
Local laws regulate land use including residential, agricultural, and commercial areas. A development project may be contested where it fails to conform to such regulations. Violations can include failure to abide by procedural requirements in local zoning ordinances and state rules as well. The Michigan Zoning Enabling Act (“MZEA”) provides in part, rules for how local zoning regulations are to be administered. Specifically, if public hearings are not held or properly noticed for particular project proposals, that could be a violation under the MZEA.
Besides procedural violations, opponents to a project may argue it violates setback requirements, exceeds height limits, or falls outside of the intended land use. For instance, a commercial project seeking to construct a store in an area deemed residential, could violate certain zoning ordinances. Another example could be a neighbor with construction plans to expand their home, thereby increasing the width and height of their building which enlarges its nonconforming use. Zoning ordinances generally impose limitations for nonconforming uses, and limit the size of structures depending on what category they are and which zoning district they fall under.
In addition to noncompliance with zoning ordinances, violations may arise based on the failure to obtain required permits or variances for a project. The commercial builder seeking to construct a store in a residential area could be required to obtain a variance request. In essence, variance requests ask for an exception to the zoning/land use regulations, in order to alleviate a particular hardship. To be approved, variance requests must meet state legal standards as well as local requirements.
Lastly, another common zoning violation relates to special use permits. Similar to variance requests, these permits are authorization from the local government to use property in a manner not normally allowed under regulations. Depending on the land development and permit application, there will be conditions and requirements to satisfy in order to obtain governmental approval. Failure to meet these conditions may result in claims alleging the development project violated local zoning laws.
Environmental Impact
Depending on the land development project, it is foreseeable that environmental issues may be a reason for contesting it. Some concerns may involve potential deforestation, impact to wetlands or lakes, impacts to local wildlife, and harm to other natural resources within the area. Accordingly, threats of pollution to the environment would be a valid basis to contend certain land development. At the local level, regulations specifically concerning the area’s natural resources, wetlands, and wildlife, would also apply to any sort of violations from land development.
Where environmental impact is concerned, it is common for land projects to be subject to laws and reviews at the state level. Michigan has enacted the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act to codify laws relating to implement legal protections and regulate the use of certain lands, waters, and other natural resources in the state. Additionally, Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (“EGLE”) oversees and manages natural resources. The purpose of EGLE is to largely carry out state environmental laws and protect public health. As such, some land development projects may be subject to reviews, permits, and approval from this state department. Therefore, failure to comply with state level requirements could give rise to valid challenges against a project.
Further, at both the local and state level government agencies can mandate that certain projects undergo environmental impact assessments. In general, these assessments evaluate potential effects from the proposed land development. Evaluations can include both the positive and negative effects a project may have on the environment. It follows that if an assessment is found to be inadequate or for instance, provides more concerning negative results, the proposed project can be disputed.
Traffic & Public Safety
The increase in traffic congestion or impact to the flow of traffic from a land development project can give rise to contesting such project. Similar to environmental impact assessments, studies done on potential effects to traffic from a proposed project may be required. As an example, an organization planning to build a private school in a residential zoning district, could be challenged where traffic studies show the school will cause a large increase in traffic volumes on a weekly basis.
Moreover, increased traffic volumes could also lead to public safety concerns over an increased risk of accidents. More broadly, failure to comply with local or state safety regulations would give grounds to challenge a proposed project.
Public safety concerns over a project could also involve the potential strain to public services or utilities. A local community, such as one in a more rural area, may have a limited capacity in its local infrastructure. A development project that places an excessive demand on public services such as fire protection, water supply, etc., could jeopardize the rest of the local community. Therefore, such a project would likely be contested.
Incompatibility with the Surrounding Area
Reasonable challenges to proposed development projects do not necessarily have to always be violations of regulations or laws. There can be challenges over the mismatched character of the project, aesthetic concerns, or disruption in landowners’ scenery. These issues can be more subjective. However, it is well established that property interests and rights include more subjective qualities. Landowners are afforded qualitative rights to the use and enjoyment of their land. Disruption to a property’s scenery by certain land development, could be a basis to challenge its approval for instance.
Even where a land developer obtains a special use permit or variance, local residents may still contest development as being out of character with the existing neighborhood or area. Opponents may cite to projects lowering surrounding property values, gentrification, or negative impacts to local businesses as further evidence to its incapability.
Conclusion
It is evident that challenging a proposed land development can be based on a variety of plausible reasons. There are numerous other reasons not mentioned above that could give rise to contesting a proposed land development project. However, each challenge must usually be brought first before the local planning commission or zoning board. For further information on this section, please refer to our earlier blog post “Contesting Land Development Proposals: Participation with Local Planning & Zoning Boards”.
Should you have any questions or would like to speak to a land-use attorney, please contact Dalton & Tomich, PLC, at (313) 859-6000. We would be happy to speak with you.
