The following case summary was adapted from one prepared by Kurt Schindler at MSU-Extension; excerpts reprinted with permission from the author.  For the Zoning Guru, this case raises an important question for planners and zoning administrators:

“Do you know what’s in your zoning ordinance?“

Court: Michigan Court of Appeals (Unpublished No. 283202, March 17, 2009)

Case Name:  Richie v. Gladwin County

Background:

Mr. Ritchie (the plaintiff) removed a barn from his square (four sides of equal length), corner lot at Highwood and Hay Roads in Gladwin County, and constructed a quonset hut on the barn’s foundations.

“At issue was whether the portion of plaintiffs’ property on Hay Road was…

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For many living in Michigan, Thursday, August 14, 2003 was the day we truly experienced the “inky blackness” of a night without artificial outdoor lighting – as the Great Northeast Power Blackout of 2003 left parts of the northeastern United States in the dark for a day or more.

The Zoning Guru was one of those people who learned that week how much we rely on artificial light at night.  We also got a brief glimpse of many stars that we no longer see in the night sky due to light pollution from parking lot lighting and other exterior light sources.

Exterior lighting serves a wide variety of purposes, including:

• attracting attention (advertising),
• entertainment,
• aesthetics (such as landscape or architectural lighting),
• safety and security,
• warnings of danger, and
• illuminating our paths.

When overused or poorly shielded, however, such lighting dominates the night sky, blotting out the starts and leaving the characteristically orange glow of light pollution over urban areas.

Can we do anything about light pollution? …absolutely.  Do we need to cut the power again? No, but we do need to make smarter and more efficient decisions with regards to our exterior lighting choices if we want to restore the night sky in our urban and suburban neighborhoods… (more on this and an upcoming free lighting presentation on March 10th below)

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UPDATE: Thank you to all that attended our recent conference session entitled “Brevity or Ambiguity: What’s in Your Zoning Ordinance?” Click here for the PowerPoint presentation and links to more information.

ORIGINAL POST:

“Brevity” and “clarity” are not words that leap to mind when referring to the character of most zoning ordinance language.  Local zoning ordinances have a broad impact on residents, property owners and business owners.   Too often the text of such ordinances, having accumulated years of amendments, has become ambiguous and unintelligible.  Clear, brief, and unambiguous writing is a key to developing a zoning ordinance that is easy to understand, administrate and enforce.

State-of-the-art zoning regulations must be well organized and easily understood by those who do not possess advanced degrees in either law or community planning.  Here are the top ten ways for planning commissioners and elected officials to apply the principles of brevity and clarity to a zoning ordinance:

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