The State Supreme Court recently ruled against the City of Clinton in the tree house zoning issue. The Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision which stated that the City of Clinton was improperly using a zoning ordinance to seek removal of a tree house structure from the front yard of a residential dwelling site. Unfortunately, public sentiment toward the 'cuteness' of a tree house may have played a major part in this decision.
Standard zoning ordinances, including those of Clinton, restrict how auxiliary buildings or structures may be placed on a residential lot. This is to ensure sound development standards and to protect health, safety, property values, esthetics, and other similar issues. The court implied the zoning ordinance needed to be more specific in defining the types of uses which would not be permitted in a front yard. Most planning experts agree that if this structure had been a storage shed or an automotive repair shop rather than a child's playhouse, the court would have upheld the City's action. In defining what constitutes an auxiliary building, it is impossible for the definition section of the ordinance to list every conceivable use or structure. Rather it is understood that a certain degree of common sense is expected when administering these types of ordinances at the local level.
The only error that the City of Clinton may have made was to allow the structure to be erected in the first place. The City Building Inspector was led to believe that this would be a very simple, non-prominent type of a structure rather than a complete dwelling unit that once had electrical power and air conditioning. Court rulings such as this require local governments to develop and have an adversarial relationship with their own citizens. Local governments have to be less trusting and require more specific information and requirements within their development ordinances.
In many respects, a municipality is nothing more than a group of people who have come together to share services, facilities, and protection. When one of its members chooses not to follow the same rules as all the others, the entire municipality greatly suffers. The elected officials of the City of Clinton should be commended for their courage and leadership.
F. Clark Holmes
CEO, Central Mississippi Planning and Development District
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