Cope v. Town of Brunswick

Rule of Law:

A zoning ordinance unconstitutionally delegates legislative authority when it empowers a zoning board to grant or deny a special use exception based on broad, general criteria such as public health, safety, welfare, or the essential character of the surrounding property.

Facts:

• Mitchell and David Cope owned a twenty-one acre parcel of undeveloped, wooded land in the Town of Brunswick.
• The land was located in an area zoned for 'suburban A residential' use.
• The Brunswick zoning ordinance permitted multi-unit apartment buildings in this zone, but only as a 'special exception' granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals (the Board).
• To obtain an exception, the ordinance required an applicant to prove, among other things, that the proposed use would not adversely affect public welfare or alter the essential characteristics of the surrounding property.
• The Copes applied to the Board for an exception to construct eight six-unit apartment buildings on their property.

Procedural Posture:

• Mitchell and David Cope filed an application with the Brunswick Codes Enforcement Officer for a special exception.
• The Brunswick Zoning Board of Appeals held a public hearing and subsequently denied the Copes' application, finding the project would endanger public safety and alter the neighborhood's character.
• The Copes, as plaintiffs, appealed the Board's decision to the Superior Court.
• The Superior Court affirmed the Board's decision and upheld the constitutionality of the ordinance.
• The Copes, as appellants, then appealed the Superior Court's decision to the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.