Nectow v. City of Cambridge, 509

Citation48 S.Ct. 447,277 U.S. 183,72 L.Ed. 842
Decision Date14 May 1928
Docket NumberNo. 509,509
PartiesNECTOW v. CITY OF CAMBRIDGE et al
CourtUnited States Supreme Court

Messrs. Judson Hannigan and John E. Hannigan, both of Boston, Mass., for plaintiff in error.

Messrs. Peter J. Nelligan and Joseph P. Lyons, both of Boston, Mass., for defendants in error.

[Argument of Counsel from pages 183-185 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice SUTHERLAND delivered the opinion of the Court.

A zoning ordinance of the city of Cambridge divides the city into three kinds of districts, residential, business, and unrestricted. Each of these districts is subclassified in respect of the kind of buildings which way be erected. The ordinance is an elaborate one, and of the same general character as that considered by this court in Euclid v. Ambler Co., 272 U. S. 365, 47 S. Ct. 114, 71 L. Ed. 303. In its general scope it is conceded to be constitutional within that decision. The land of plaintiff in error was put in district R-3, in which are permitted only dwellings, hotels, clubs, churches, schools, philanthropic institutions, greenhouses and gardening, with customary incidental accessories. The attack upon the ordinance is that, as specifically applied to plaintiff in error, it deprived him of his property without due process of law in contravention of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The suit was for a mandatory injunction directing the city and its inspector of buildings to pass upon an application of the plaintiff in error for a permit to erect any lawful buildings upon a tract of land without regard to the provisions of the ordinance including such tract within a residential district. The case was referred to a master to make and report findings of fact. After a view of the premises and the surrounding territory, and a hearing, the master made and reported his findings. The case came on to be heard by a justice of the court, who, after confirming the master's report, reported the case for the determination of the full court. Upon consideration, that court sustained the ordinance as applied to plaintiff in error, and dismissed the bill. 157 N. E. 618.

A condensed statement of facts, taken from the master's report, is all that is necessary. When the zoning ordinance was enacted, plaintiff in error was and still is the owner of a tract of land containing 140,000 square feet, of which the locus here in question is a part. The locus contains about 29,000 square feet, with a frontage on Brookline street, lying west, of 304.75 feet, on Henry street, lying north, of 100 feet, on the other land of the plaintiff in error, lying east, of 264 feet, and on land of the Ford Motor Company, lying southerly, of 75 feet. The territory lying east and south is unrestricted. The lands beyond Henry street to the north and beyond Brookline street to the west are within a restricted residential district. The effect of the zoning is to separate from the west end of plaintiff in error's tract a strip 100 feet in width. The Ford Motor Company has a large auto assembling factory south of the locus; and a soap factory and the tracks of the Boston & Albany Railroad lie near. Opposite the locus, on Brookline street, and included in the same district, there are some residences; and opposite the locus, on Henry street, and in the same district, are other residences. The locus is now vacant although it was once occupied by a mansion house. Before the passage of the ordinance in question, plaintiff in error had outstanding a contract...

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506 cases
  • Gangemi v. Zoning Board of Appeals
    • United States
    • Supreme Court of Connecticut
    • 2 January 2001
    ...that is beyond the zoning power may constitute an unconstitutional taking, no matter how far it goes. E.g., Nectow v. Cambridge, 277 U.S. 183, 48 S. Ct. 447, 72 L. Ed. 842 (1928); see also Port Clinton Associates v. Board of Selectmen, 217 Conn. 588, 600, 587 A.2d 126, cert. denied, 502 U.S......
  • Eldridge v. City of Palo Alto
    • United States
    • California Court of Appeals
    • 26 September 1975
    ...that 'there comes a point at which the police power ceases and leaves only that of eminent domain.' And in Nectow v. Cambridge (1927) 277 U.S. 183, 188, 48 S.Ct. 447, 72 L.Ed. 842, it said: 'The governmental power to interfere by zoning regulations with the general rights of the land owner ......
  • Congregation Kol Ami v. Abington Township
    • United States
    • United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit)
    • 16 October 2002
    ...relation to the public health, safety, morals, or general welfare.'" Id. at 121, 49 S.Ct. 50 (quoting Nectow v. Cambridge, 277 U.S. 183, 188, 48 S.Ct. 447, 72 L.Ed. 842 (1928)). In that case, Seattle had failed to show how the maintenance and construction of the homes for the aged would "wo......
  • Timberlake v. Kenkel
    • United States
    • United States District Courts. 7th Circuit. United States District Court of Eastern District of Wisconsin
    • 8 January 1974
    ...the decision in Euclid, the Supreme Court showed itself willing to rule against zoning ordinances. In Nectow v. City of Cambridge, 277 U.S. 183, 188, 48 S.Ct. 447, 448, 72 L.Ed. 842 (1928), the Court specified a standard to be examined in finding a zoning ordinance "* * * The governmental p......
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21 books & journal articles
  • ARBITRARY PROPERTY INTERFERENCE DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC AND BEYOND.
    • United States
    • Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy Vol. 45 No. 1, January 2022
    • 1 January 2022
    ...land-use regulations that destroyed or adversely affected recognized real property interests.") (quoting Nectow v. City of Cambridge, 277 U.S. 183, 188 (1928)) (internal quotation marks (113.) See Penn Central Transp. Co., 438 U.S. at 146 (Rehnquist, J., dissenting). (114.) See id. at 147. ......
  • Penn Central for Tomorrow: Making Regulatory Takings Predictable
    • United States
    • Environmental Law Reporter No. 39-6, June 2009
    • 1 June 2009
    ...116. 18. Id. at 119. 19. Id. at 124. 20. 447 U.S. 255, 10 ELR 20361 (1980). 21. Id. at 257. 22. Id . 23. Id. at 258. 24. Id. at 260. 25. 277 U.S. 183 (1928). 26. Agins , 447 U.S. at 260 (citing Nectow v. City of Cambridge, 277 U.S. 183, 188 (1928)). 27. Id. at 263. 28. Id . 5-2009 NEWS & AN......
  • The 'Euclidean' Strategy: Authorizing and Implementing the Legislative Districting of Permissible Land Uses
    • United States
    • Land use planning and the environment: a casebook
    • 23 January 2010
    ...amount of discretion accorded local regulators in the previous three decisions and in the state court below. NECTOW v. CITY OF CAMBRIDGE 277 U.S. 183 (1928) Mr. Justice SUTHERLAND delivered the opinion of the Court. A zoning ordinance of the City of Cambridge divides the city into three kin......
  • The Centrality of Exclusion: Legal Impediments to Keeping 'Undesirable' People and Uses Out of the Community
    • United States
    • Land use planning and the environment: a casebook
    • 23 January 2010
    ...right to be free of arbitrary or irrational zoning actions. See Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365 (1926); Nectow v. Cambridge, 277 U.S. 183 (1928); Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, 416 U.S. 1 (1974). But the heart of this litigation has never been the claim that the Village’s decis......
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