Charter Township Of Delta v. Dinolfo

351 N.W.2d 831 (Mich. 1984)

Facts

Dinolfo (D) and Sierawski families moved into homes in Charter Township (P). D's homes were located in a residential district, and each household consisted of a husband, wife, children, and six unrelated single adults. None of the homes violated maximum occupancy limits, but they did violate the more than one unrelated individual requirement. D lived in this fashion as they are members of The Work of Christ Community a non-profit and federally tax-exempt organization chartered by the State of Michigan. These parties adopted this lifestyle as a means of living out the Christian commitment that they stress is an important part of their lives. P served notice of violation of zoning ordinances and D applied for a variance; that was denied. D contends that enforcement of the ordinance is in violation of Michigan's Constitution.