C-Y Development Co. v. City of Redlands

• Decision Date: 08 March 1983
• Docket Number: No. 81-5779,C-Y,81-5779
• Citation: 703 F.2d 375
• Parties: DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, a California Corporation, and Harvest Investment Company, a California Corporation, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CITY OF REDLANDS, Charles G. DeMirjyn, Mayor, James W. Gorman, Vice-Mayor, Ken Roth, Oddie J. Martinez, Jr., and Barbara Riordan, individually and as members of the City Council for the City of Redlands; William C. Schindler, individually and as Director of the Department of Planning and Community Development for the City of Redlands, Chris Christiansen, individually and as City Manager for the City of Redlands, John Donnelly, individually and as Director of Public Works for the City of Redlands; Ken Kienow, Harold Hartwick, Bob Mitchell, John Egan and Richard Titera, indiv., and as members of the Public Works Commission for the City of Redlands, Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 375

703 F.2d 375

C-Y DEVELOPMENT COMPANY, a California Corporation, and

Harvest Investment Company, a California

Corporation, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CITY OF REDLANDS, Charles G. DeMirjyn, Mayor, James W.

Gorman, Vice-Mayor, Ken Roth, Oddie J. Martinez, Jr., and

Barbara Riordan, individually and as members of the City

Council for the City of Redlands; William C. Schindler,

individually and as Director of the Department of Planning

and Community Development for the City of Redlands, Chris

Christiansen, individually and as City Manager for the City

of Redlands, John Donnelly, individually and as Director of

Public Works for the City of Redlands; Ken Kienow, Harold

Hartwick, Bob Mitchell, John Egan and Richard Titera,

indiv., and as members of the Public Works Commission for

the City of Redlands, Defendants-Appellees.

No. 81-5779.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted Sept. 8, 1982.

Decided March 8, 1983.

James D. Stroffe, Surr & Hellyer, San Bernardino, Cal., for plaintiffs-appellants.

Richard A. Cross, Barton Gaut, Best, Best & Krieger, Riverside, Cal., for defendants-appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Before CHOY and WALLACE, Circuit Judges, and THOMPSON, ^* District Judge.

WALLACE, Circuit Judge:

C-Y Development Company and Harvest Investment Company (C-Y) appeal from a district court order abstaining from the exercise of jurisdiction over C-Y's action against the City of Redlands, various public officials, and certain public employees. We affirm.

I

In November 1978, the voters of the City of Redlands, acting by initiative, adopted Proposition R. It limited the number of residential building permits for subdivision development projects to 450 per year and required the city council to adopt a procedure to allocate the limited number of available permits on a competitive basis. In February 1979, the Redlands city council adopted Ordinance 1680, ¹ which established a competitive point-rating system that evaluates applications in four categories: "Consistency With Zone," "Relationship of Project to Public Services," "Environmental and Esthetic Qualities," and "Low and Moderate Income Housing." In both the public services and environmental categories, an application must receive a prescribed minimum number of points before it is eligible for overall competitive evaluation with applications for other development projects.

Prior to the adoption of the point-rating system, C-Y had acquired 61.3 acres of land in the City of Redlands with the intention of subdividing the property and constructing single family residences. In keeping with the terms of Ordinance 1680, C-Y submitted the required applications during both the 1979 and 1980 calendar years. On both occasions, C-Y's applications were denied on the basis that they had not received the minimum number of points required in the public services category to qualify for competitive evaluation with other applications. The proposed plans failed largely because of the lack of proximity to and inadequacy of various existing public services.

After making administrative challenges and filing the required statutory claim, C-Y commenced this action in the district court. C-Y alleged that the point-rating system embodied in Ordinance 1680 prevents C-Y from developing its property as a single-family residential subdivision, and that this is the only practical economic use for the property. The complaint attacks the ordinance as arbitrary and capricious and alleges that C-Y's property has been taken without compensation, that C-Y's due process and equal protection rights have been violated, and that the actions of the planning commission and city council constitute a prejudicial abuse of discretion. C-Y requested damages, declaratory relief, and a writ of mandamus under Cal.Civ.Proc.Code Sec. 1094.5 (West 1980) commanding the city to repeal the ordinance and to issue C-Y the requested number of building permits.

II

The district court abstained on the basis of Railroad Commission v. Pullman Co., 312 U.S. 496, 61 S.Ct. 643, 85 L.Ed. 971 (1941). The Pullman abstention doctrine is a narrow exception to the district court's duty to decide cases properly before it which allows postponement of the exercise of federal jurisdiction when "a federal constitutional issue ... might be mooted or presented in a different posture by a state court determination of pertinent state law." County of Allegheny v. Frank Mashuda Co., 360 U.S. 185, 189, 79 S.Ct. 1060, 1063, 3 L.Ed.2d 1163 (1959). Policies justifying abstention include "the desirability of avoiding unseemly conflict between two sovereignties, the unnecessary impairment of state functions, and the premature determination of constitutional questions." Martin v. Creasy, 360 U.S. 219, 224, 79 S.Ct. 1034, 1037, 3 L.Ed.2d 1186 (1959). See also Harrison v. NAACP, 360 U.S. 167, 176, 79 S.Ct. 1025, 1029-1030, 3 L.Ed.2d 1152 (1959). Central to all of these concerns are principles of comity and federalism. See Harrison v. NAACP, supra, 360 U.S. at 176-77, 79 S.Ct. at 1029-1030.

We have applied an abuse of discretion test in reviewing district court abstention decisions. See, e.g., Shamrock Development Co. v. City of Concord, 656 F.2d 1380, 1385 (9th Cir.1981); Pue v. Sillas, 632 F.2d 74, 78 (9th Cir.1980); Santa Fe Land Improvement Co. v. City of Chula Vista, 596 F.2d 838, 839 (9th Cir.1979) (Santa Fe ); Sederquist v. City of Tiburon, 590 F.2d 278, 281 n. 5, 283 (9th Cir.1978) (Sederquist ); Rancho Palos Verdes Corp. v. City of Laguna Beach, 547 F.2d 1092, 1095 (9th Cir.1976) (Rancho Palos Verdes ). However, this abuse of discretion standard should not be confused with the broader abuse of discretion standard applicable in other areas, such as rulings on certain evidentiary questions and posttrial motions. We have recently stressed that in cases involving abstention, discretion must be exercised within the narrow and specific limits prescribed by the particular abstention doctrine involved. Pue v. Sillas, supra, 632 F.2d at 78. A district court should abstain only in the "exceptional circumstances where the order to the parties to repair to the state court would clearly serve an important countervailing interest." County of Allegheny v. Frank Mashuda Co., supra, 360 U.S. at 188-89, 79 S.Ct. at 1063. Thus, although one of our recent cases might be read to mean that there may be room for discretion in deciding to forego abstention in a case which is otherwise a proper candidate for abstention, Shamrock Development Co. v. City of Concord, supra, 656 F.2d at 1385, there is little or no discretion to abstain in a case which does not meet traditional abstention requirements. With this narrow standard in mind, we now proceed to the question of whether the district court properly abstained in this case.

III

We have traditionally relied upon the three-prong test of Canton v. Spokane School District No. 81, 498 F.2d 840 (9th Cir.1974) (Canton ), to determine whether Pullman abstention is appropriate:

(1) The complaint "touches a sensitive area of social policy upon which the federal courts ought not to enter unless no alternative to its adjudication is open."

(2) "Such constitutional adjudication plainly can be avoided if a definitive ruling on the state issue would terminate the controversy."

(3) The possibly determinative issue of state law is doubtful.

Id. at 845 (footnote omitted), quoting Railroad Commission v. Pullman Co., supra, 312 U.S. at 498, 61 S.Ct. at 644. See also Pue v. Sillas, supra, 632 F.2d at 78; Santa Fe, supra, 596 F.2d at 839-40; Sederquist, supra, 590 F.2d at 281; Rancho Palos Verdes, supra, 547 F.2d at 1094.

A.

C-Y properly concedes that the first of the three Canton criteria is satisfied. We have repeatedly stated that land use planning is a sensitive area of social policy which meets the first Canton requirement. E.g., Santa Fe, supra, 596 F.2d at 840.

B.

In analyzing the second requirement, we have explained that "[t]he assumption which justifies abstention is that a federal court's erroneous determination of a state law issue may result in premature or unnecessary constitutional adjudication, and unwarranted interference with state programs and statutes." Pue v. Sillas, supra, 632 F.2d at 79. A state law question that has the potential of at least altering the nature of the federal constitutional questions is thus an essential element of Pullman abstention. This element is present here.

In its fourth cause of action, C-Y seeks a writ of mandamus pursuant to Cal.Civ.Proc.Code Sec. 1094.5 commanding the city to repeal Ordinance 1680 and to issue C-Y the requested number of building permits. In support of its request, C-Y asserts that the city's actions constitute a prejudicial abuse of discretion, that the city failed to comply with the requirements of Ordinance 1680, that the city's determination that C-Y's applications were not entitled to the minimum number of points required in the public services category of the point-rating system is not supported by the findings and that the findings are not supported by the evidence, and that the city's actions are not a reasonable exercise of the police power.

Although C-Y has not raised the point, another issue of state law involved in this case is whether the city has exceeded its authority based upon Cal. Gov't Code Sec. 65912 (West 1982). See Santa Fe, supra, 596 F.2d at 840-41. That section states that the government code does not authorize open space zoning that could "take or damage private property for public use without payment of just compensation therefor." Cal. Gov't Code, supra, Sec. 65912. Although Ordinance 1680 purports on its face to be nothing more than a building permit allocation system and does not alter the city's existing zoning plan, C-Y alleges that the effect of the ordinance and the intent of city planners was to deprive C-Y permanently of...