MI Appeals Courtroom Permits Late Enchantment of Variance Denial On account of Unclear Procedures All through Covid Lockdowns

This publish was authored by Amy Lavine, Esq.

A late attraction was permitted in a Michigan case decided in January 2022, Inexperienced Skies Therapeutic Tree, LLC v. Flint Zoning Bd. of Appeals. The case involved a variance utility that was denied inside the spring of 2020 merely after the Covid-19 pandemic began. On the time, the zoning board and totally different metropolis departments had discontinued their common procedures and have been working remotely, which led to a certain quantity of confusion regarding procedural points. The appellate courtroom docket concluded that the property proprietor’s late attraction was excusable under these unusual circumstances, and in consequence the trial courtroom docket should have exercised its equitable powers to extend the time interval for fascinating the zoning board’s selection. The courtroom docket emphasised that the plaintiff was unable to seek out out when it was required to file its attraction because of the zoning board’s schedule had been suspended and it was unclear when it should downside the meeting minutes reflecting the variance denial. The plaintiff had moreover educated metropolis staff repeatedly that it wished to know when the minutes could possibly be accredited so that it might file its attraction, and it made fairly just a few makes an try to contact metropolis staff regarding the standing of the meeting minutes. The plaintiff had relied on ensures made by two metropolis staff that they’d provide uncover when the minutes have been accredited, and since the courtroom docket concluded, the plaintiff’s reliance was low-cost under the circumstances. Allowing the plaintiff’s late attraction was moreover acceptable because of the plaintiff’s attraction was solely each week late and city conceded that there was no prejudice due to this delay.

Inexperienced Skies Therapeutic Tree, LLC v. Flint Zoning Bd. of Appeals, 2022 WL 188313 (Mich. App. 1/20/22).