Victory over town’s ridiculous land use restrictions

John:

I have some exciting victory news to share with you. Today, we got a win straight from the bench in our case challenging a Michigan township’s attempt to shut down a completely safe “green cemetery.”

Our clients Peter and Annica Quackenbush opened the state’s first conservation burial forest—a type of green cemetery and nature preserve that provides Michigan residents with a unique burial option. The property is a native forest more than 100 years old—ideal for a burial place and nature preserve.

Peter and Annica followed the township’s zoning instructions to the letter to ensure public health and safety, but Brooks Township had other ideas. Local officials decided that, in order to stop our clients from establishing this option, it would simply ban all new cemeteries in the township.

But under Michigan law, you cannot ban legitimate land uses, especially when they’re a necessity of life like a cemetery. So, Peter and Annica teamed up with IJ to challenge the cemetery ban and uphold their right to earn an honest living.

“We’re excited and feel vindicated by this ruling. We are delighted that the judge understood that Brooks Township’s ordinance violated our right to use our property.”

- Peter and Annica Quakenbush

Today, a judge completely sided with us. During the hearing, the judge asked questions such as, “What would happen if every township did this? ... Could the township ban schools? Hospitals? Landfills?” In most of our cases, we have to wait several months for a judge’s ruling. But the judge was so unimpressed with the government’s justifications that he ruled in our favor on the spot and declared the ban unconstitutional!

Today’s ruling provides vindication for Peter and Annica and sets precedent for others in Michigan with a dream of opening their own small business and using their land as they see fit.

Thank you to our supporters for standing with us as we protect economic liberty and property rights.

Scott

Scott G. Bullock

President and Chief Counsel

Institute for Justice

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P.S. In addition to today’s victory, in the past week alone, we’ve filed two high-profile, high-impact lawsuits: a class action challenging Indiana’s predatory seizure of cash at the country’s second-largest FedEx hub, and a suit confronting the state of Florida’s pure economic protectionism targeting an upstart entrepreneur offering an alternative to traditional meat.