Bangs v. Town of Wells

• Decision Date: 31 October 2003
• Citation: 2003 ME 129,834 A.2d 955
• Parties: Norman BANGS et al. v. TOWN OF WELLS.
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

834 A.2d 955

2003 ME 129

Norman BANGS et al. v. TOWN OF WELLS.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Argued: January 15, 2003.

Decided: October 31, 2003.

Catherine R. Connors, Esq. (orally), Matthew D. Manahan, Esq., Helen L. Edmonds, Esq., Pierce Atwood, Portland, for plaintiffs.

Susan B. Driscoll, Esq. (orally), Christian L. Barner, Esq., Bergen & Parkinson, LLP, Kennebunk, for defendant.

Panel: SAUFLEY, C.J., and CLIFFORD, RUDMAN, DANA, CALKINS, and LEVY, JJ.

SAUFLEY, C.J.

[¶ 1] Norman Bangs and the Blueberry Ridge Mobile Village, Inc.,¹ appeal from the judgment of the Superior Court (York County, Crowley, J.) denying Bangs's request for attorney fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988 (2000). Bangs argues that, because his claims were not ordinary zoning challenges, he was a prevailing party pursuant to § 1988 and that he is entitled to attorney fees because no special circumstances exist to justify the denial of an award. Because, pursuant to federal juris-prudence, Bangs was a prevailing party, we vacate the judgment and remand for further consideration of attorney fees.

I. BACKGROUND

[¶ 2] This appeal of the Superior Court's denial of attorney fees pursuant to § 1988 follows our decision in the underlying dispute. See Bangs v. Town of Wells, 2000 ME 186, 760 A.2d 632

. In that case, Bangs sought to combine two abutting parcels with the Blueberry Ridge Mobile Village, a mobile home park owned by Bangs, to create thirty-eight additional lots for mobile homes. Id. ¶¶ 2, 4, 760 A.2d at 633, 634. The Rural District Zone, within which Blueberry Ridge was located, did not permit the development of mobile home parks within its territory. Id. ¶ 3, 760 A.2d at 634. Blueberry Ridge was a nonconforming, grandfathered property pursuant to the Wells Land Use Ordinance. Id. Concluding that the expansion proposed by Bangs would violate the Wells ordinance, the code enforcement officer denied Bangs's request to combine parcels to create new mobile home lots, and the Wells Zoning Board of Appeals upheld this decision. Id. ¶¶ 5, 6, 760 A.2d at 634.

[¶ 3] Bangs appealed from the ZBA decision pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 80B, and filed two independent claims, including a claim based on 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2000) alleging equal protection violations. Id. ¶¶ 7, 9, 760 A.2d at 634, 635. The Superior Court (Brennan, J.), addressing the 80B appeal, affirmed the decision of the ZBA. Id. ¶ 7, 760 A.2d at 634. The Superior Court held that Blueberry Ridge was a "`nonconforming use,"' which could not "expand beyond mere changes to existing structures" under the ordinance. Id.

[¶ 4] On the two independent claims, which were tried separately, Bangs raised the following issues: (1) whether the Wells Land Use Ordinance, as it applied to Bangs, denied him equal protection under the federal and state constitutions; and (2) whether the Town failed to meet its obligations, pursuant to 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4358(3)(M) (1996), to provide reasonable consideration for the expansion of mobile home parks in their existing locations.² Id. ¶¶ 8, 9, 760 A.2d at 634-35.

[¶ 5] The Superior Court (Crowley, J.) found against Bangs on both counts, and Bangs appealed from the judgment. Id. ¶ 8, 760 A.2d at 634. We held that the ordinance violated 30-A M.R.S.A. § 4358(3)(M) and was "invalid insofar as it prohibits the reasonable consideration of expansion of existing mobile home parks." Id. ¶ 21, 760 A.2d at 638. Because we decided Bangs's claim solely on statutory grounds, we did not address his claim that the ordinance violated his equal protection rights under the state and federal constitutions. Id. ¶ 10 n. 5, 760 A.2d at 635 ("`[W]e avoid expressing opinions on constitutional law whenever a non-constitutional resolution of the issues renders a constitutional ruling unnecessary."') (quoting Your Home, Inc. v. City of Portland, 432 A.2d 1250, 1257 (Me.1981)). [¶ 6] When the case was remanded to the Superior Court, Bangs filed an application for an award of attorney fees pursuant to M.R. Civ. P. 54(b)(3) and 42 U.S.C. § 1988. The Superior Court denied Bangs's request, concluding, after thoughtful analysis, that "even were Bangs to be considered a `prevailing party' for purposes of an award of attorney's fees under § 1988, special circumstances exist that warrant the denial of those fees." Specifically, the court cited a reluctance to federalize routine zoning cases. This appeal followed.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

[¶ 7] The first step in the analysis is the determination of prevailing party status, and "is a question of fact, subject to review for clear error." Hicks v. City of Westbrook, 649 A.2d 328, 329 (Me.1994). Federal courts review the ultimate decision to award or deny § 1988 attorney fees for abuse of discretion. See, e.g., New England Reg'l Council of Carpenters v. Kinton, 284 F.3d 9, 30 (1st Cir.2002)

(reviewing the "district court's grant or denial of attorneys' fees for manifest abuse of discretion, mindful that the district court has an `intimate knowledge of the nuances of the underlying case"') (citing Gay Officers Action League v. Puerto Rico, 247 F.3d 288, 292 (1st Cir.2001)); Raishevich v. Foster, 247 F.3d 337, 344 (2d Cir.2001) (applying a highly deferential standard and reversing "only for an abuse of discretion"); Barnes Found. v. Township of Lower Merion, 242 F.3d 151, 157 (3rd Cir.2001); Riddle v. Egensperger, 266 F.3d 542, 547 (6th Cir.2001) ("The standard of review on appeal is whether the district court abused its discretion in awarding attorney fees."). Accordingly, we review the factual determination regarding prevailing party status for clear error and the final decision to award or deny attorney fees, including the existence of special circumstances, for abuse of discretion.

III. STATUTORY ANALYSIS

A. Prevailing Party Determination

[¶ 8] The Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1988(b), provides that in any action or proceeding to enforce a provision of § 1983, "the court, in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party, other than the United States, a reasonable attorney's fee as part of the costs." Thus, in order to receive an award of attorney fees, a party must be a "prevailing party." Farrar v. Hobby, 506 U.S. 103, 109, 113 S.Ct. 566, 121 L.Ed.2d 494 (1992). Notwithstanding the discretion anticipated by the statutory language, the Supreme Court's "generous formulation" of the term prevailing party allows a party who files multiple related counts, including a § 1983 claim, but prevails on other grounds, to obtain attorney fees pursuant to § 1988. Id. (internal quotations omitted).

[¶ 9] However, this formulation does not allow every party asserting a § 1983 claim to obtain attorney fees. If a judgment is entered against the complainant on the § 1983 claim, the complainant is not entitled to fees even if successful on other grounds. Hicks, 649 A.2d at 330-31. If, on the other hand, a complainant is successful on a nonconstitutional ground, and no judgment is entered on the § 1983 claim, a complainant may be eligible for attorney fees pursuant to § 1988 if three requirements are met. First, the relief granted to the party must result in the "material alteration of the legal relationship of parties." Id.; Texas State Teachers Ass'n v. Garland Indep. Sch. Dist., 489 U.S. 782, 792-93, 109 S.Ct. 1486, 103 L.Ed.2d 866 (1989). A "material alteration" exists when a party receives "`at least some relief on the merits of his claim."' Buckhannon Bd. & Care Home, Inc. v. West Virginia Dep't of Health & Human Res., 532 U.S. 598, 603-04, 121 S.Ct. 1835, 149 L.Ed.2d 855 (2001) (quoting Hewitt v. Helms, 482 U.S. 755, 760, 107 S.Ct. 2672, 96 L.Ed.2d 654 (1987)). Second, the successful pendent claim must arise from the same nucleus of operative facts. Hicks, 649 A.2d at 330; Williams v. Hanover Hous. Auth., 113 F.3d 1294, 1298 (1st Cir.1997). Third, the federal claim must be "substantial." Hicks, 649 A.2d at 330; Williams, 113 F.3d at 1298.

[¶ 10] Bangs clearly satisfies the first two requirements of the test. We materially altered the legal relationship of the parties by holding that the Town ordinance was "invalid insofar as it prohibit[ed] the reasonable consideration of expansion of existing mobile home parks" and by requiring the Town to provide reasonable consideration of Bangs's expansion proposal. Bangs, 2000 ME 186, ¶ 21, 760 A.2d at 638. In addition, the claims share a common nucleus of operative facts—the ordinance's prohibition of the expansion of mobile home parks. However, the third requirement, that the federal claim be substantial, necessitates a closer examination.

[¶ 11] Although a party need not explicitly prevail on a § 1983 action to establish the existence of a substantial federal claim, Maher v. Gagne, 448 U.S. 122, 127 n. 9, 100 S.Ct. 2570, 65 L.Ed.2d 653 (1980), the state and federal claims must be "factually and legally interconnected" to establish the existence of a substantial federal claim. See Aubin v. Fudala, 782 F.2d 287, 291 (1st Cir.1986)

.

[¶ 12] When the gravamen of a complaint centers on a zoning dispute, the legal interconnection establishing a substantial federal claim is often absent. As the Superior Court correctly noted, courts are reluctant to allow constitutional claims in ordinary zoning disputes. See, e.g., Creative Env'ts Inc. v. Estabrook, 680 F.2d 822, 833 (1st Cir.1982)

. This reluctance to "federalize" zoning stems from the concern that every appeal from a zoning board decision "`necessarily involves some claim that the board exceeded, abused, or `distorted' its legal authority in some manner... [and][i]t is not enough simply to give these state law claims constitutional labels... in order to raise a substantial federal question under section 1983.'" Macone v. Town of Wakefield, 277 F.3d 1, 10 (1st Cir.2002) (quoting Creative Env'ts, Inc.,

680 F.2d at 833).

[¶ 13] Accordingly, in ordinary zoning disputes, the invocation of § 1983 is neither necessary nor appropriate because...