B & B Enter.S Of Wilson County v. City Of Lebanon

• Decision Date: 31 August 2010
• Docket Number: No. M200800572SCR11CV.,M200800572SCR11CV.
• Citation: 318 S.W.3d 839
• Parties: B & B ENTERPRISES OF WILSON COUNTY, LLC et al.v.CITY OF LEBANON et al.
• Court: Tennessee Supreme Court

318 S.W.3d 839

B & B ENTERPRISES OF WILSON COUNTY, LLC et al.v.CITY OF LEBANON et al.

No. M200800572SCR11CV.

Supreme Court of Tennessee at Nashville.

Feb. 11, 2010 Session.

Aug. 31, 2010.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

G. Frank Lannom and Melanie R. Bean, Lebanon, Tennessee, for the appellants, B & B Enterprises of Wilson County, LLC and Hal Bone d/b/a Hal Bone Enterprises.

Derrick C. Smith, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellees, City of Lebanon, City of Lebanon Planning Commission, Patsy Anderson, Ronnie Kelley, David Cook, Don Fox, Claude Wilson, Joe Holbrook, Nick Locke, Jan Mangrum, Joe Hayes, and Johnnie Peyton.

OPINION¹

WILLIAM C. KOCH, JR., J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which JANICE M. HOLDER, C.J., CORNELIA A. CLARK, GARY R. WADE, and SHARON G. LEE, JJ., joined.

WILLIAM C. KOCH, JR., J.

This appeal involves the application of the one-year statute of limitations in Tenn.Code Ann. § 29-16-124 (2000) to a temporary regulatory taking claim. The developer of a residential subdivision in Wilson County filed suit in the Circuit Court for Wilson County against the City of Lebanon and others alleging that the city's planning commission had denied it all economically beneficial use of its property by wrongfully refusing to approve the final plans for two phases of its subdivision. The City moved for a summary judgment on the ground that the statute of limitations in Tenn.Code Ann. § 29-16-124 had expired before the developer filed suit. The developer responded that the limitations period was tolled while it sought judicial review of the planning commission's decision. The trial court held that the developer's lawsuit was timely because the statute of limitations did not begin to run until the entry of the Court of Appeals' opinion invalidating the planning commission's action. Both the trial court and the Court of Appeals granted the City's application for an interlocutory appeal in accordance with Tenn. R.App. P. 9. The Court of Appeals thereafter reversed the trial court and determined that the developer's lawsuit was not timely because the statute of limitations began to run when the planning commission declined to approve the final subdivision plans. B & B Enters. of Wilson Cnty., LLC v. City of Lebanon, No. M2008-00572-COA-R9-CV, 2009 WL 130188 (Tenn.Ct.App. Jan. 14, 2009). We granted the developer's application for permission to appeal and now affirm the Court of Appeals.

I.

In 1998, John Hill began to develop the Chaparral Subdivision on property located in the City of Lebanon. Even though the project complied with all applicable land use requirements, the City of Lebanon Planning Commission (“Planning Commission”) declined to approve the subdivision because of opposition by neighboring property owners. Mr. Hill sought judicial review of the Planning Commission's decision in the Chancery Court for Wilson County. The Chancery Court found that the Planning Commission had acted arbitrarily and capriciously.

Following his victory in the trial court, Mr. Hill redesigned the project in an effort to address the neighbors' objections. He purchased additional property and developed a plan to construct 106 homes on approximately 35 acres in three phases. Phase One involved the construction of homes on 34 lots on approximately 10 acres. The Planning Commission's staff recommended approval of the subdivision plan and the plan for Phase One, conditioned on several minor technical corrections. On July 24, 2001, the Planning Commission approved the revised preliminary plat for the entire subdivision and the final plat for Phase One, subject to the staff recommendations.

Mr. Hill sold the development to B & B Enterprises of Wilson County, LLC and Hal Bone.² In 2002, B & B Enterprises submitted the final plats for Phases Two and Three of the subdivision to the Planning Commission for approval. The Planning Commission's staff recommended approval of these plats “with corrections.” However, neighboring property owners continued to object to the development because they believed that it was not compatible with the surrounding neighborhood, that it would increase traffic, and that it would lower their property values. On January 22, 2002, the Planning Commission declined to approve the plans for Phases Two and Three. B & B Enterprises brought the project back to the Planning Commission on February 26, 2002, and the Planning Commission again declined to approve the plans for Phases Two and Three despite its staff's conclusion that these plats met all applicable requirements.

B & B Enterprises, like Mr. Hill, sought judicial review of the Planning Commission's decision in the Chancery Court for Wilson County. The Chancery Court held that the Planning Commission had acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it declined to approve the plans for Phases Two and Three. The Planning Commission appealed to the Court of Appeals. In its December 16, 2004 opinion, the Court of Appeals held that “because the planning commission has no legal or factual basis for declining to approve Phases Two and Three, it has no option other than to follow the law and approve these plats.” B & B Enters. of Wilson Cnty. v. City of Lebanon, 2004 WL 2916141, at *7. The appellate court remanded the case to the Chancery Court for proceedings consistent with its opinion.

On December 2, 2005, B & B Enterprises initiated a two-pronged attack against the City of Lebanon, the Planning Commission, and the individual members of the Planning Commission.³ First, it filed a complaint in the Circuit Court for Wilson County seeking monetary damages from the City of Lebanon defendants based on claims of regulatory taking and violation of civil rights. Second, it filed a motion in the Chancery Court for Wilson County to amend its original petition for writ of common-law certiorari to add regulatory taking and violation of civil rights claims.⁴ The City of Lebanon defendants removed the Circuit Court action to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. However, the District Court remanded the case to the Circuit Court after B & B Enterprises voluntarily dismissed its civil rights claim.

Finding itself back in state court, the City of Lebanon defendants moved for a summary judgment on the ground that the condemnation claim was barred by the one year statute of limitations contained in Tenn.Code Ann. § 29-16-124 (2000) because the suit had not been filed within one year of the Planning Commission's February 26, 2002 denial of the plans for Phases Two and Three. B & B Enterprises responded that the Planning Commission's action should not be considered final for statute of limitations purposes until December 16, 2004, the date that the Court of Appeals filed its decision reversing the Planning Commission's decision.

On October 24, 2007, the Circuit Court denied the City of Lebanon defendants' motion for summary judgment, holding that “the appropriate triggering event to commence the statute of limitations is the [December 16, 2004] filing ... of the Court of Appeals decision.” The City of Lebanon defendants sought, and were granted, permission to seek interlocutory appeal. The Court of Appeals reversed the Circuit Court after concluding that “the statute of limitations was triggered, at the latest, when the plaintiffs' writ of certiorari action was filed, which was April 12, 2002.” B & B Enters. of Wilson Cnty., LLC v. City of Lebanon, No. M2008-00572-COA-R9-CV, 2009 WL 130188, at *3 (Tenn.Ct.App. Jan. 14, 2009). We granted B & B Enterprises's Tenn. R.App. P. 11 application for permission to appeal to address the issue of first impression regarding when the statute of limitations begins to run in cases of this sort.

II.

The standards by which appellate courts customarily review decisions to grant or deny motions for summary judgment are well-known by the bench and bar. Summary judgments are appropriate in virtually every civil case that can be resolved on the basis of legal issues alone. Green v. Green, 293 S.W.3d 493, 513 (Tenn.2009); Fruge v. Doe, 952 S.W.2d 408, 410 (Tenn.1997); Byrd v. Hall, 847 S.W.2d 208, 210 (Tenn.1993). They are not appropriate when genuine disputes regarding material facts exist. Tenn. R. Civ. P. 56.04. Accordingly, a summary judgment is appropriate only when the undisputed facts, and the inferences in the non- moving party's favor reasonably drawn from these facts, require granting a judgment as a matter of law to the party seeking the summary judgment. Eskin v. Bartee, 262 S.W.3d 727, 732 (Tenn.2008); Griffis v. Davidson Cnty. Metro. Gov't, 164 S.W.3d 267, 283-84 (Tenn.2005); Staples v. CBL & Assocs., Inc., 15 S.W.3d 83, 89 (Tenn.2000).

Orders granting a summary judgment are not entitled to a presumption of correctness on appeal. Bailey v. Blount Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 303 S.W.3d 216, 226 (Tenn.2010); Maggart v. Almany Realtors, Inc., 259 S.W.3d 700, 703 (Tenn.2008). Thus, appellate courts reviewing an order granting a summary judgment must make a fresh determination that the requirements of Tenn. R. Civ. P. 56 have been satisfied. Eskin v. Bartee, 262 S.W.3d at 732; Eadie v. Complete Co., 142 S.W.3d 288, 291 (Tenn.2004). The reviewing court must consider the evidence in the light most favorable to the non-moving party and must resolve all reasonable inferences in the non-moving party's favor. Mills v. CSX Transp., Inc., 300 S.W.3d 627, 632 (Tenn.2009); Green v. Green, 293 S.W.3d at 514. There are no genuine disputes of material fact in this case, and, therefore, the issues presented to this Court may be decided as a matter of law.

III.

Before addressing the substantive question regarding the application of the statute of limitations, we turn our attention to B & B Enterprises's cause of action. B & B Enterprises is seeking to recover monetary damages based on the allegedly illegal manner in which the City of Lebanon defendants administered the city's land use planning ordinances and...