Section 41 Vested Rights and Nonconforming Uses

• Library: Urban Development Subdivisions, and Annexations (2011 Ed.)

Although a grant of permit confers no substantive rights, lawful use of property under such a permit vests rights to the extent of the use. See Ford Leasing Dev. Co. v. City of Ellisville, 718 S.W.2d 228 (Mo. App. E.D. 1986). The right vests as a result of use. Accordingly, substantial expenditures without actual prior use of the property do not give rise to a vested right. McDowell v. Lafayette Cnty. Comm'n,802 S.W.2d 162 (Mo. App. W.D. 1990) (without actual prior use, expenditure of approximately $200,000 for acquisition, planning and engineering, and obtaining of permit did not establish vested right immune from changes in zoning regulation); see also State ex rel. Claudia Lee & Assocs., Inc. v. Bd. of Zoning Adjustment of Kansas City, Mo.,297 S.W.3d 107, 110–12 (Mo. App. W.D...