Court Opinion

ID: 9694544
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 17:46:03.165798+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:20:03.165548
License: Public Domain

*199McDERMOTT, Justice,
concurring and dissenting.
I join the result reached by the majority under the facts of this case. Ninety days is too short a period to erase a pre-existing use. I do not agree that pre-existing nonconforming uses are beyond reasonable regulation for health, safety and morals of a community. I respect the constitutional concerns of the majority that property rights must be treated fairly and reasonably and not subject to sudden, simple or easy legislative fiat. Generally, what was done legally before a zoning ordinance must be protected as a property right, which is not, however, to say forever. To amortize means to render land alienable after a debt has been paid. After a given time all debts are extinguishable and a reasonable amortization reflecting the safety, morals and health of a community ought not be rejected as a possibility consistent with a rational use of property.