The VILLAGE OF EUCLID

The VILLAGE OF EUCLID


The VILLAGE OF EUCLID V. AMBLER REALTY CO., decided on 22 Nov. 1926, was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that established the principle and practice of land-use zones in the U.S. The Court reversed a lower federal court ruling in a 6-3 decision. Until then, zoning land in municipalities for specific uses had been a popular "city efficient" technique receiving lukewarm support in the nation's state courts. Euclid v. Ambler, the first federal test, established legal precedent and constitutional justification for zoning and, implicitly, "comprehensive" land-use planning. Before Euclid considered zoning in May 1922, the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, had advanced zoning as a land-use control enhancing real estate values. Robert H. Whitten, a committee member and a drafter of the 1916 New York City Zoning ordinance, served as advisor to the Cleveland City Plan Commission (1917-22), and later as a city plan consultant (1922-24). In 1920 he drafted the Lakewood zoning ordinance. The committee advanced ideas through subcommittees that later became semi-autonomous, e.g., the Univ. Improvement Co. (1918). Another, the Euclid Ave. Assn. (1920), promoted developing EUCLID AVE. within and beyond Cleveland's limits as a noble business and ceremonial thoroughfare. Fearing that the Ambler Realty Co., which owned 68 acres between Euclid Ave., the NICKEL PLATE ROAD, E. 196th St., and E. 204th St., might encourage industry, village officials and committee members corresponded about zoning. On 13 Nov. 1922, Euclid adopted an ordinance that prohibited Ambler's developing the Euclid Ave. frontage as industrial, an ordinance remarkably similar to New York City's.
Ambler Realty sued Euclid in state court and lost. Claiming its land had been "taken" without due process, Ambler went to federal court. The committee filed an amicus curiae brief for Euclid. In Jan. 1924 the judge ruled for Ambler. The village appealed to the Supreme Court. Ambler might have been sustained,...

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