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STATE OF MICHIGAN
COURT OF APPEALS


AMERICORP FINANCIAL GROUP, INC., Plaintiff-Appellee, v CITY OF BIRMINGHAM and BIRMINGHAM BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS, Defendants-Appellants.

UNPUBLISHED September 13, 2007

No. 270228 Oakland Circuit Court LC No. 2005-067332-AA

Before: Borrello, P.J., and Jansen and Murray, JJ. PER CURIAM. Defendants city of Birmingham and Birmingham board of zoning appeals (BZA) appeal by leave granted the circuit court's order interpreting the language of the Birmingham zoning ordinance and reversing the BZA's denial of a zoning variance for plaintiff. We vacate and remand for reinstatement of the decision of the BZA. I This action involves plaintiff's request to use its property at 1140 Webster Street in the city of Birmingham as a parking lot for an office building that it owns across the street. The property on 1140 Webster Street is zoned O-2, office and commercial use. The city maintained below that under its zoning ordinance, a freestanding parking lot is not a permissible use in an O2 district, and that parking is permitted in an O-2 district only as an accessory use. Plaintiff appealed the city's interpretation of the zoning ordinance to the BZA, and in the alternative, applied for a use variance. The BZA denied plaintiff's appeal and additionally denied the variance request. Plaintiff then appealed the BZA's decision to the circuit court pursuant to MCL 125.585.1 The circuit court determined that the BZA had erred in its interpretation of the

This statute was repealed by 2006 PA 110, effective July 1, 2006. See MCL 125.3702(1)(a). It has been recodified in substantially similar form at MCL 125.3606(1). The repeal of the statute does not affect this case, which was pending on the effective date of repeal. See MCL 125.3702(2) (stating that "[t]his section shall not be construed to alter, limit, void, affect, or abate any pending litigation, administrative proceeding, or appeal that existed on the effective date of this act or any ordinance, order, permit, or decision that was based on the acts repealed by this
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zoning ordinance and also in denying the requested variance. Accordingly, the circuit court reversed the BZA's decision and granted plaintiff injunctive relief. II A circuit court's review of a final administrative decision is limited to determining whether the decision was authorized by law, and whether the findings were supported by competent, material, and substantial evidence on the whole record. Const 1963, art 6,

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Michigan Law