WV Supreme Court Affirms Trial Court’s Decision in Favor of Landowner on Substantive Due Process Challenge to Municipal Zoning Ordinance | LAW OF THE LAND

WV Supreme Court Affirms Trial Court’s Decision in Favor of Landowner on Substantive Due Process Challenge to Municipal Zoning Ordinance | LAW OF THE LAND.

WV Supreme Court Affirms Trial Court’s Decision in Favor of Landowner on Substantive Due Process Challenge to Municipal Zoning Ordinance by Patricia Salkin

This post was authored by Joseph Schaeffer, Esq.

For the first time in nearly 40 years, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia has affirmed a trial court’s decision in favor of the landowner on a substantive due process challenge to a municipal zoning ordinance. In the process, the Supreme Court of Appeals clarified the standard of review to be applied at both the trial court and the appellate level.

The case, City of Morgantown v. Calvary Baptist Church, No. 18-1134 (W. Va. Sept. 29, 2020), focused on an approximately ½ acre vacant parcel in the City of Morgantown—home to West Virginia University and about 30,000 full-time residents. The landowner, Calvary Baptist Church, had subdivided the parcel from a larger, neighboring parcel with the purpose of selling it to finance improvements to its sanctuary. The prospective buyer, however, conditioned the sale on a change in the zoning from single-family residential to commercial business.