Eichenlaub v. Township of Indiana, 03-2707.

Citation385 F.3d 274
Decision Date21 September 2004
Docket NumberNo. 03-2707.,03-2707.
PartiesDavid EICHENLAUB; Ike Construction; Daniel Eichenlaub; Barbara Eichenlaub, Appellants v. TOWNSHIP OF INDIANA; Township of Indiana Board of Supervisors; Dorothy T. Claus; George E. Dull, Jr.; Charles R. Federoff; Jeffrey D. Peck; Daniel L. Taylor, in their official capacities; Township of Indiana Code Enforcement Officer, Jeffrey S. Curti, in his official capacity; Dan Anderson, in his official capacity; Mildred Brozek, Administratrix of the Estate of Kevin Brozek; Township of Indiana Engineer, Daniel B. Slagle, in his individual and official capacity.
CourtUnited States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit)

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Arthur J. Schwab, J.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Blaine A. Lucas (Argued), Gerri L. Sperling, Springer Bush & Perry P.C., Pittsburgh, PA, for Appellants.

Scott G. Dunlop (Argued), Stephen J. Poljak, Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin, P.C., Pittsburgh, PA, for Appellees, except for Dorothy T. Claus.

Jeffrey Cohen (Argued), Mark A. Eck, Meyer, Darragh, Buckler, Bebeneck & Eck, Pittsburgh, PA, for Appellee, Dorothy T. Claus.

Before AMBRO, CHERTOFF, and BECKER, Circuit Judges.

CHERTOFF, Circuit Judge.

Appellants, members of the Eichenlaub family and their family-owned business, have been embroiled in a contentious zoning dispute with Appellees, the Township of Indiana, Pennsylvania, and several of its officials. The controversy arises from the Eichenlaubs' desire to develop certain pieces of property, and from the Township's insistence that the development comply with a number of regulations. The disagreement has engendered claims that Township officials violated the Eichenlaubs' substantive due process and equal protection rights by denying or delaying authorization to develop the properties; that officials violated David Eichenlaub's First Amendment petition and free speech rights by curtailing his speech during a public meeting and removing him from the meeting; that officials retaliated against David Eichenlaub for exercising his First Amendment rights; and that officials are also liable under Pennsylvania state law for damages.

The District Court granted summary judgment on the substantive due process, equal protection, and First Amendment charges but denied the Eichenlaubs' mandamus claim as moot. We affirm the District Court's judgment with respect to the substantive due process and free speech and petition claims. However, we will reverse as to the First Amendment retaliation, equal protection, and writ of mandamus claims.

I.

David, Daniel, and Barbara Eichenlaub own two parcels of property in Indiana Township: seven lots in the Fairview Gardens Plan and a separate tract of land located along Saxonburg Boulevard. In the mid-1990s, the Eichenlaubs commenced plans to develop their Fairview Gardens property, which was part of a twenty-seven lot subdivision of single family residences approved by the Allegheny County Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors of the Township in 1940 (the "Plan"). In April of 1999, the Eichenlaubs submitted an application to the Township for approval of a revised Plan related to the seven lots (the "Revised Plan"). After several rejections and subsequent revisions, the Township approved the Eichenlaubs' amended subdivision plan on June 22, 1999, conditioned upon an execution of a satisfactory developer's agreement. However, several weeks later, the Eichenlaubs withdrew their Revised Plan, claiming that they had been subject to "unnecessary and onerous obligations" by the Township. Appellant Br. 12.

Following the withdrawal of their revised plan application, the Eichenlaubs continued their development efforts for their Fairview Gardens lots. On August 19, 1999, Daniel and Barbara Eichenlaub executed deeds granting two of the Fairview Gardens lots to family members, David and Carl Eichenlaub. One week later, David Eichenlaub submitted a building permit application for a single family residence on Lot 7 of the Plan. The Township rejected that application, as well as a subsequent application filed on August 3, 2000, claiming that the family was trying to develop the seven residential lots in a serial fashion so as to claim colorable exemption from the requirements of the Township Subdivision and Land Development Ordinance.

The Eichenlaubs maintained that they were not required to obtain the Township's approval of their subdivision plans under the then-current land development regulations. They claimed that because the Fairview Gardens subdivision development was part of the twenty-seven lot plan approved in 1940, subsequent revisions to the development codes did not apply to them. The Township argued otherwise and maintained that the Eichenlaubs were obliged to comply with development regulations enacted following the original subdivision approval granted in 1940.1

The Eichenlaubs also sparred with Township officials over the development of their Saxonburg Boulevard property. In 1998, the Eichenlaubs filed a permit application to grade the property to plant nursery stock for their landscaping business. The following year, the Eichenlaubs fulfilled a Township request to file a site plan for the project. In June of 2000, the Board approved the Eichenlaubs' plan. However, the Township had not executed the Developer's Agreement because, as the Magistrate Judge found, the Eichenlaubs have refused to pay the engineering fees for the project. App. A37.

In September of 1999, the Eichenlaubs filed two separate civil actions in federal court. In the first case, docket 99-cv-01607, the Township, the Township Board of Supervisors, the Township Board Code Enforcement Officer, the Township Manager, and the Township Engineer were named defendants. David Eichenlaub alleged that the Township violated his First Amendment rights to petition government for redress of grievances when he was limited in his right to speak at a public meeting on September 14, 1999, and was removed from the same meeting2 (Count I) and was subject to various alleged retaliatory actions taken by the Defendants (Count II). David Eichenlaub and his business, Ike Construction, also asserted defamation claims regarding Defendants' involvement in a newspaper article recounting that David Eichenlaub had violated an Indiana Township Ordinance (Count II).

In the second case, docket 99-cv-01667, David, Daniel, and Barbara Eichenlaub raised conspiracy claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 asserting: (1) violation of their Fourteenth Amendment rights to substantive due process (Count I) arising out of delays and disputes in securing authorization to develop the Fairview Gardens and Saxonburg Boulevard properties; and (2) denial of equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment by being denied the opportunity to proceed with their projects (Count II); and (3) arbitrary action, selective enforcement and retaliation regarding both the Fairview Gardens and Saxonburg Boulevard properties (Count III). The Eichenlaubs also alleged that the Defendants' failure to act on their development applications in the time and manner required under the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code ("MPC") entitled them to a writ of mandamus compelling approval of those projects (Count IV).

The two complaints were consolidated at 99-cv-01667. The Defendants moved for summary judgment on all counts, and the Eichenlaubs moved for partial summary judgment on the counts initially listed in 99-cv-01667.

On August 27, 2002, the Magistrate Judge issued his Report and Recommendation. The report recommended that the District Court: (1) Grant summary judgment for Defendants on David Eichenlaub's First Amendment free speech and petition claim as well his state defamation claim; the Eichenlaubs' equal protection conspiracy, and official capacity claims alleged against the individual Defendants; (2) deny Defendants' motions for summary judgment on the David Eichenlaub's First Amendment retaliation claims; (3) deny motions by the Eichenlaubs and Defendants for summary judgment on the Eichenlaubs' substantive due process claim; and (4) grant the Eichenlaubs' request for a writ of mandamus based on (a) Defendants' failure to notify the Eichenlaubs of its April 1999 decision to deny approval of the subdivision plan for Fairview Gardens and (b) Defendant's failure to act on the Eichenlaubs' grading permit and site plan applications for the Saxonburg Boulevard property.

While the case was pending in District Court, the parties entered into two partial settlement agreements, dated February 12, 2003, and February 24, 2003, under which the Township agreed to grant building permits at Fairview Gardens and approve the subdivision plan and grading permits for the Sax on burg property.

On May 29, 2003, the District Court entered an order granting Defendants' motion for summary judgment on all counts. The Court also dismissed the Eichenlaubs' mandamus requests as moot in light of the partial settlement agreements.

The Eichenlaubs appeal from that order as it relates to the § 1983 claims for substantive due process, equal protection, free speech, and retaliation as well as the denials of mandamus. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Our review over a District Court's grant of summary judgment is plenary. See Fed. Home Loan Mortgage Corp. v. Scottsdale Ins. Co., 316 F.3d 431, 443 (3d Cir.2003). We assess the record using the same summary judgment standard that guides district courts. See Farrell v. Planters Lifesavers Co., 206 F.3d 271, 278 (3d Cir.2000). To prevail on a motion for summary judgment, the moving party must demonstrate "that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c).

II.

David Eichenlaub's First Amendment claims present two distinct issues. He complains that the...

To continue reading

Request your trial
438 cases
  • Price v. City of Phila.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Pennsylvania
    • 7 d2 Março d2 2017
    ...a "class of one" claim must demonstrate that any differential treatment was "irrational and wholly arbitrary." Eichenlaub v. Twp. of Indiana , 385 F.3d 274, 286 (3d Cir. 2004) (quoting Olech , 528 U.S. at 564, 120 S.Ct. 1073 ). A "class of one" claim, like any equal protection claim evaluat......
  • O.T. ex rel. Turton v. Frenchtown Elementary
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — District of New Jersey
    • 11 d1 Dezembro d1 2006
    ...103 S.Ct. 948. Absent a compelling interest, speech in a public forum may not be regulated based upon content. Eichenlaub v. Township of Indiana, 385 F.3d 274, 280 (3d Cir.2004). At the other end of the spectrum are closed or non-public forums, which are neither traditionally open to the pu......
  • Ansell v. Ross Twp.
    • United States
    • U.S. District Court — Western District of Pennsylvania
    • 28 d3 Março d3 2012
    ...the Board was free to limit the discussion conducted at the meeting to "issues germane to town government." Eichenlaub v. Township of Indiana, 385 F.3d 274, 281 (3d Cir. 2004). Even in a limited public forum, however, a governmental entity may not engage in "an effort to suppressexpression ......
  • Mettler Walloon v. Melrose Twp.
    • United States
    • Court of Appeal of Michigan — District of US
    • 2 d4 Outubro d4 2008
    ...approval from the township board of trustees) does not necessarily constitute a substantive due process violation. In Eichenlaub v. Indiana Twp., 385 F.3d 274 (C.A.3, 2004), the plaintiffs asserted that zoning officials refused certain permits and approvals and applied unnecessary enforceme......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • OVERBROAD INJUNCTIONS AGAINST SPEECH (ESPECIALLY IN LIBEL AND HARASSMENT CASES).
    • United States
    • Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy Vol. 45 No. 1, January 2022
    • 1 d6 Janeiro d6 2022
    ...*5-*6 (N.D. 1ll. Jan. 12, 2015) (likewise when government is accused of retaliating against foster parents); Eichenlaub v. Twp. of Ind., 385 F.3d 274, 284 (3d Cir. 2004) (likewise when government is accused of retaliating against speakers in zoning disputes); Nolan v. Vill. of Dolton, No. 1......

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT