Dismissal of the administrative court appeal and the constitutional appeal against the decision of the Administrative Court of the Canton of Zurich regarding the private development plan Rütibühl

Facts

The appellants [AX.] and [BX.] are appealing against the decision of the Administrative Court of the Canton of Zurich, which approved the private development plan Rütibühl for the expansion of the Rütibühl home on the property No. 5420 in the municipality of Herrliberg. The appellants are owners of the adjacent property No. 4260 and claim that the development plan violates their rights.

The Rütibühl home is a residential home for mentally disabled women and is to be expanded by 911 m2 to 2'791 m2. The development plan assigns the parcel No. 5420, with an area of 9'303 m2, to a building zone within the meaning of Art. 15 SPA.

The appellants had appealed against the municipal council's decision of 3 December 2003, which approved the development plan, to the Cantonal Building Appeals Commission II. The Commission dismissed the appeal, and the Administrative Court of the Canton of Zurich also dismissed the appeal lodged against it.

Considerations

The Federal Court must examine whether the administrative court appeal is admissible and whether the appellants' rights are violated by the contested decision. The appellants claim that the development plan violates their rights because it creates an impermissible small building zone within the agricultural area and violates the principle of equal treatment and the prohibition of arbitrariness.

However, the Federal Court has found that the development plan complies with the objectives and principles of land-use planning under the SPA and that the assignment of property No. 5420 to the building zone does not constitute an…