John Mogk, professor of urban development and international trade at Wayne State University\'s law school, discusses a legal case involving the Detroit International Bridge Co. - owner of the Ambassador Bridge linking Detroit and Windsor - and the City of Detroit. The Detroit International Bridge Co. recently expanded its existing truck plaza, razing the newly acquired homes, paving over the land and installing 11 fuel pumps and 18 toll booths to help service the 13,000 trucks that roll across the Detroit River each day. The company was in such a rush to develop the property it didn\'t wait to obtain the requisite zoning permits from the city. Neither, apparently, did it bother to actually buy all the land it took control of. The city responded to the permit problem by hitting the company with 37 citations for zoning violations and issuing a cease-work order. When the company ignored the citations and the order, the issue wound up in Wayne Circuit Court, where lawyers for the company argued that their client isn\'t bound by the city\'s zoning laws. The privately owned bridge company, they contended, is actually an instrument of the federal government, and, as such, doesn\'t have to abide by local land-use ordinances. Mogk says the case has major implications for land that is privately owned and zoned by the city in and around the bridge facility. \"The major ramification would be at the neighborhood level. To the extent that the bridge company prevails, it might suggest it is free to continue to expand its holdings with impunity, without the city having any control of the expansion.\"