Albuquerque Commons v. City Council

• Decision Date: 26 April 2006
• Docket Number: No. 24,042.,No. 24,026.,No. 24,027.,24,026.,24,027.,24,042.
• Citation: 2006 NMCA 143,149 P.3d 67
• Parties: ALBUQUERQUE COMMONS PARTNERSHIP, Petitioner-Appellee, v. CITY COUNCIL OF the CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE, Respondent-Appellant.
• Court: Court of Appeals of New Mexico

149 P.3d 67

2006 NMCA 143

ALBUQUERQUE COMMONS PARTNERSHIP, Petitioner-Appellee, v. CITY COUNCIL OF the CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE, Respondent-Appellant.

No. 24,026.

No. 24,027.

No. 24,042.

Court of Appeals of New Mexico.

April 26, 2006.

Revised December 19, 2006.

Certiorari Granted, No. 29,791, November 29, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Metter & LeCuyer, P.C., Stephen T. LeCuyer, Bryan & Flynn-O'Brien, George R. Pat Bryan III, Timothy V. Flynn-O'Brien, Albuquerque, NM, for Appellee.

Robert M. White, City Attorney, Mark Hirsch, Assistant City Attorney, Miller Stratvert P.A., Alice T. Lorenz, Campbell & Wells, P.A., John S. Campbell, Albuquerque, NM, Robinson & Cole, LLP, Dwight H. Merriam, James A. Wade, Gregory W. McCracken, Hartford, CT, for Appellant.

Cassutt, Hays & Friedman P.A., Kenneth J. Cassutt, Santa Fe, NM, Garvey, Schubert & Barer, Edward J. Sullivan, Carrie Richter, Portland, OR, for Amicus Curiae American Planning Association.

Anita P. Miller, Attorney at Law, P.C., Anita P. Miller, Albuquerque, NM, Noble & Wickersham, LLP, Jay Wickersham, Cambridge, MA, for Amicus Curiae Boston Society of Architects.

Keleher & McLeod, P.A., Richard L. Alvidrez, Albuquerque, NM, for Amicus Curiae Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce.

New Mexico Municipal League, Inc., Randall D. Van Vleck, Santa Fe, NM, Freilich, Leitner & Carlisle, Robert H. Freilich, Robin A. Kramer, Elisa L. Paster, Kansas City, MO, for Amici Curiae New Mexico Municipal League, National League of Cities, and International Municipal Lawyers Association.

OPINION

CASTILLO, Judge.

{1} On motion for rehearing, the opinion filed December 9, 2005, is withdrawn, and the following opinion is substituted in its place. Additionally, we append an order on rehearing, in which we address four issues argued in the motion for rehearing that were not developed in the original opinion, were not addressed, or need clarification. The motion is otherwise denied.

{2} This case is before us on the City Council of the City of Albuquerque's (City or City Council) appeal from a jury verdict and on writs of certiorari that we granted to review district court appeals of two administrative decisions, all relating to the City's 1995 amendment of the Uptown Sector Plan (95USP). The district court determined that the amendment targeted the property of Albuquerque Commons Partnership (ACP) and resulted in a downzoning of that property. The district court ordered the City to consider ACP's development plan under the previous sector plan, the 1981 Uptown Sector Plan (81USP). Upon remand, the City considered the development plan under the 81USP and denied the development. ACP appealed that denial to the district court. The court determined that the City had not reviewed the development as ordered and concluded that the development had to be approved. In the meantime, ACP's claim for damages for violation of constitutional rights, resulting in a taking and violation of civil rights in connection with the 95USP, proceeded to a jury trial. The jury found for ACP and awarded damages of $8,349,095. We reverse the district court's initial conclusion regarding the 95USP. Because that conclusion formed the basis for the other two decisions, those decisions are likewise reversed.

I. BACKGROUND

{3} The record in these consolidated cases is quite extensive and involves several thousand pages of record. With this in mind, we will summarize many of the basic facts in chronological order and then incorporate specific facts into the discussion of the issues as necessary.

A. Development of the 81USP

{4} The City's Comprehensive Plan designated the Uptown Sector as one of several urban centers in the City. The Uptown Sector is located in the northeast section of Albuquerque, approximately 6.5 miles from the downtown area. It contains more than 2 million square feet of retail space, primarily in the two regional malls, Winrock Center and Coronado Mall. In addition, the area contains 1.9 million square feet of office space, or 23 percent of the total office space in Albuquerque. The area provides the highest concentration of retail and office uses outside of downtown.

{5} An urban center is described as an area containing the highest densities and the tallest and most massive structures. It is intended to concentrate a wide range of community activities and intense land uses for greater efficiency, stability, image, and diversity and for a positive effect on the urban form, environmental quality, and the transportation network. Albuquerque Bernalillo County Comprehensive Plan (Comprehensive Plan) at 15 (1988, amended 1991). The goal of an urban center is "to create specially designed concentrations of high-density mixed land use and social/economic activities which reduce urban sprawl, auto travel needs, and service costs, and which enhance the urban experience." Id. at 69.

{6} In 1981, the City implemented the 81USP. It defined the area governed by the plan and set out the governing concepts for development in the area. Part of the plan dealt with traffic and transportation in the area, as well as specifically contemplating the construction of a loop road located in roughly the center of the sector. Excluding roads, the Uptown Sector covers approximately 460 acres. Under the 81USP, the majority of the Uptown Sector was zoned SU-3, the periphery was zoned SU-2, and the single-family homes along San Pedro Drive were zoned R-1 to protect the existing residential uses. These zoning classifications were not changed in the 95USP. See map of Uptown Sector Development Plan Parcel Zoning (Appendix A) and map of Uptown Sector outlining inner core surrounded by Loop Road (Appendix B). SU-3 zoning provides suitable sites for high-intensity mixed uses—commercial, office, service, and residential. SU-2 provides suitable sites for a low-to medium-intensity mixture of office, service, institutional, and residential uses as a transition area between the core of the urban sector center and the surrounding low-density residential uses. The 81USP contained specific standards for site development plans in the SU-2 and SU-3 zones and required site development plan approval by the City Planner and the Environmental Planning Commission. The 81USP did not mandate development densities or limit the amount of retail use in a development and did not impose structured parking requirements. The 81USP did, however, repeatedly refer to pedestrian-friendly landscaping, open space, and building orientation within the center of the Uptown Sector, in accordance with the City's Comprehensive Plan. According to the Comprehensive Plan, Uptown is one of several urban centers; an urban center is defined as having a concentration of contiguous uses that include the highest densities and tallest and most massive buildings, providing a unique sense of place.

{7} From 1981 to 1988, there were minor amendments to the original 81USP, none of which affected the uses delineated in the original plan. Accordingly, we refer to the 1981 Uptown Sector Plan, as amended through 1988, as the 81USP. Review of the 81USP for content revision began in 1989; in March 1993, the revisions began in earnest. In March 1994, the first draft of the revisions to the 81USP was distributed to various agencies for comment.

B. First Two Site Development Plans

{8} ACP is a Texas general partnership whose principal partner is Albuquerque Uptown Partnership, another Texas general partnership. At all times material in this case, ACP was the leaseholder under a long-term ground lease with the Archdiocese of Santa Fe of the old St. Pius High School site, consisting of approximately 28 acres (28-acre parcel) located at the northeast corner of Louisiana Blvd. NE and Indian School Rd. NE, in the center of Albuquerque's Uptown Sector. The western 19.3 acres of the 28-acre parcel are located in the SU-3 zone, and the eastern 8.7 acres are located in the SU-2 zone. In 1987, ACP submitted a site development plan under the 81USP, consisting of a hotel, multistory office buildings, retail facilities, and a 7-acre arboretum. This proposed development included almost 1.3 million square feet in office space, 121,323 square feet dedicated to retail, and a 400-room hotel. The plan was approved by the City but was never built.

{9} The 28-acre parcel remained undeveloped until 1991, when ACP decided to sell its leasehold. ACP selected Opus Southwest Corporation (Opus) to assume development of the property. Opus proposed either to purchase or to lease the property if Opus could obtain approval of its site development plan. In June 1994, Opus submitted a site development plan for a 28-acre low-density "big box" retail shopping center. Because the site development plan included property in the SU-2 zone, Opus also requested a zone map amendment, as well as an amendment to the 81USP. The public strongly opposed the plan, and Opus withdrew it on August 31, 1994. The opposition was based on differing views of the type of development that was appropriate for the Uptown Sector: the suburban nature of the Opus plan conflicted with the expectation of most of the surrounding property owners that development of undeveloped land in the center of the Uptown Sector would be urban in character. The opposition became public; the negative reaction of the surrounding property owners to the Opus site development plan was reported by at least one newspaper, and a number of letters criticizing the project were sent to the planning department, one of which was copied to the Mayor and councilors.

C. Final Site Development Plan and Development of the 95USP

{10} Soon after Opus withdrew its application, in mid-September 1994, the City passed Memorial M7-1994, requesting a comprehensive public review and revision to the 81USP. The City stated that it was desirous of fulfilling the vision of the plan, observed that the 81USP was in need of significant revision and...