Maple BPA, Inc. v. Bloomfield Charter Township
Maple BPA, Inc. v. Bloomfield Charter Township
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiff, Maple BPA, Inc, appeals as of right the circuit court’s order granting summary disposition in favor of defendant, Bloomfield Charter Township (Bloomfield Township). After the Michigan Liquor Control Commission (the Commission) denied Maple BPA’s application for a liquor license on the basis that it did not comply with Bloomfield Township’s zoning ordinance (the ordinance), Maple BPA sought a declaratory judgment that the ordinance was unconstitutional. Bloomfield Township ultimately moved for summary disposition, which the trial court granted. The trial court based its ruling on its conclusion that state law
I. FACTS
A. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
Maple BPA’s property contains a mixture of land uses, including gasoline fuel pumps and a convenience food store. Under the ordinance, “retail package outlets” are a permitted use in Maple BPA’s zoning district.
Bloomfield Township subsequently passed a resolution that stated that it did not want to allow “gas stations to sell beer and wine” and that Maple BPA’s cash registers were too close to where customers dispensed fuel. Bloomfield Township requested that the Bloomfield Township Police Department inspect Maple BPA’s premises.
The Commission denied Maple BPA’s application on October 29, 2008, finding that Maple BPA did not comply with Bloomfield Township’s zoning ordinance. Maple BPA requested a formal hearing, which the Commission held on March 26, 2009. Subsequently, the Commission affirmed its denial of Maple BPA’s application.
Bloomfield Township’s planning commission then amended the ordinance. The amendment removed the spacing requirement for retail package outlets and banned the sale of alcoholic beverages at “automobile service stations” entirely. Maple BPA sought leave to appeal the Commission’s decision, which the trial court denied on the basis that Maple BPA’s claims were more appropriately brought in a declaratory judgment action.
B. PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Maple BPA filed its complaint on February 16, 2010, seeking a declaratory judgment that state law preempts the ordinance, the ordinance violates the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act, and the ordinance violates Maple BPA’s rights to due process and equal protection under the act.
In July 2010, Bloomfield Township again amended the ordinance. As amended, the ordinance provides that automobile service stations may sell alcoholic beverages if they meet certain standards,
The trial court granted Bloomfield Township’s renewed motion, concluding that state law did not preempt the ordinance as amended and that it did not violate the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act. It also noted that it had previously dismissed Maple BPA’s constitutional claims.
II. PREEMPTION
A. STANDARD OF REVIEW
This Court reviews de novo questions of law, including whether state law preempts an ordinance.
1. LEGAL STANDARDS
State law preempts a local regulation if (1) the local regulation directly conflicts with a state statute or (2) the statute completely occupies the field that the local regulation attempts to regulate.
First, where the state law expressly provides that the state’s authority to regulate in a specified area of the law is to be exclusive, there is no doubt that municipal regulation is pre-empted.
Second, pre-emption of a field of regulation may be implied upon an examination of legislative history.
Third, the pervasiveness of the state regulatory scheme may support a finding of pre-emption. While the pervasiveness of the state regulatory scheme is not generally sufficient by itself to infer pre-emption, it is a factor which should be considered as evidence of pre-emption.
Fourth, the nature of the regulated subject matter may demand exclusive state regulation to achieve the uniformity necessary to serve the state’s purpose or interest.[10 ]
2. APPLYING THE STANDARDS
Maple BPA contends that the state has granted the Commission exclusive control over the sale of alcoholic beverages, and therefore state law expressly preempts the ordinance. We disagree.
The Michigan Constitution provides that the Legislature may create a Liquor Control Commission, which
Maple BPA asserts that this Court’s decision in Sherman Bowling Ctr v Roosevelt Park
We conclude that Sherman Bowling Ctr is distinguishable because it did not involve a zoning ordinance and the Court in that case could not locate authority by which the state recognized local control of the area in question. Here, the Michigan Administrative Code explicitly provided that an application for a liquor license “shall be denied if the commission is notified, in writing, that the application does not meet all appropriate . . . local. . . zoning . . . ordinances . . . .”
In contrast, this Court in Jott, Inc v Clinton Charter Twp did consider whether the liquor control provisions of the Michigan Administrative Code preempted a local zoning ordinance.
We conclude that the Commission’s decision to recognize local zoning authority indicates that the Legislature did not intend to preempt every local zoning statute that concerns alcoholic beverage sales. Thus, we conclude that the state has not expressly provided that its authority to regulate the field of liquor control is exclusive.
1. LEGAL STANDARDS
State law preempts a local regulation when that regulation directly conflicts with a state statute.
2. APPLYING THE STANDARDS
Maple BPA contends that the state statute and the ordinance directly conflict because the zoning ordinance is more strict than the state’s statutory requirements. We disagree.
In Noey v Saginaw,
We conclude that Noey is distinguishable. In Noey, the local ordinance prohibited selling alcoholic beverages during a time that the Legislature had expressly permitted alcoholic beverages to be sold. Unlike in Noey, here, the Legislature has not expressly spoken concerning the sale of alcohol in buildings with drive-thru windows, the minimum building area of buildings at which alcohol is sold, or the number of parking spaces required for a building from which alcohol is sold. To the extent that the Legislature has expressly spoken on this issue, Bloomfield Township’s zoning
III. THE MICHIGAN ZONING ENABLING ACT
A. STANDARD OF REVIEW
We review de novo whether an ordinance complies with the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act (the Act),
B. LEGAL STANDARDS
Municipalities have the authority to regulate land use through zoning only because the Legislature has specifically granted them that authority in the Act.
C. APPLYING THE STANDARDS
Maple BPA contends that Bloomfield Township’s zoning ordinance violates the uniformity provisions of the Act, because the ordinance’s requirements for retail package outlets are not uniform. We disagree.
Here, Maple BPA has failed to demonstrate that Bloomfield Township’s zoning ordinance is not uniform concerning the special use of automobile service stations. Additionally, we note that the uniformity requirement generally prevents a locality from making unreasonable classifications within a zoning district, such as by allowing a certain type of land use in parts of one zoning district, but not in other parts of the same zoning district.
Maple BPA appears to argue that the ordinance violates the Act because it is actually an improper local business licensing requirement. We conclude that Maple BPA has not properly presented the argument
IV MAPLE BPA’S CONSTITUTIONAL CLAIMS
A. STANDARD OF REVIEW
This Court reviews de novo the trial court’s determination whether a zoning decision is unconstitutional.
B. DUE PROCESS
1. LEGAL STANDARDS
Both the United States and Michigan Constitutions provide that the state shall not deprive any person of
We presume that zoning ordinances are constitutional exercises of governmental power.
2. APPLYING THE STANDARDS
Maple BPA contends that Bloomfield Township’s ordinance in this case is arbitrary and capricious. Maple BPA concedes that regulating the use of alcohol is rationally related to public health and safety, but contends that Bloomfield Township has not shown that its ordinance advances its stated purposes.
We conclude that the trial court properly granted summary disposition. Maple BPA did not carry its burden of showing that there is a question of fact concerning whether the ordinance is arbitrary and capricious. “ ‘The burden [is] not on the defendants to establish the relationship, but upon the plaintiff to
C. EQUAL PROTECTION
Maple BPA asserts that there is no rational reason to treat a business with fuel pumps differently than a business without fuel pumps. We conclude that this equal protection challenge is also without merit.
The Michigan and United States Constitutions provide coextensive provisions on equal protection.
V CONCLUSION
We conclude that state law does not preempt the field of liquor control regulation and that Maple BPA provided no evidence from which the trial court could conclude that Bloomfield Township’s ordinance was arbitrary and capricious. We also conclude that Bloomfield Township’s ordinance is uniform under the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act and that it is constitutional.
We affirm.
MCL 125.3101 et seq.
Bloomfield Township Ordinance, § 42-3.1.6(B-2)(B)(i) and § 42-3.1.7(B-3)(B)(i).
MCL 436.1111(13).
MCL 436.1541(l)(b).
Id
Bloomfield Township Ordinance, § 42-4.23.
Id.
Van Buren Charter Twp v Garter Belt, Inc, 258 Mich App 594, 602; 673 NW2d 111 (2003).
McNeil v Charlevoix Co, 275 Mich App 686, 697; 741 NW2d 27 (2007).
People v Llewellyn, 401 Mich 314, 323-324; 257 NW2d 902 (1977) (citations omitted).
Const 1963, art 4, § 40.
MCL 436.1201(2).
Sherman Bowling Ctr v Roosevelt Park, 154 Mich App 576, 584-585; 397 NW2d 839 (1986).
Mich Admin Code, R 436.1003 and former R 436.1005(3) (repealed effective February 29, 2008).
Marilyn Froling Revocable Living Trust v Bloomfield Hills Country Club, 283 Mich App 264, 285; 769 NW2d 234 (2009); MCR 7.215(J)(1).
Jott, Inc v Clinton Charter Twp, 224 Mich App 513, 544; 569 NW2d 841 (1997).
Id., see Bundo v Walled Lake, 395 Mich 679, 699-700; 238 NW2d 154 (1976).
Jott, 224 Mich App at 544; also see Van Buren Charter Twp, 258 Mich App at 608.
McNeil, 275 Mich App at 697.
Noey v Saginaw, 271 Mich 595; 261 NW 88 (1935).
Id. at 597.
MCL 125.3101 et seq.
Whitman v Galien Twp, 288 Mich App 672, 678; 808 NW2d 9 (2010).
MCL 125.3201(2).
MCL 125.3502(1); Whitman, 288 Mich App at 680.
Whitman, 288 Mich App at 683.
Bloomfield Township Ordinance, § 42-3.1.7(C)(iv); Bloomfield Township Ordinance, § 42-4.23.
See Oshtemo Charter Twp v Central Advertising Co, 125 Mich App 538, 543; 336 NW2d 823 (1983).
Caldwell v Chapman, 240 Mich App 124, 132; 610 NW2d 264 (2000).
See Kropf v Sterling Hts, 391 Mich 139, 152-153; 215 NW2d 179 (1974).
Maiden v Rozwood, 461 Mich 109, 118; 597 NW2d 817 (1999).
MCR 2.116(0(10); Maiden, 461 Mich at 120.
Allison v AEW Capital Mgt, LLP, 481 Mich 419, 425; 751 NW2d 8 (2008).
US Const, Am XIV; Const 1963, art 1, § 17; People v Sierb, 456 Mich 519, 522; 581 NW2d 219 (1998).
Gen Motors Corp v Dep’t of Treasury, 290 Mich App 355, 370; 803 NW2d 698 (2010).
Kropf, 391 Mich at 162.
Id., quoting Brae Burn, Inc v Bloomfield Hills, 350 Mich 425, 432; 86 NW2d 166 (1957).
Kropf, 391 Mich at 166, quoting Brae Burn, Inc, 350 Mich at 432.
Kropf, 391 Mich at 156, quoting Northwood Props Co v Royal Oak City Inspector, 325 Mich 419, 422-423; 39 NW2d 25 (1949).
Const 1963, art 1, § 2; US Const, Am XIV; Dowerk v Oxford Charter Twp, 233 Mich App 62, 73; 592 NW2d 724 (1998).
Dowerk, 233 Mich App at 73.
Id.; see Frame v Nehls, 452 Mich 171, 183; 550 NW2d 739 (1996).
Dowerk, 233 Mich App at 73.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- MAPLE BPA, INC v. BLOOMFIELD CHARTER TOWNSHIP
- Cited By
- 21 cases
- Status
- Published