A Macomb County judge has backed the Chesterfield Township Zoning Board of Appeals’ denial of a variance for a man’s company to locate a tiny house on his property.
Circuit Judge Matthew Sabaugh ruled last month the appeal by Jordan McBain’ company, Jordan’s Rehab, wrongly claims the ZBA can decide whether the township’s minimum square footage off 1,200 for a house on a single-family parcel violates state law, the Zoning Enabling Act, the Elliot-Larsen Civil Rights Act, the Persons With Disabilities Civil Rights Act and and the equal protection clause of the state constitution.
“Because the ZBA lacked the authority and jurisdiction to rule on Jordan Rehab’s request for declaratory ruling, this court, in its appellate capacity, cannot rule on Jordan Rehab’s request for declaratory relief as to the validity of the minimum square footage ordinance,” Sabaugh wrote in an 8-page opinion.
The township ZBA last May denied a variance because a township building official correctly determined McBain’s proposal violated the ordinance.
McBain appealed the decision to circuit court.
McBain of Shelby Township wanted to operate a 200-foot home on 1.8 acres on 26 Mile Road east of New Haven Road, land zoned for single-family residential or agricultural. McBain said he gained state approval from the state Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy due to an agricultural use.
McBain, who is not an attorney and represented his company, said he is “frustrated” by the decision but didn’t blame the court and has filed a legal motion for reconsideration.
“The court does have jurisdiction to rule on the square footage issue since the ZBA affirmed the building official’s administrative interpretation that tiny houses in the neighborhood would be in breach of the township’s ordinances,” McBain wrote in an email. “The court’s confusion may be understandable and rectifiable via a motion for reconsideration.”
In his reconsideration motion, McBain says, “The underlying legal and factual grounds that empowers the court to review the questions of declaratory relief brought by (Jordan’s Rehab) was whether the ZBA’s findings … were constitutional or not.”
He noted the township allows people to live in apartments much smaller than 1,200 square feet in size.
“The township admits that a small living space in an apartment is acceptable in this respect,” he said. “This alone is grounds for the ordinances to be struck under equal protection.”