In 1926 the US Supreme Court upheld the zoning ordinance of the Cleveland suburb of Euclid by a 6–3 vote, ruling that comprehensive use zoning was a legitimate exercise of the local police power. The decision specifically endorsed separating single-family houses from apartment buildings, stores and industry as bearing a reasonable relation to public health, safety and welfare. The ruling removed the main constitutional doubt over zoning and gave the practice nationwide legitimacy. The term 'Euclidean zoning' derives from the case.
The decision constitutionalised use-based zoning and entrenched single-family separation as the dominant American land-use model.
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