Western Land Equities, Inc. v. City of Logan

Facts

In 1969, Western Land Equities, Inc. (Plaintiff) purchased property in the City of Logan (Defendant). In 1976, the property was zoned M-1, a mixed manufacturing and single-family-dwelling zone. In July 1977, Plaintiff sought approval to build single-family homes on its 18 acres. In October, the Defendant’s planning commission declared its opposition to subdivisions in M-1 zones and officially rejected Plaintiff’s plan in November on the grounds that the proposed residential subdivision was contrary to the zoning ordinance and the Defendant’s’s master plan, the access roads in the plan would undermine fire protection, and the location of train tracks on three sides of the subdivision made residential use inappropriate. In January 1978, the Defendant’s amended its zoning ordinance to prohibit the subject property from being used for residential purposes. Plaintiff sued in district court to declare that it had a vested right to develop its property and to estop the Defendant’s from withholding its approval. The Defendant’s argued that a building permit application does not create a vested right that would exempt the applicant from subsequent zoning changes. The trial court found that Plaintiff had a vested right to proceed with its development because its proposal complied with then-existing zoning regulations and complied with procedural requirements for approval. The Defendant’s appealed.