Law Commons^™

INTRODUCTION: Zoning ordinances enacted under state enabling laws and home rule charters of municipalities are customarily entitled to a presumption that they were validly enacted, are within the powers delegated to the locality by the state, and are reasonable in effect. This presumption makes an exercise of the zoning power more easily defensible; one attacking the ordinance must show that it was passed incorrectly, or is beyond the scope of municipal authority, or is unreasonable, capricious or arbitrary in effect. Zoning officials have possessed this initial advantage in any litigation since the landmark decision of Village of Euclid v. Ambler …