Planet Aid v. Ypsilanti Township

26 F. Supp. 3d 683, 2014 WL 2765229, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82598
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedJune 18, 2014
DocketCase No. 14-CV-11472
StatusPublished

This text of 26 F. Supp. 3d 683 (Planet Aid v. Ypsilanti Township) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Planet Aid v. Ypsilanti Township, 26 F. Supp. 3d 683, 2014 WL 2765229, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82598 (E.D. Mich. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION [# 4]

DENISE PAGE HOOD, District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff Planet Aid’s motion for a prelimi[685]*685nary injunction. This case concerns Plaintiffs allegation that the Defendant’s zoning ordinance interferes with the Plaintiffs use of donation bins to collect items for its business. Now before the Court is the Plaintiffs Motion for a Preliminary Injunction [Docket No. 4, Filed April 14, 2014] in which Plaintiff moves the Court to prevent the Defendant from forcing the removal of the Plaintiffs donation bins from the Township.

On April 16, 2014, 2014 WL 1929201, the Court entered an Order Granting Plaintiffs Motion for a Temporary Restraining Order. The Court held a hearing on the instant Motion on May 23, 2014. Prior to the hearing, Defendant filed a Response to this Motion [Docket No. 11, filed May 9, 2014] and Plaintiff filed a Reply. [Docket No. 12, filed May 16, 2014] Plaintiff also filed Supplemental Authority on May 20, 2014. [Docket No. 13] Following the hearing, Defendant filed two additional affidavits: [Docket Nos. 15, 16] For the reasons discussed below, Plaintiffs Motion for Preliminary Injunction is DENIED as the Court determines that Plaintiff has failed to show a likelihood of success on the merits of its claim that the Defendant’s zoning ordinance violates the Plaintiffs constitutional rights.

I. BACKGROUND

Planet Aid is a nonprofit corporation that operates and maintains donation collection bins at which individuals can donate their clothing, shoes and textiles. [Docket No. 4, p. 3] Planet Aid distributes the items collected in its bins to organizations in other countries. [M] Planet Aid began placing donation bins throughout the Township in 2008. [Docket No. 11, p. 1] Planet Aid’s donation bins are placed on private business properties after obtaining permission from a property owner or business partner. [Docket No. 4, p. 3-4]1 Since 2008, the Plaintiff has placed sixteen donation bins on eleven properties in the Township. [Docket No. 4, p. 5] The Plaintiff has rental contracts with two property owners, Grenadier Properties Paint Creek North LLC and Hutton Management Services LLC, to place seven of the sixteen donation bins on these properties. [M]

The Township enacted a zoning ordinance prior to Planet Aid’s presence in the Township. The Township Zoning Ordinance, Section 2101. Scope provides:

No building or structure, or part thereof, shall hereafter be erected, constructed or altered and maintained, and no new use or change shall be made or maintained of any building, structure or land, or part thereof, except in conformity with the provisions of this ordinance.

The Ordinance institutes site plan review procedures which state:

provide a consistent and uniform method for review of proposed development plans, to ensure full compliance with the standards contained in this section, other applicable local ordinances, standard engineering practices, and county, state, and federal rules, and laws. The procedures set forth herein are further intended to:
(a) Achieve efficient use of the land;
(b) Protect natural resources;
(c) Minimize adverse impacts on adjoining or nearby properties;
[686]*686(d) Provide a mechanism for review of new development and redevelopment or reuse of existing sites to ensure compliance with current standards; and,
(e) Encourage cooperation and consultation between the township and the applicant to facilitate development in accordance with the township’s land use objectives.

[Docket No. 11, Ex. I, Zoning Ordinance Section 2115(1) ]

The Ordinance further states that unless a project is exempt from site plan review, “a building permit shall not be issued until a site plan or sketch plan [has been] approved in accordance with” the zoning ordinance. [Docket No. 11, Ex. I, Zoning Ordinance Section 2115(2) ] The Ordinance expounds that it is the “responsibility of the owner of a property for which site plan approval has been granted to maintain the property in accordance with the approved site design on a continuing basis until the property is razed, or until new regulations supersede the regulations upon which site approval was based, or until a new site design approval is sought.” [Docket No. 11, Ex. I, Zoning Ordinance Section 2115(3)(k)(3) ] The Ordinance notes that “[s]uch maintenance shall include all building and site elements depicted on the site plan including parking configuration [and that] [a]ny owner who fails to maintain a site as approved shall be deemed in violation of the applicable use provisions of this section and shall be subject to penalties.” [id.]

The ordinance allows for appeal of a site plan denial. “Either the township community and economic development department or the applicant shall have the option to request sketch plan review by the planning commission.” [Docket No. 11, Ex. I, Zoning Ordinance Section 2115(4) ] “Appeals may be taken by the person, firm or corporation aggrieved” and “a variance in the zoning ordinance may be applied for and granted under section 4 of the Uniform Condemnation Procedures Act.” [Docket No. 11, Ex. I, Zoning Ordinance Section 2402]

The Zoning Ordinance requires all accessory structures installed by property owners to comply with the ordinance. [Docket No. 11, p. 1] Under the Township’s existing zoning regulations, donation bins require site plan approval. [Docket No. 11, p. 2] As noted above, in order to obtain site plan approval, a property owner with a donation bin on its property can .either request a variance from his or her site plan or challenge the enforcement of the planning commission’s decision to remove the bins. [Docket No. 11, p. 5]

On April 8, 2014, the Defendant’s Community Ordinance Officer, Mark Heppner, contacted the Operations Manager for Planet Aid in Michigan, Brian Hinterleiter, to inform him that the Township investigated several donation bins in the Township and found that none of the property owners sought site plan approval for the donation bins. [Docket No. 11, p. 3-4] Following Hinterleiter’s discussion with Heppner, Hinterleiter contacted the Township Supervisor, Brenda Stumbo, and the Township Attorney, Angela King, to set up meetings to discuss the Township’s enforcement of the zoning ordinance. [Docket No. 4, p. 7-8] There is a dispute as to whether the Township’s representatives told Hinterleiter that the zoning ordinance’s enforcement was intended to ban all donation bins because there were too many in the area. [Docket No. 4, p. 6]

Plaintiff claims that it made several attempts to set up a meeting between the two parties. Following these attempts, Plaintiff filed a complaint on April 11, 2014, alleging that the Defendant-Township’s ban on donation bins constitutes sev[687]*687eral violations of the Plaintiffs constitutional rights. [Docket No. 1] Following the filing of Plaintiffs Complaint, Plaintiff filed a Motion- for Temporary Restraining Order on April 14, 2014. [Docket No. 4] The Court granted this motion on April 16, 2014. [Docket No. 6] Now before the Court is Plaintiffs Motion for Preliminary Injunction.

II. ANALYSIS

A. Standard of Review

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
26 F. Supp. 3d 683, 2014 WL 2765229, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 82598, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/planet-aid-v-ypsilanti-township-mied-2014.