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Zoning - household composition question

Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 12:08 am
by salvage
Can someone adequately and succinctly explain the general rules/concepts behind Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas and City of Edmonds v. Oxford House? They seem a bit contradictory to me, and I'm trying to figure out how they coexist and how to apply them to a fact pattern.

Re: Zoning - household composition question

Posted: Thu May 03, 2012 12:39 am
by Mike12188
They do seem pretty contradictory and this answer probably won't help much but from what I understand the main difference is in City of Edmonds the only question was whether the ordinance was exempt from the FHA which exempts total occupancy limits. They found that the ordinance was not limiting total occupancy but rather the composition of the household therefore it was not exempt.

Pretty sure the SC never ruled on whether the definition of family was constitutional as they did in Belle Terre which they found had a rational relationship to the state's objective of reducing traffic and protecting children.

If you read Moore v. City of East Cleveland - the court distinguished between regulating the composition of the household and regulating the composition of the family itself - said can only have one set of grandkids - this was unconstitutional.