Common Zoning Definitions Found Unconstitutional in TLC v. Elgin

Abstract

Last year, a federal district court ruled that a municipality could not require a faith-based organization to apply for and obtain a temporary use permit in order to operate its mobile pregnancy counseling services. At issue in The Life Center, Inc. v. City of Elgin was the constitutionality of the city's temporary use regulations that restricted the number of days a particular temporary usecould operate in a year. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois found the city's temporary use regulations, as well as its zoning definitions of “land use” and “structure,” to be unconstitutionally vague and overbroad because the regulations could prevent people from exercising protected First Amendment rights. Although the court's ruling applied only to the City of Elgin's zoning code, it should cause concern among municipalities across the country who would likely find similar temporary use regulations and zoning definitions in their own codes.