Decision to Know: City of Baton Rouge/Parish of East Baton Rouge v. Stephen C. Myers

Abstract

Stephen Myers was leasing a single‐family residential property in an area zoned A‐1 within the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to four unrelated persons. Per Baton Rouge’s Unified Development Code (UDC) a “family” is defined as “an individual or two (2) or more persons who are related by blood, marriage or legal adoption living together . . . or not more than two (2) persons, or not more than four (4) persons (provided the owner lives on the premises rpar; living together by joint agreement. . . . ” (Myers at 9). In response, the city brought the action seeking to compel Myers to cease his alleged violation of the UDC, and Myers made a reconventional demand alleging the UDC’s definition of family was unconstitutional.