Vernon Park Realty, Inc. v. City of Mount Vernon

Vernon Park Realty, Inc. (Vernon Park) purchased the plaza, which was a lot situated between two train stations and surrounded by business buildings in the highly developed business district in the city of Mount Vernon (defendant). The plaza had been historically used by patrons of the railroad and others as a parking lot for private automobiles. The plaza was zoned in the business district until the city adopted the 1927 zoning ordinance, which placed the plaza in a residential district but permitted it to continue to be used as a parking lot as a valid nonconforming use. Vernon Park applied for a variance to permit the erection of a retail shopping center but was denied because such use was prohibited under the 1927 ordinance. Vernon Park brought suit, seeking injunctive relief and a judgment declaring the 1927 ordinance unconstitutional, unreasonable, and void, and that the ordinance was not binding on Vernon Park’s use of the plaza. In January 1952, the city council subsequently amended the zoning ordinance and added a new designated parking district, which prohibited the use of the plaza for any purpose except parking and storing automobiles. In response, Vernon Park amended its complaint to include an attack on the 1952 ordinance as well. Vernon Park alleged that the 1927 ordinance and its 1952 amendment were invalid pertaining to Vernon Park’s property and void because they imposed an undue hardship as to use and reduced the value of the property. The city justified the ordinances as a response to existing heavy-traffic concerns in the city. The district court found the ordinance and amendment invalid, and the city appealed.