Richardson v. Township of Brady

Robert Richardson (plaintiff) owned 194 acres in the Township of Brady (defendant), whose 1987 zoning ordinance capped livestock numbers based on odor-producing potential and defined swine, regardless of size, as having a full animal-unit value of 1.00. When Richardson sought to build a nursery-swine facility needing about 4,200 young pigs to be economically viable, the ordinance limited him to 1,999, and his request to redefine young swine's unit value to .50 was rejected after a proposed amendment failed in the planning commission and the zoning board said it lacked authority to rewrite the ordinance's text. Richardson sued in federal court, alleging violations of substantive and procedural due process, and the district court granted the Township summary judgment.