Opinion ID: 762564
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Exclusionary Zoning

Text: 32 The Association claims that the City's denial of the rezoning request to permit construction of a Catholic-only cemetery on the property constitutes unlawful exclusionary zoning. Michigan's City and Village Zoning Enabling Act provides in pertinent part: 33 A zoning ordinance or zoning decision shall not have the effect of totally prohibiting the establishment of a land use within a city or village in the presence of a demonstrated need for that land use within either the city or village or the surrounding area within the state, unless a location within the city or village does not exist where the use may be appropriately located or the use is unlawful. 34 MICH. COMP. LAWS ANN. § 125.592 (WEST 1997). Thus, to make a claim of exclusionary zoning, the Association must establish both that (1) the use sought does not occur within the City's boundaries or within close geographical proximity, and (2) there is a demonstrated need for the proposed use. See Gustafson v. City of Lake Angelus, 76 F.3d 778, 790 (6th Cir.1996); Guy v. Brandon Twp., 181 Mich.App. 775, 450 N.W.2d 279, 284 (1989); Fremont Twp. v. Greenfield, 132 Mich.App. 199, 347 N.W.2d 204 (1984). 35 There can be no dispute that cemetery use of land exists both within the City of Troy and the surrounding area. Rather, the Association contends that the statute was violated because the City prohibited Catholic-only cemetery land use. We disagree. As the district court concluded, whether there is exclusionary zoning must be evaluated based on the use of the land not the user. Moreover, about a third of the burials at both White Chapel cemetery in Troy and Christian Memorial cemetery in Rochester Hills are burials of Catholics. Thus, the use of land as a cemetery for the burial of Catholics occurs in Troy and the immediate vicinity. 36 The district court further found that the Association had failed to demonstrate the need for another cemetery, Catholic or otherwise, within the City's borders or the surrounding area. In addition to the two large non-denominational cemeteries mentioned above, there are five Catholic cemeteries in close geographic proximity: Holy Sepulchre, which is eight miles from Troy; All Saints, which is 15 miles from Troy (and advertises in Troy-area parishes); Resurrection, which is seven miles from Troy; Mt. Olivet, which is 10 miles from Troy; and Mt. Elliott, which is 16 miles from Troy. Except for Holy Sepulchre, these Catholic cemeteries are all owned and operated by the Association. While the Association makes a case that there are Catholics living in Troy and its surroundings communities who live or worship within its target market area of six miles and to whom it could probably sell burial plots, that does not amount to exclusionary zoning in violation of the statute. 37 AFFIRMED.