Hamer

While zoning ordinances which impose a one-acre lot restriction cannot properly apply to property which is virtually surrounded by parcels of lesser size, they may, conversely, restrict the use of the property to a single-family dwelling because that usage is the predominant characteristic of the property in the general area. Applying the accepted test that we will uphold such a regulation if its reasonableness is fairly debatable, we sustain the single-family restriction. We further hold that the ordinances may severably be enforced as to the single-family restriction although not as to the one-acre requirement. We proceed to set forth our reasons for these conclusions.

The case involves an appeal by the Town of Ross from a judgment declaring void the application of its zoning ordinances in imposing upon plaintiff's property a restriction to a single-family dwelling upon a one-acre lot and in ordering the issuance of a building permit for the construction of multiple dwelling garden apartments on the property.

The essential physical facts are undisputed. Plaintiff owns an irregularly shaped 2.2-acre parcel of land in Ross which she purchased in 1938. The eastern boundary of…