Prentiss v. American University Wrather v. American University

214 F.2d 282

• Court: Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
• Decided: July 21, 1954
• Docket: 11942, 11943
• Status: Published

Opinion

Per Curiam.

An order of the Zoning Commission of the District of Columbia rezonod the campus of The American University from residential “A” to residential “A restricted”. The immediate effect of the order was to prevent the building on the campus of a hospital to be maintained in connection with a School of Nursing.

“The governmental power to interfere by zoning regulations with the general rights of the land owner by restricting the character of his use, is not unlimited, and. other questions aside, such restriction cannot be imposed if it does not bear a substantial relation to the public health,, safety, morals, or general welfare.” Nectow v. Cambridge, 277 U.S. 183, 188, 48 S.Ct. 447, 448, 72 L.Ed. 842. In the District Court, Judge Holtzoff found that the restriction which the rezoning order would impose on the University’s right to use its land did not meet this requirement. He therefore found the order unconstitutional, and set it aside, as taking the University’s property without due process of law. 1 D.C., 113 F.Supp. 389. We think he was clearly right. The judgment of the District Court is

Affirmed.