Opinion ID: 848629
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: the relevance of the fact of future rezoning

Text: At trial in this case, defendants submitted evidence suggesting that Novi might rezone defendants' land to a use higher than residential. Because if there was a possibility of rezoning at the time of the taking, it affected the property's fair market value. Hence, any possibility of rezoning it was relevant. [9] Similarly, I agree with Justices Markman and Weaver that the rezoning was relevant to show that two-and-one-half years before it occurred, a reasonable possibility of rezoning may have existed. If something occurs, by definition, the occurrence had to have been possible then and likely at some time beforehand. The fact that the reasonable possibility may not have arisen until after the taking does not render evidence of the rezoning irrelevant. It has some tendency to make more likely the existence of a reasonable possibility before the taking. However, Justice Young erroneously relies on the fact that a market participant could not have known of the rezoning at the time of the taking. This confuses the temporal relationship between the events with their legal relationship. Although the market participant could not have known that an event would occur in the future, the fact that it did occur shows that it was reasonable to believe beforehand that its occurrence was likely. Justice Young's example of the roll of a die is misplaced. When one is asked beforehand the result of the roll of a die, six is among the guaranteed results. Each of the six alternative results has an equal chance of occurring with every roll. The fact that a six was rolled is unnecessary to prove that six was possible or that it was reasonable to believe before the roll that six was possible. Rezoning is more like a horse race than the roll of a die. The probability of a certain horse winning depends on many factors. They include, among others, the condition of the horse on race day, the condition of the other horses, and the condition of the track. The odds on a bet placed on that horse, which are an expression of the perceived probability of that horse winning, are based on these factors known before the race. If the horse wins, the victory corroborates the strength of the prediction that the horse would win. But there are no guarantees that the horse will ever win, unlike the result of the roll of a die. Similarly, there are no guaranteed outcomes when one estimates whether property will be rezoned. [10] Rezoning is one of several possibilities. The probability of it occurring may never become a reality. But the fact of rezoning corroborates the assertion that the belief it would be rezoned was reasonable, just as a winning bet corroborates the belief that a horse would win. As Justice Young notes, rezoning suggests that the prognostication is more accurate than another's that was to the contrary. Ante at 392. Hence, the evidence of rezoning is legally relevant.