Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Company

The U.S. Supreme Court decided that a municipal zoning ordinance was not an unreasonable extension of the police powers of the municipality. This groundbreaking case upheld zoning ordinances as a form of local control over nuisances and development.

To briefly describe the case, Ambler Realty Company (Ambler) owned land in the Village of Euclid (Village), which is in Cleveland, Ohio. Village developed an
ordinance to prevent industrial growth in Euclid. Ambler sued on the grounds that the zoning ordinance reduced the value of the land and limited its use, thereby depriving Ambler‟s liberty to develop its property without due process. The lower court decided that the zoning ordinance did indeed constitute a taking of Ambler‟s property, and therefore, Ambler did not need to follow ordinance requirements to file a complaint with the Euclid zoning board. At the U.S. Supreme Court level, however, the Court decided that the zoning ordinance was not an unreasonable extension of the Village‟s police power and was therefore not deemed unconstitutional.  -- Land, Lauren. Brief History of Planning and Zoning in Louisiana. A presentation at the Lafourche Parish Coastal Hazards Workshop, January 2013.