Batch v. Town of Chapel Hill

• Decision Date: 18 January 1990
• Docket Number: No. 121PA89,121PA89
• Parties: Deidre V. BATCH v. TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL.
• Court: North Carolina Supreme Court

Page 655

387 S.E.2d 655

326 N.C. 1

Deidre V. BATCH v. TOWN OF CHAPEL HILL.

No. 121PA89.

Supreme Court of North Carolina.

Jan. 18, 1990.

On discretionary review of the decision of the Court of Appeals, 92 N.C.App. 601, 376 S.E.2d 22 (1989), affirming in part and reversing in part the order granting summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff entered by Brannon, J., in the Superior Court, Orange County, on 31 December 1987. Heard in the Supreme Court 10 October 1989.

Michael B. Brough & Associates by Michael B. Brough and Frayda S. Bluestein, Chapel Hill, for plaintiff-appellee.

Hunter, Wharton & Lynch by John V. Hunter, III, Raleigh, and Ralph D. Karpinos, Town Atty., Town of Chapel Hill, for defendant-appellant.

Thomas A. McCormick, Jr., City Atty., and Ira J. Botvinick, Deputy City Atty., Raleigh, for City of Raleigh, and S. Ellis Hankins, General Counsel, Raleigh, for N.C. League of Municipalities, amicus curiae.

Gregory D. Porter, Research Triangle Park, for North Carolina Home Builders Ass'n, amicus curiae.

Karen A. Sindelar, Asst. City Atty., Durham, for City of Durham, amicus curiae.

Maupin, Taylor, Ellis & Adams, P.A. by John C. Cooke, Raleigh, and R.S. Radford, Sacramento, Cal., for Pacific Legal Foundation, amicus curiae.

MARTIN, Justice.

This case raises the question of whether the proceeding pursuant to plaintiff's petition for writ of certiorari to review the decision of the Town of Chapel Hill which denied plaintiff's subdivision permit application was properly joined with her cause of action alleging in her complaint constitutional violations and seeking damages, costs, and attorney's fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1988, 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and N.C.G.S. § 40A-8. Also presented is the further question of whether summary judgment in favor of plaintiff was properly granted as to both proceedings. We hold that these proceedings were improperly joined and examine each separately in this opinion. Concerning the writ of certiorari, we reverse the Court of Appeals' ruling and order that the decision of the Town Council denying plaintiff's subdivision application be upheld. Turning to the questions raised in plaintiff's complaint, we hold that the Court of Appeals erred in partially affirming the trial court's order of summary judgment in favor of plaintiff and remand the cause to the Court of Appeals for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

The facts show that on 26 October 1984, the plaintiff, Dr. Deidre V. Batch, purchased a tract of land containing 20.16 acres on Old Lystra Road in Orange County within the extraterritorial planning jurisdiction of the Town of Chapel Hill. Dr. Batch is not a professional land developer and purchased this acreage with the intent of building her personal residence thereon. Sometime after purchasing this property, Dr. Batch decided to subdivide the land while retaining a portion of it for her own use.

Several months prior to Dr. Batch's purchase of this property, the Town of Chapel Hill had adopted the 1983 Chapel Hill/Carrboro Thoroughfare Plan. The Thoroughfare Plan, which is part of the Comprehensive Plan developed by the town pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 160A-174 (1987), includes plans to construct a limited access two lane highway, the Laurel Hill Parkway, in the southern section of Orange County to alleviate traffic congestion resulting from population growth in that area. This parkway, as planned, will pass through the northeast section of Dr. Batch's twenty-acre tract of land.

In pursuit of her goal to subdivide her property, Dr. Batch initially submitted an application to the Town of Chapel Hill for a minor subdivision on 20 June 1986. Dr. Batch submitted a new proposal to the town on 16 September 1986. This new application, which is the subject of the current controversy before this Court, sought permission to subdivide the property into eleven lots. As indicated by the following illustration, the eleven lots as developed would surround two cul-de-sacs to be built on the property, and construction of the proposed Laurel Hill Parkway by the town would significantly interfere with the use of at least four of the anticipated building sites:

NOTE: OPINION CONTAINS TABLE OR OTHER DATA THAT IS NOT VIEWABLE

Internal communications between planning staff members and members of the advisory Planning Board indicated that some staff and advisory board members wanted Dr. Batch to reserve or dedicate space for the proposed Laurel Hill Parkway as a condition of approval of her permit application. Dr. Batch consistently resisted what she perceived to be efforts by the town to compel dedication of her land for the proposed parkway. Dr. Batch's development representative suggested that the town redesign the Thoroughfare Plan to move the parkway. In addition to her concerns about dedication, Dr. Batch further explained her resistance to the parkway's anticipated location on her property in an affidavit submitted to the trial court as part of her summary judgment motion:

I object to the Laurel Hill Parkway running through my property in part because it would take a substantial portion of my property as well as lower the value of the remaining property. More importantly, however, I object because it would destroy much of the beauty and seclusion that motivated me to purchase the property in the first place.

As part of the major subdivision review process set out in the Chapel Hill Development Ordinance at § 7.6.1.5, Dr. Batch's subdivision permit application was submitted for review by the Chapel Hill Planning Board prior to review by the Town Council itself. The Planning Board conducted a hearing on 6 January 1987 at which Dr. Batch was represented by counsel. Following that hearing, the Planning Board unanimously adopted a resolution recommending denial of the submitted subdivision application. In its resolution, the Planning Board stated that the subdivision "would not comply with the standards of the Town." Among the reasons cited by the Planning Board as grounds for the subdivision's failure to comply with the town's standards was that "[t]he type and arrangement of streets within the development are not in compliance with nor coordinate with Chapel Hill's Thoroughfare Plan."

Following the decision of the Planning Board, the Chapel Hill Town Manager, David R. Taylor, prepared a memorandum and recommendation to the Town Council dated 25 February 1987. Regarding the proposed Laurel Hill Parkway as it would impact on Dr. Batch's development design, Mr. Taylor stated in this memorandum:

The applicant's proposed subdivision fails to take into account this future street and would substantially disrupt the adopted Thoroughfare Plan.... Laurel Hill Parkway as it is now called was part of the adopted Thoroughfare Plan for several years prior to the most recent update in 1984.... The adopted plan and, in particular, this proposed parkway has been taken into account by both Chapel Hill and Carrboro in review of other proposed developments.... We believe that the applicant's proposal does not meet requirements of having streets which coordinate with existing and planned streets as authorized by statute and ordinance."

A hearing was held on 9 March 1987 before the Chapel Hill Town Council. At the request of Dr. Batch's counsel, all evidence was received under oath and cross-examination was allowed.

At the hearing, the Town Manager's recommendation was presented by Planning Director Roger Waldon who was cross-examined by Dr. Batch's attorney. Dr. Batch's developer testified on her behalf, and plats of the proposed development, as well as maps illustrating the relationship of the proposed parkway to the proposed subdivision, were submitted into evidence. There was no evidence in the record before the Town Council of any efforts on behalf of the town to require plaintiff to dedicate land for the right-of-way of Laurel Hill Parkway as a condition for approval of plaintiff's proposed subdivision.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the council voted unanimously to deny the subdivision application and adopted the following resolution:

BE IT RESOLVED that the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill finds that the subdivision proposed by Dr. Deirdre V. Batch, on property identified as Chapel Hill Township Tax Map 122, Block B, Lot 2, if developed according to the plat dated September 1986 would not comply with all applicable regulations of the Town. The Council finds that the development, as proposed:

1. Is not consistent with the orderly growth and development of the Town as outlined in the Comprehensive Plan of the Town and, in particular the Land Use Plan, as required by Section 6.5.1 of the Development Ordinance.

2. Does not have streets which coordinate with existing and planned streets and highways as required by Sections 7.7.1 and 6.5.1 of the Development Ordinance.

3. Does not create conditions essential to the present and future public health, safety and general welfare as required by the Development Ordinance.

4. Does not provide for the construction of Community service facilities in accordance with municipal policies and standards as set out in the Comprehensive Plan and as required by Section 7.7.1 of the Development Ordinance.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council hereby denies the application for preliminary plat approval for Old Lystra Subdivision.

Nowhere in the council's resolution, the Planning Board's resolution, the Manager's memorandum to the council, or the testimony of the town's Planning Director at the hearing is there any reference to a requirement that Dr. Batch dedicate any of her property to the town. Rather, these memoranda, resolutions, and testimony consistently refer to the subdivision's failure to coordinate with existing and planned streets or to incorporate the alignment of the parkway right-of-way in its design as one of the reasons for the permit denial. However, the Planning Staff Report of 6 January 1987, indicating that the...