Puritan-Greenfield Improvement Association v. Leo

John Leo (defendant) listed his home, zoned for single-family residential use, for $38,500 — well above the $20,000–$25,000 average asking price for similar homes in the area — and after failing to sell it for over a year, obtained a use variance from the Detroit Board of Zoning Appeals to convert it into a dental and medical clinic, based on the property's proximity to a business district and heavy traffic. The Puritan-Greenfield Improvement Association (plaintiff) challenged the variance, and the circuit court set it aside; Leo appealed.