Schweig v. City of St. Louis

• Citation: 569 S.W.2d 215
• Decision Date: 16 May 1978
• Docket Number: No. 38564,38564
• Parties: Martin SCHWEIG, Jr., James J. Dwyer and George H. Schlapp, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CITY OF ST. LOUIS and Maryland Plaza Redevelopment Corporation, Defendants-Respondents. . Louis District, Division Three
• Court: Court of Appeal of Missouri (US)

Page 215

569 S.W.2d 215

Martin SCHWEIG, Jr., James J. Dwyer and George H. Schlapp Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CITY OF ST. LOUIS and Maryland Plaza Redevelopment Corporation, Defendants-Respondents.

No. 38564.

Missouri Court of Appeals, St. Louis District, Division Three.

May 16, 1978.

Motion for Rehearing and/or Transfer Denied July 14, 1978.

Application to Transfer Denied Sept. 12, 1978.

Kohn, Shands, Elbert, Gianoulakis & Giljum, John Gianoulakis, John A. Klobasa, St. Louis, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Bernard J. Mellman, Cordell Siegel, St. Louis, for Maryland Plaza.

Jack L. Koehr, City Counselor, Timothy G. Noble, Associate City Counselor, St. Louis, for City of St. Louis.

WEIER, Judge.

Plaintiffs filed suit for declaratory judgment to contest the validity and enjoin the enforcement of two ordinances of the City of St. Louis. One ordinance declared a certain area of the city "blighted" and the other approved a redevelopment plan for the area. These ordinances were passed pursuant to the "Urban Redevelopment Corporations Law," Chapter 353 RSMo.1969. The trial court dismissed plaintiffs' second amended petition on the grounds that plaintiffs had no standing to challenge the ordinances and that the petition failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. Plaintiffs appeal from that decision.

"On a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim for relief, we accept as true the facts properly pleaded, giving the averments a liberal construction, and making those reasonable inferences fairly deducible from the facts stated." Concerned Parents v. Caruthersville School District 18, 548 S.W.2d 554, 558(6) (Mo.banc 1977). "If the facts pleaded and reasonable inferences to be drawn therefrom, looked at most favorably from the plaintiff's standpoint, show any ground upon which relief can be granted, the plaintiff has a right to proceed." Euge v. Golden, 551 S.W.2d 928, 931(4) (Mo.App.1977). Guided by these principles, we consider whether the petition states a cause of action and whether the allegations show that plaintiffs have standing to raise the issues contained in their petition.

Plaintiffs' second amended petition alleges that on November 20, 1970, the Plan Commission of the City of St. Louis "made recommendations to the St. Louis Board of Aldermen for the redevelopment of certain areas within the City of St. Louis" including an 18.1 acre tract of land in the area around Maryland Plaza and Euclid Avenue in the City of St. Louis. A bill was introduced in the board of aldermen designating the entire area recommended by the plan commission for redevelopment as "blighted." Thereafter there was introduced a substitute bill which declared this area, except for seven improved properties located at 21-65 Maryland Plaza, "blighted" and in need of redevelopment. This substitute bill was passed by the board of aldermen on April 6, 1971, and became Ordinance 55901. Plaintiffs do not challenge the validity of this ordinance.

On June 24, 1974, the board of aldermen passed Ordinance 56791. This ordinance declared "blighted" much of the area declared "blighted" in Ordinance 55901. It also included the previously excluded parcels at 21-65 Maryland Plaza. Plaintiffs' petition alleges that Ordinance 56791 is "void, invalid, arbitrary, unreasonable, capricious and unconstitutional" because: (1) the bill which became Ordinance 56791 was not accompanied by a determination from the plan commission that the area was blighted as required by Chapter 29 of the Revised Code of the City of St. Louis; (2) the seven improved properties which were declared blighted are not in fact blighted but "are well maintained properties in excellent condition with outstanding architectural and esthetic features" and the declaration of blight results in a deprivation of plaintiffs' properties without due process of law in violation of Article I, Section 10 of the Constitution of Missouri and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution because plaintiffs' homes, which are nearby, "are substantially similar to those at 21-65 Maryland Plaza"; (3) the designation of the seven improved properties as blighted "substantially interferes with and has substantially reduced the value of said (plaintiffs') properties because of the proximity of plaintiffs' properties to those at 21-65 Maryland Plaza and because of the similarity of the character, condition, and style of plaintiffs' properties to those declared blighted and thereby constitutes a taking of plaintiffs' properties without due process of law in violation of plaintiffs' rights as guaranteed by Article I, Section 10, Missouri Constitution of 1945, ¹ and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution"; (4) the designation of the seven improved properties as blighted deprives plaintiffs of their properties without due process of law because "various proposed redevelopment plans would require substantial changes in parking and traffic patterns"; (5) the designation of the seven improved properties as blighted "is arbitrary and capricious in that its purpose is not to redevelop an area in fact blighted but is rather to give tax and other improper advantages to a private real estate developer or developers, which purpose is inconsistent with Chapter 29 of the Revised Code of the City of St. Louis and Chapter 353, Revised Statutes of Missouri, 1969, thereby damaging plaintiffs and others similarly situated by virtue of decreased tax revenues from the area declared blighted"; (6) the designation of the seven improved properties as blighted is arbitrary and capricious and constitutes "a taking of plaintiffs' properties without due process of law . . . in that the purported blighting would substantially change and destroy the existing residential character of the surrounding neighborhood by substantially changing traffic patterns and flow, by increasing noise, by increasing lighting and by destroying the distinctive character of the residences at 21-65 Maryland Plaza . . ."; (7) this designation is arbitrary and capricious and constitutes a "taking of plaintiffs' properties without due process of law . . . in that the homes at 21-65 Maryland Plaza are residential in nature by both zoning and use and there is presently an inadequate supply of such residential structures in the area declared blighted and the area surrounding the allegedly blighted area, whereas," there is a surplus of commercial property in this area and changing the use of the buildings at 21-65 Maryland Plaza from residential to commercial would be inconsistent with "A Housing Program For The City of St. Louis 1970 1980," developed by the plan commission; (8) Ordinance 56791 is invalid and void because "a primary purpose is to accomplish a rezoning" of the seven improved properties "without complying with the legal requirements for rezoning and in spite of the fact that six past efforts to rezone said Maryland Plaza area have failed and been defeated"; (9) Ordinance 56791 is invalid and void because it is inconsistent with a "Historic District Enabling Ordinance" and another ordinance creating the "Central West End Historic District"; and (10) the properties declared blighted are not in fact blighted in that it is not " 'impossible and uneconomical for individual owners to independently undertake to remedy such conditions' as required by Section 29.010, Revised Code of St. Louis, if such properties are in fact blighted, but, on the contrary, the individual owners of the purportedly blighted properties are persons or corporations of substantial means."

Plaintiffs' second amended petition further alleges that on March 18, 1975, the board of aldermen passed Ordinance 56933 which approved a redevelopment plan for the area declared blighted by Ordinance 56791. The redevelopment plan had been submitted by defendant Maryland Plaza Redevelopment Corporation, a corporation organized under Chapter 353 RSMo.1969. The petition alleges that this corporation is "proceeding with the implementation of said redevelopment plan and will continue to implement said plan resulting in irreparable harm to plaintiffs unless enjoined" by the circuit court. Plaintiffs' petition alleges that Ordinance 56933 is "void, invalid, arbitrary, unreasonable and capricious" because: (1) the plan fails to state which existing buildings are not to be demolished immediately as required by § 29.080(5) of the Revised Code of the City of St. Louis; (2) the plan fails to state the approximate number of families residing in the existing dwellings together with a schedule of rentals paid by them, and a schedule of vacancies in these buildings, together with rentals demanded for such vacancies as required by § 29.080(12) of the revised city code; (3) the plan fails to state a proposed plan for the relocation of families who will be displaced by the development project as required by § 29.080(13) of the revised city code; (4) the plan fails to state the character, type and quality of construction, approximate rentals and dates of availability of proposed dwelling accommodations to be offered during each stage of construction and upon completion of the project as required by § 29.080(14) of the revised city code; and (5) the plan fails to state any proposed method of financing the redevelopment as required by § 29.080(15) of the revised city code.

The petition also alleges that plaintiff Martin Schweig, Jr., owns real property at 4648 Maryland Plaza and that plaintiff George H. Schlapp owns property at 4639 Maryland Plaza and that "the west property lines of said plaintiffs' Schweig and Schlapp properties (are) immediately adjacent to the east line" of the tract declared "blighted" in Ordinance 56791. These properties are described to be in the "immediate neighborhood" of the seven improved properties at 21-65 Maryland Plaza. The petition also relates that plaintiff James J. Dwyer "owns property at 16 Lenox Place immediately north and east"...