chapter 503 of the Laws of 1916. And under that section it has been held that the board could not disregard the provisions of the statute. People ex rel. Cockcroft v. Miller, 187 App. Div. 704. And the zoning resolutions have the force and effect of a statute. Matter of Stubbe v. Adamson, 220 N. Y. 459, 465." On the other hand it is not for the court to substitute its judgment with regard to the proper solution of a zoning difficulty for that of the board of appeals. In reversing the decision of the judge of an inferior court who had forgotten this principle the upper court said: 56 "There is . . . a presumption in favor of the correctness of the determination arrived at by the board of appeals, and the court should not interfere with the discretion vested in that body unless that discretion has been arbitrarily exercised or is erroneous in law. The hearings before the board of appeals are not intended merely as the first step in an application to the Supreme Court for a permit, and the Supreme Court should not upon the hearing of a writ of certiorari reverse a determination of the board of appeals, even though the justice presiding might himself have arrived at a different conclusion if the application had been submitted to him in the first instance, and he had a right to exercise his own untrammeled discretion. . . . Each application must be determined upon its own merits, and persons aggrieved by a decision of the board of appeals have a right to appeal from such decision, but such decisions in nowise affect property holders in other sections of the city and in nowise bind the board of appeals when new applications are made for similar relief. It is true that the law presumes that the board of appeals will act reasonably upon all applications brought before them, and so far as possible will arrive at its decisions in all cases by the application of the same rules and methods of reasoning, but each case must stand or fall upon its own peculiar facts, and even though I might believe that in some instances the board of appeals gave greater weight to the interest of the applicant and less weight to the position of other property holders than it has done in this case, that fact would 50 People ex rel. Ruth v. Leo et al., New York Supreme Court, New York County, New York Law Journal, March 29, 1921, pp. 2195 and 2196. See also People ex rel. Facey v. Leo, 110 Misc. 516; 230 N. Y. 602. People ex rel. Helvetia Realty Co. v. Leo, New York Law Journal, June 29, 1920, p. 1101; 195 App. Div. 887. People ex rel. Sondern v. Walsh, 108 Misc. 193. Matter of West Side Mortgage Co. of New York v. Leo, 174 N. Y. Supp. 451. People ex rel. Flegenheimer v. Leo, New York Law Journal, May 8, 1918; 186 App. Div. 893. constitute no ground for a reversal of this decision of the board of appeals if upon the facts proven here that decision is not unreasonable as a matter of law. It follows that the writ must be dismissed, with costs." Importance of Administration.-With the growth and ever-increasing density of population in our cities, the need of more detailed and stricter regulation of the interrelated rights of the city dwellers is more and more evident. While it is true. that the failure to enact such regulations would be a failure to provide for the well-being of the inhabitants of the city, it is also true that the enforcement of these regulations is a growing burden to certain classes in the community, and an increasing expense which ultimately is borne by the city dwellers as a whole. It is therefore essential that these ordinances should receive careful study, in order that they may be simplified, and enforced justly and with the least possible hardship to those compelled to comply with them. Note I GENERAL PLANNING LAWS IN THE UNITED STATES No. I. THE MINNESOTA PLANNING LAW " SEC. 1. City Planning Department for Minneapolis; Commission and Membership. That an additional executive department in the government of cities of the first class not organized under section 36 of article IV of the state constitution shall be created to be known as the "city planning department" which shall be in charge of a city planning commission, consisting of nine persons. One shall be the mayor of the municipality; the city council, the school board, the park board and the county board of the county in which the municipality is situated shall each select one of its own members, as a member of the commission, in January of each odd numbered year; and four legal voters of the municipality not members of any of the above bodies or boards shall be appointed by the mayor with consent of the city council of the municipality. The first appointments shall be made as soon as practicable after the passage of this act. The appointed members of the commission shall serve for four years. The first members first appointed by the mayor shall so classify themselves by lot that one of the number shall go out of office 1919, ch. 292, p. 300 (Approved April 17). at the end of January of the odd year next after their appointment; one at the end of one year thereafter, and one at the end of two years thereafter; and shall certify the result of the classification to the city clerk. Vacancies for any unexpired term shall be filled by appointment as in the first instance. The members of the commission shall serve without compensation, but the commission may with the consent of the city council employ engineers or other persons and incur such other expenses as are deemed necessary. The commission shall make and alter rules and regulations for its own organization and procedure. It shall make an annual report to the city council. The term "city council" means the principal governing body of the municipality. SEC. 2. Powers of commission. The city planning commission shall have power, except as otherwise provided by law: 1. To acquire or prepare a comprehensive city plan for the future physical development and improvement of the city, based primarily upon public utility, convenience and general welfare, which plan shall be known and designated as the official city plan. 2. To prepare and recommend to the proper officers of the municipality, specific plans for public improvements consistent with the comprehensive plan for the city. 3. To recommend to the city council of the municipality, ordinances regulating the height, location and ground areas of buildings and structures, and ordinances providing for the division of the city into districts or zones based upon the height, ground areas and use of all buildings and structures. SEC. 3. City council may grant certain powers. The city council of the municipality may pass ordinances authorizing the city planning department to administer and enforce ordinances relative to city planning. SEC. 4. Commissions to approve public improvements contemplated. No public improvements shall be authorized to be constructed in the municipality until the location and design of the same have been approved by the city planning commission, provided in case of disapproval the commission shall communicate its reasons to the city council, or other governing body which has control of the construction of the proposed improvement; and the majority vote of such body shall be sufficient to over-rule such disapproval. If the reasons for disapproval are not given to the city council or other governing body within thirty days after the plans for the public improvements are submitted to the city planning commission, said plan shall be deemed to be approved by the city planning commission, provided that the term "public improvements" shall as herein used include "works of art" as defined in chapter 154, General Laws 1901. Name of act. Application. Commis sion ap pointed. Membership. Appoint ments. Term. SEC. 5. Plans, plats, etc., to be submitted to commission for approval or rejection. All plans, plats, or replats, of land hereafter laid out in building lots and streets, alleys or other portions of the same intended to be dedicated to public use, or for the use of purchasers or owners of lots fronting thereon, or adjacent thereto, and located within the city limits, shall be submitted to the city planning commission for its approval; and it shall be unlawful to receive or record such plans in any public office unless the same shall bear thereon, by endorsement or otherwise, the approval of the city planning commission. The disapproval of such plan, plats, or replats, by the city planning commission, shall be deemed a refusal by the city of the proposed dedication shown thereon. The approval of the commission shall be deemed an acceptance by the city of the proposed dedication; but shall not impose any duty upon the city concerning the maintenance or improvements of any such dedicated parts, until the proper authorities of the city shall have made actual appropriations of the same by entry, use or improvements. The duty of the city planning commission in accepting or rejecting a plat shall be deemed legislative and discretionary and not administrative. SEC. 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the date of its passage and approval. No. 2. THE NEW JERSEY MUNICIPAL PLAN AND ART COMMISSION I. This act may be referred to as the "Municipal Plan and Art Commission Act." It shall apply to all third class cities, fourth class cities, boroughs, towns, townships and incorporated villages of this State (and only to those) which shall accept the provisions of this act as hereinafter stated. 2. Any municipality mentioned in section one of this act may by a majority vote of the mayor and common council, or other similar governing body of whatsoever name called, authorize the appointment of a municipal plan and art commission for such municipality. Such commission shall consist of six men, all of whom shall reside in said municipality, and one of whom may be a member of the common council or other similar governing body of the municipality. The commissioners shall be appointed by the mayor or other head of the municipality, with the advice and consent of the council or other similar governing body, as the case may be. Each commissioner shall be appointed for a term of six years, except that when the commission shall be first created, one commissioner shall be appointed for a term of six years, one for a term of five years, one for a term of four 69 P. L. 1915, p. 350, ch. 188, as amended P. L. 1920, p. 414, ch. 216; and supplemented P. L. 1916, p. 377, ch. 175. years, one for a term of three years, one for a term of two years Vacancies. and one for a term of one year, except also, in case of any vacancy occurring in said commission, the vacancy shall be filled for the balance of the unexpired term in each instance as it arises; to the end that such commission shall be maintained as a continuing body with normally one commissioner to be nominated by the mayor and confirmed by the council in each year. In every municipality in which a municipal plan and art commission shall be appointed under the provisions of this act, the mayor or other executive head of such munici- Mayor an pality shall also be ex-officio a member of such commission during his term of office. 30 ex officio member. Petition for election plan and to have art com mission. 3. After January first, one thousand nine hundred and twentyone in every municipality mentioned in section one of this act which shall not have constituted a municipal plan and art commission in the manner prescribed in section two of this act, legal voters residing therein in number equaling or exceeding twenty per centum of the votes cast in the last preceding election for municipal officers may, by petition addressed to the clerk of the county in which such municipality is located, call an election of the legal voters of such municipality to vote on the question as to whether such municipality shall have a municipal plan and art commission under the provisions of this act. Such petition, with the execution thereof proven by the oath of one or more witnesses, shall be filed with said county clerk. The election shall be held at the same time as the next succeeding election When of members of the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, held. following the filing of said petition and by the same election officers. The ballot shall read as follows: election Ballots. For the appointment of a Municipal Plan and Art Against the appointment of a Municipal Plan and Art and shall be printed on and as a part of the regular official ballot. If a cross mark shall be placed in the square opposite the words "For the appointment of a Municipal Plan and Art Commission, to serve without pay," the vote shall be recorded as in favor of the proposi- Voting. tion. If a cross mark shall be placed in the square opposite the words "Against the appointment of a Municipal Plan and Art Commission, to serve without pay," the vote shall be regarded as against the |