Board of County Com'rs of Douglas County v. Sundheim, 95SC330

• Decision Date: 28 October 1996
• Docket Number: No. 95SC330,95SC330
• Citation: 926 P.2d 545
• Parties: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF DOUGLAS COUNTY; Suzy McDanal, R.A., "Chris" Christensen, and James Sullivan, individually and in their capacities as members of the Board of County Commissioners of Douglas County, Colorado; and Ed Tepe, individually and in his capacity as the Director of Planning and Community Development in Douglas County, Colorado, Petitioners/Cross-Respondents, v. John SUNDHEIM and JoAnn Scoggin Sundheim, Respondents/Cross-Petitioners, and Dorothy Rudd and Robert Rudd, Respondents.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

Page 545

926 P.2d 545

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF DOUGLAS COUNTY; Suzy McDanal, R.A., "Chris" Christensen, and James Sullivan individually and in their capacities as members of the Board of County Commissioners of Douglas County, Colorado; and Ed Tepe, individually and in his capacity as the Director of Planning and Community Development in Douglas County Colorado, Petitioners/Cross-Respondents, v. John SUNDHEIM and JoAnn Scoggin Sundheim Respondents/Cross-Petitioners and Dorothy Rudd and Robert Rudd, Respondents.

No. 95SC330.

Supreme Court of Colorado,

En Banc.

Oct. 28, 1996.

Senter Goldfarb & Rice, L.L.C., Steven J. Dawes, Susan E. Dallas, Denver, for Petitioners/Cross-Respondents.

Massey Showalter & Marsh, P.C., Richard A. Marsh, Denver, for Respondents/Cross-Petitioners John Sundheim and JoAnn Scoggin Sundheim.

No Appearance on Behalf of Respondents Dorothy and Robert Rudd.

Cornish and Dell'Olio, Craig M. Cornish, Melissa L. Phillips, Michael W. Standard, Colorado Springs, for Amicus Curiae American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Colorado, Inc.

Hall and Evans, L.L.C., Josh A. Marks, Denver, for Amicus Curiae Colorado Counties, Inc.

Colorado Municipal League, David W. Broadwell, Denver, for Amicus Curiae Colorado Municipal League.

Gale A. Norton, Attorney General, Timothy M. Tymkovich, Solicitor General, Garth C. Lucero, Deputy Attorney General, Timothy R. Arnold, Deputy Attorney General, Civil Litigation Section, Tort Litigation, for Amicus Curiae State of Colorado.

Chief Justice VOLLACK delivered the Opinion of the Court.

We granted certiorari to review the court of appeals decision in Sundheim v. Board of County Commissioners, 904 P.2d 1337 (Colo.App.1995), to determine whether the thirty-day filing limitation contained in C.R.C.P. 106(b) applies to actions where a claim for money damages is asserted under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1994). We also granted certiorari to determine if this court has the authority to recognize an implied damages action in cases where citizens allege that government entities have violated their state constitutional rights. The court of appeals held that a § 1983 claim can exist separately from a C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4) cause of action, thereby rendering C.R.C.P. 106(b)'s thirty-day filing requirement inapplicable. The court of appeals also held that C.R.C.P. 106(b) foreclosed any claims based solely upon the Colorado Constitution. We affirm.

I.

John and JoAnn Scoggin Sundheim (the Sundheims) own property in Douglas County, Colorado, on which they have operated a horse boarding and training business known as Parker Valley Farm. On January 23, 1989, the Sundheims submitted a Use by Special Review Permit application (the application) to the Douglas County Planning Department (the Department), requesting permission to continue the commercial boarding and training of hunter/jumper horses on Parker Valley Farm. ¹

On January 16, 1990, the Board of County Commissioners (the board) adopted a resolution denying the application. However, based upon the observations of a hired private investigator, the board determined that commercial boarding and training activities were ongoing at Parker Valley Farm. On February 27, 1991, Ed Tepe, the Douglas County Director of Planning and Community Development, sent a letter to the Sundheims directing them to cease and desist from all commercial activities on Parker Valley Farm. The Sundheims filed suit on December 11, 1991, nearly two years after the board's January 16, 1990, resolution.

The Sundheims' complaint asserted four claims for relief, two of which are relevant here. Their first claim for relief alleged that the board's denial of the application violated the Sundheims' due process and equal protection rights under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution and § 1983. Their second claim for relief alleged that, by denying the application, the board had violated the Sundheims' due process and equal protection rights under article II, sections 3 and 25, of the Colorado Constitution. ²

The board filed a motion to dismiss under C.R.C.P. 12(b)(5). The trial court found that because the Sundheims' complaint was not filed within thirty days of the board's resolution, their claims were foreclosed by application of C.R.C.P. 106(b). Accordingly, the trial court granted the board's motion to dismiss.

The Sundheims appealed. The court of appeals reversed the trial court's dismissal of the Sundheims' § 1983 claim, holding that damage claims brought under § 1983 may exist separately from the 106(a)(4) cause of action. The court of appeals then affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the Sundheims' state constitutional claims based upon the application of C.R.C.P. 106(b).

II.

The board argues that an action challenging a quasi-judicial decision of a governmental body and requesting money damages under § 1983 must be brought within the thirty-day filing limitation set forth in C.R.C.P. 106(b). We disagree.

C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4) provides in part:

Where any governmental body or officer or any lower judicial body exercising judicial or quasi-judicial functions has exceeded its jurisdiction or abused its discretion, and there is no plain, speedy and adequate remedy otherwise provided by law:

(I) Review shall be limited to a determination of whether the body or officer has exceeded its jurisdiction or abused its discretion, based on the evidence in the record before the defendant body or officer.

....

(IX) In the event the court determines that the governmental body, officer or judicial body has failed to make findings of fact or conclusions of law necessary for a review of its action, the court may remand for the making of such findings of fact or conclusions of law.

The denial of a special use permit represents a quasi-judicial action under C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4). Colorado State Bd. of Land Comm'rs v. Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Bd., 809 P.2d 974, 981 (Colo.1991). C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4) provides the exclusive remedy for reviewing a quasi-judicial decision made by a government entity. Colorado State Bd. of Land Comm'rs, 809 P.2d at 982; Snyder v. City of Lakewood, 189 Colo. 421, 427, 542 P.2d 371, 375 (1975), overruled in part, Margolis v. District Court, 638 P.2d 297 (Colo.1981). For this reason, a C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4) complaint must include all causes of action, including constitutional claims, in a single C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4) action. Norby v. City of Boulder, 195 Colo. 231, 236, 577 P.2d 277, 281 (1978); Snyder, 189 Colo. 421, 542 P.2d 371. Additionally, C.R.C.P. 106(b) ³ requires that a complaint seeking C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4) review must be filed within thirty days of the final decision by the government entity. ⁴

The analysis shifts, however, when a complainant asserts a claim for money damages under § 1983 because claims under § 1983 exist as a "uniquely federal remedy" that "is to be accorded a sweep as broad as its language." ⁵ Felder v. Casey, 487 U.S. 131, 139, 108 S.Ct. 2302, 2307, 101 L.Ed.2d 123 (1988) (quoting Mitchum v. Foster, 407 U.S. 225, 239, 92 S.Ct. 2151, 2160, 32 L.Ed.2d 705 (1972), and United States v. Price, 383 U.S. 787, 801, 86 S.Ct. 1152, 1160, 16 L.Ed.2d 267 (1966)). The United States Supreme Court has held that when a state places procedural barriers that deny or limit the remedy available under § 1983, those barriers must give way or risk being preempted. Felder, 487 U.S. at 144-45, 108 S.Ct. at 2309-10.

In Felder, the United States Supreme Court held that a Wisconsin statute requiring would-be plaintiffs to provide government entities with notice within 120 days of an alleged injury was inapplicable in an action brought under § 1983. Felder, 487 U.S. at 153, 108 S.Ct. at 2314. While recognizing that important policy considerations supported the notice of claim statute, the Supreme Court nevertheless demanded that these interests recede, explaining: Sound notions of public administration may support the prompt notice requirement, but those policies necessarily clash with the remedial purposes of the federal civil rights laws.

Id. at 145, 108 S.Ct. at 2310.

Similarly, imposing C.R.C.P. 106(b)'s thirty-day filing deadline on the Sundheims' § 1983 action represents a procedural barrier that hinders the exercise of their federal rights. While we recognize that strict enforcement of the thirty-day limitation serves to promote government efficiency and sound municipal planning, those interests must give way to the compelling federal interest of giving § 1983 actions a broad berth. ⁶

For this reason, the district court erred when it dismissed the Sundheims' § 1983 claim for their failure to file the claim within thirty days as required by C.R.C.P. 106(b). Thus, the court of appeals' holding that a § 1983 damages claim may exist separately from a C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4) action is affirmed.

III.

In addition to their § 1983 claim, the Sundheims and an amicus curiae ⁷ urge this court to recognize an implied cause of action in damages for the violation of rights secured by the Colorado Constitution. To support their argument, the Sundheims point to an absence of state legislation in this area, specific provisions of the Colorado Constitution, and this court's inherent authority to fashion remedies that vindicate personal rights. We refuse to recognize an implied cause of action in this case.

A.

The Sundheims argue that this court has the power to recognize a remedy for violation of every right, particularly where the legislature has not yet acted. However, the absence of statutory relief for a constitutional violation does not, by itself, give rise to an implied damage remedy. See Schweiker v. Chilicky, 487 U.S. 412, 421-22, 108 S.Ct. 2460, 2466-67, 101 L.Ed.2d 370 (1988); see also Chappell v. Wallace, 462 U.S. 296, 103 S.Ct. 2362, 76 L.Ed.2d 586 (1983) (no implied damage remedy available even in the absence of a meaningful statutory remedy).

The Colorado Governmental Immunity Act (CGIA), §§ 24-10-101 to...