Rattner v. BD. OF TRUSTEES OF VILLAGE OF PLEASANTVILLE, 84 Civ. 8137 (RWS).
| Decision Date | 12 June 1985 |
| Docket Number | No. 84 Civ. 8137 (RWS).,84 Civ. 8137 (RWS). |
| Citation | 611 F. Supp. 648 |
| Parties | Marshall RATTNER, Marshall Rattner, Inc., and National Limousine Service, Inc., Plaintiffs, v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF the VILLAGE OF PLEASANTVILLE, Richard Kersten, Paul Lohner, Syd Huckvale, and M. Gail Grimaldi, individually and as Trustees of the Village of Pleasantville, the Planning Commission of the Village of Pleasantville, Toba Weiss, Chairwoman, Richard W. Murphy, Edward H. Principe, Charles W. Cook, Stan S. Mroczkowski, John Brentano, Peter R. Beaven, individually and as members of the Planning Commission of the Village of Pleasantville, Roy McCutcheon, individually and as Building Inspector of the Village of Pleasantville, John St. Leger, individually and as Village Administrator and Zoning Enforcement Officer of the Village of Pleasantville, Calvin Manning, individually and as Chief of Police of the Village of Pleasantville, Patrick Costello, individually and as a Police Officer of the Village of Pleasantville, John B. Farrington, individually and as Mayor of the Village of Pleasantville, John A. Horn, individually and as former Mayor of the Village of Pleasantville and the Incorporated Village of Pleasantville, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, P.C., New York City, for plaintiffs; John J. Walsh, David R. Kittay, Kevin W. Goering, New York City, of counsel.
Golenbock and Barell, New York City, for defendants; Arthur M. Handler, Robert S. Goodman, Michael M. Meadvin, David J. Abeshouse, New York City, of counsel.
Marshall Rattner, Marshall Rattner, Inc., and National Limousine Service, Inc. ("Rattner") have brought this action against the Board of Trustees of the Village of Pleasantville, the Planning Commission of the Village of Pleasantville, and various persons, in their individual and official capacities, (collectively "Pleasantville") alleging the intentional denial of Rattner's constitutionally protected civil rights. Pleasantville has moved to dismiss or stay this action. The motion to stay is granted.
The facts as alleged by Rattner will be accepted for the purposes of this motion. In this action, based on 42 U.S.C. § 1983, Rattner seeks $2.5 million in compensatory damages, $3 million in punitive damages, and attorneys' fees, for violation of his Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process of law and equal protection of the laws; his Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment right to just compensation for property taken by government, and for violation of various provisions of the New York Constitution. Rattner alleges that beginning in the fall of 1982 and continuing to the present, Pleasantville, using the authority of elective and appointive office, has engaged in conspiracies to deny Rattner his civil rights. Rattner alleges that Pleasantville:
(a) in 1983 and 1984, singled out Rattner's employees for selective enforcement of Pleasantville's parking ordinance after using unusual, improper and surreptitious methods to ascertain which cars belonged to Rattner's employees;
(b) singled out Rattner for selective enforcement of the Pleasantville zoning law and State Building Code by issuing groundless violations against Rattner;
(c) singled out Rattner for selective enforcement of the Pleasantville tax law by virtually doubling Rattner's property tax assessment in January of 1983;
(d) singled out Rattner for selective application of the Pleasantville police powers by failing to investigate meaningfully shootings at Rattner's offices and vehicles and attempting to cover up information relevant to the firebombing of Rattner's home on April 25, 1984;
(e) under false pretenses and without legal authority, harassed Rattner employees and threatened to jail an independent contractor hired by Rattner;
(f) commenced, in bad faith, frivolous administrative and court proceedings against Rattner, solely to harass and intimidate Rattner;
(g) pandered to improper political influence in completely ignoring proper planning procedures in arbitrarily obstructing Rattner's legitimate attempts to conduct their limousine business; and
(h) singled out Rattner for harassment under Pleasantville's vague zoning ordinance, which Pleasantville knew did not prohibit Rattner's activities.
Rattner alleges that on January 5, 1982 he purchased the premises at 409 Manville Road, Pleasantville, New York, in order to house the offices of his business ventures. Thereafter, Rattner started to operate a limousine service. 409 Manville Road and the neighboring property, 423 Manville Road, are located in an "RO-2" medium density "office district" as defined in Article III of the Zoning Law of The Village of Pleasantville.
By April 20, 1982, National Limousine Service, Inc. was operating four limousines out of its office at 409 Manville Road. On April 20, 1982, the then building inspector of Pleasantville, Frank C. Hope, issued a Certificate of Occupancy for the premises at 409 Manville Road which certified that the then existing uses of 409 Manville Road conformed with all applicable state and local building codes.
On September 1, 1982, Rattner contracted to purchase the adjoining 423 Manville Road property. A plan was presented to the Pleasantville Planning Commission showing a single common parking facility servicing the adjacent properties at 409 and 423 Manville Road, and on September 20, 1982, a revised plan was forwarded to the Building Inspector for consideration by the Planning Commission. On or about October 4, 1982, Rattner's counsel took part in a conference telephone call during which both Building Inspector Hope and Village Attorney Martineau allegedly agreed that the site plan application for a parking facility was valid and legal under the Pleasantville zoning law. Despite the certification of the Building Inspector, on December 1, 1982 the Planning Commission adopted a resolution denying Rattner's site plan application for reasons, according to Rattner, that were based on politics, not the merits of the application.
On December 4, 1982, Rattner removed certain trees from 423 Manville Road, an action Building Inspector Hope allegedly stated was legal. Although Rattner had obtained the Building Inspector's approval before cutting down the trees, a police officer of the Village of Pleasantville was sent to investigate. On December 5, 1982, unknown persons fired shots through a building window and door at 409 Manville Road and through the windows of an automobile parked there. Foreign substances were placed in the gas tanks of Rattner's vehicles, causing significant damage. Rattner immediately complained to the Pleasantville Police Department, but the Pleasantville police failed to undertake a meaningful investigation of these incidents. Rattner claims that the failure to investigate these shootings was purposeful and part of the Pleasantville officials overall effort to curry favor with certain residents and intimidate Rattner in the exercise of his civil rights.
On December 14, 1982, Rattner commenced an Article 78 proceeding (the "First Article 78 Proceeding") in New York state Supreme Court against the Planning Commission.
On or after December 16, 1982, Rattner was informed that the Assessor had increased the assessment of 409 Manville Road from $297,150 to $567,000. On March 18 and May 20, 1983 Pleasantville issued five notices of violations to Rattner regarding alleged parking and building code violations and improper tree removal at 409 and 423 Manville Road. All five of these notices were allegedly issued to harass Rattner and constituted selective enforcement against Rattner.
On April 25, 1983 New York Supreme Court Justice Anthony J. Cerrato granted Rattner's petition in the First Article 78 Proceeding and annulled the Planning Commission's refusal to determine the proposed site plan, remanding the matter to the Planning Commission to determine the site plan application. The First Article 78 proceeding is no longer pending.
On June 1, 1983 the Planning Commission resolved to appeal to Pleasantville's Zoning Board of Appeals for a review of the Building Inspector's determination, made the year before, that Rattner's proposed use of 423 Manville Road was conforming. Both of Pleasantville's contemplated appeals to the Zoning Board of Appeals were allegedly without legal foundation, as was known to Pleasantville at all relevant times.
On June 30, 1983, Rattner instituted an Article 78 Proceeding (the "Second Article 78 Proceeding") against the Planning Commission for the purpose of compelling the Planning Commission to pass upon the site plan. Shortly after the filing of the second Article 78 Proceeding, Pleasantville commenced discussions with Rattner regarding outstanding issues between them. Rattner and defendant St. Leger, the Village Administrator and Zoning Enforcement Officer, agreed to propose to the Board of Trustees, and a plurality of the Planning Commission recommended passage of, a zoning amendment that would have specifically permitted Rattner's use. The Board of Trustees, however, rejected the proposed amendment. Rattner alleges that the Board of Trustees' manipulation of the amendment process was another incidence of bad faith and abuse of Pleasantville's powers for improper purposes.
On October 22, 1983 Rattner hired a contractor to commence paving of the rear area of 423 Manville Road. Town Officials instructed St. Leger to stop the paving. St. Leger immediately ordered Police Officer Costello to accompany him in a police car to 423 Manville Road, and, after identifying himself as the "Inspector" of Pleasantville, demanded that paving cease because no building permit had been obtained. Although the Pleasantville zoning law did not require a building permit for the paving work Rattner was trying to do, St. Leger threatened one of Rattner's employees and the contractor with arrest and imprisonment if paving were continued.
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