Justia Zoning, Planning & Land Use Opinion Summaries

At dispute in this case was a bridge located in Cuyahoga County on the border between Independence City and the village of Valley View and on a road that was neither a County road nor a state highway. The County and the City each claimed that the other was responsible for maintaining and repairing the bridge. The County’s duty to repair or replace such a bridge depended upon whether the road served by the bridge was a road of general and public utility. The Cuyahoga County Board of County Commissioners determined that the road was not a road of general and public utility. The common pleas court reversed, and the court of appeals affirmed. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that a preponderance of reliable, probative, and substantial evidence supported the determination that the road was a road of general and public utility. View "City of Independence v. Office of the Cuyahoga County Executive" on Justia Law

This case stemmed from Walton Emmick's application to the County for a coastal development permit (CDP) to make improvements to his property. After Emmick died, the SDS Family Trust succeeded to the property. The County subsequently approved the CDP, which was conditioned upon SDS's offer to dedicate a lateral easement for public access along the shorefront portion of the property (CDP-1). SDS did not appeal. Nine months later, SDS applied for another CDP (CDP-2) and the application was approved. The Sierra Club, the Surfrider Foundation, and two coastal commissioners appealed the County's approval of the CDP-2 to the Commission. The Commission determined that the easement condition contained in CDP-1 is permanent and binding on the landowner, and removal of the easement condition would violate the policy favoring public access to coastal resources. The Commission conditioned its permit on the implementation of the easement condition contained in CDP-1. The court reversed the judgment denying SDS's petition for a writ of administrative mandate to eliminate a public access condition from the permit where it could be inequitable to apply collateral estoppel to require a party to dedicate a coastal easement as a condition of obtaining a coastal development permit. View "Bowman v. Cal. Coastal Commission" on Justia Law

East Georgia Land and Development Company, LLC sued Newton County and several of its officers for a writ of mandamus, arguing that a zoning ordinance adopted by the County in May1985 was invalid. The trial court agreed that the zoning ordinance is invalid, it awarded summary judgment to East Georgia. The County appealed. The zoning ordinance at issue referred to (and purported to incorporate by reference) a set of maps identified in the ordinance as the "Official Zoning District Maps for Newton County." These maps are an integral part of the zoning ordinance. The only such maps that appeared in the record, however, were adopted by the County on July 2, 1985, and nothing in the record showed that those maps even were in existence in May 1985. "A map not yet in existence cannot have been 'made a public record' and certainly is not 'accessible to members of the public who are, or may be, affected by it.'" The trial court found, and as a result, concluded that the ordinance was void at the moment of its enactment. The Supreme Court saw no error in the findings of the trial court on this point, nor in its conclusion that the ordinance was void from its inception. View "Newton County v. East Georgia Land & Development Cp., LLC" on Justia Law

32 Thomas Street, LLC applied to the Portland City Council for conditional rezoning of its property in Portland’s West End. The City Council ultimately approved the conditional zoning agreement (CZA) for the reuse and rehabilitation of the property. The superior court determined that the rezoning did not comply with the City’s comprehensive plan and state statutes limiting conditional rezoning. The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the superior court and remanded with direction to affirm the decision of the City Council, holding that the record before the City Council supported its legislative determination that the CZA was consistent with the comprehensive plan and therefore did not violate relevant state statutes. View "Remmel v. City of Portland" on Justia Law

Applicants sought approval from the Town of North Hempstead Board of Zoning and Appeals (the Board) to place a full-service restaurant in a storefront that had most recently housed a retail gift shop. Restaurants in this area were permitted subject to the issuance of a conditional use permit. The Board granted the conditional use permit and an area variance from the Town’s parking and loading/unloading restrictions. Colin Realty, LLC (Colin), the owner of a multi-tenant retail building next to the property at issue, commenced this action seeking to annul the Board’s determination and obtain a declaration that the proposed restaurant required a use rather than an area variance from the Town’s parking and loading/unloading restrictions. Supreme Court denied the petition and dismissed the action. The Appellate Division affirmed. The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that the Board properly considered the application as a request for an area variance rather than a use variance. View "Matter of Colin Realty Co., LLC v. Town of N. Hempstead" on Justia Law

A 1991 judgment, not appealed, upheld a state statute prohibiting members of the Indian tribes from hunting deer at night outside the tribes’ reservations. Wisconsin Indians had hunted deer at night since before they had electricity. Tribe members sought relief from the judgment under Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b)(5) on the ground that its continued enforcement would be “no longer equitable” and asserting that “tribal members need to hunt for subsistence purposes. Between 25% and 93% of Tribal members are unemployed. They also claimed that “tribal members need to hunt at night for cultural and religious reasons.” The district court denied the motion, precipitating this appeal. The Seventh Circuit reversed, noting that neighboring states allow night hunting; that the state has stringent regulations; and concerns about Indian cultural and dietary practices relating to deer hunting, poverty, and unemployment. Evidence presented by the tribes indicated that night hunting for deer in the identified territory is unlikely to create a serious safety problem. View "Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians v. WI" on Justia Law

In 1954, Stiles Apartments, Inc. and the City of Athens entered into an agreement to create a drive-in parking area and new sidewalk on the western side of South Lumpkin Street in Athens. The purpose was to relieve traffic congestion due to cars parking parallel to the raised sidewalk along the street. Stiles Apartments paid all construction costs, and the public sidewalk was relocated onto its private property, and a parking lot was created that contained 22 spaces. About two thirds of each space lies on land owned by Stiles Apartments and the other third lies on what was the old public sidewalk. The agreement provided that the parking spaces and sidewalk will be maintained by the Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County. In 2003, Stiles' commercial tenants, including the now-closed Five Points Deli, began complaining about non-customers using the parking area, with some leaving their cars for days. Stiles Apartments attempted to tow the vehicles, but was forced to stop when its president, Barry Stiles, was threatened with arrest by the county attorney, William Berryman. Berryman took the position that the parking area was created for use by the public, not just Stiles' tenants, and therefore Stiles Apartments did not control who could park there. After losing several tenants due in part to the parking problems, Stiles sued the local government, asserting ownership over the parking area and asking the court to grant a temporary injunction and prohibit the city and county government from exercising any control over the spaces while the case was being litigated. Athens-Clarke County counterclaimed and following a hearing, the trial court issued an order granting the injunction against the government's attempt to assert control over the parking area. Athens-Clark County then appealed to the Supreme Court, and the Court upheld the temporary injunction. The question that still needed to be answered was whether the parties to the 1954 agreement intended to reserve public property rights in the land owned by Stiles Apartments. The trial court entered a final order, concluding that under the agreement, the parties did not intend for the parking area to be available to the public. The trial court noted it would be unlikely for a landowner to give up control over property for which it paid taxes. Athens-Clarke County appealed that decision to the Supreme Court, which found that according to the agreement signed 60 years ago by the local government and apartment complex, "the parties never intended that the parking area be kept open for the public." View "Unified Government of Athens-Clarke Co. v. Stiles Apartments, Inc." on Justia Law

Sunrise filed suit alleging intentional discrimination, disparate impact discrimination, and failure to grant a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq., after the commissioner determined that Sunrise's application for a special permit to establish a facility for individuals recovering for drug or alcohol addiction did not meet applicable zoning regulations. The court affirmed the district court's dismissal of the complaint based on lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the dispute was not ripe. In this case, Sunrise failed to pursue a variance or to appeal the commissioner's determination, and therefore, failed to obtain a final decision on the permit application. The court concluded that Sunrise's remaining arguments were without merit. View "Sunrise Detox v. City of White Plains" on Justia Law

In 1972, the Board of Supervisors of Jackson County, Mississippi, approved the final plat for Spring Lake Subdivision. At that time, the only vehicular access to the subdivision was Spring Lake Drive East, which crossed Spring Lake Dam. The McBrooms, who owned three subdivision lots on Spring Lake, and the dam forming the lake and providing access to the subdivision, contended that Jackson County was obligated to maintain the deteriorating roadway by virtue of the McBrooms’ dedication of the roadway to public use and Jackson County’s acceptance of their dedication. The Chancery Court held that the McBrooms were entitled to no relief. Finding that the Spring Lake Dam and the roadway over it were dedicated to public use and accepted by Jackson County under common law (as evidenced by more than thirty years of continuous use by the public), the Supreme Court reversed and remanded for entry of judgment for the McBrooms. View "McBroom v. Jackson County" on Justia Law

The Moody County Board of Adjustment granted a conditional use permit (CUP) to allow Mustang Pass, LLC (Mustang) to construct a concentrated animal feeding operation in Moody County. Several citizens (Citizens) petitioned the circuit court for a writ of certiorari to invalidate Mustang’s CUP, asserting (1) the Moody County Board acted in excess of its jurisdiction because Moody County failed, in 2003, to property enact its zoning ordinances creating the Moody County Board of Adjustment; and (2) the statutory scheme applicable to the appeal procedure from a board of adjustment decision violates the Equal Protection Clause. The circuit court denied the writ. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) the statutory scheme comports with the Equal Protection Clause because a rational relationship exists between a legitimate legislative purpose and classifications the statute creates among citizens; and (2) the 2003 ordinances were validly enacted.View "Tibbs v. Bd. of Comm’rs" on Justia Law