Clewiston Commons, LLC v. City of Clewiston
| Decision Date | 10 March 2020 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 2:18cv339-FtM-PAM-MRM |
| Parties | Clewiston Commons, LLC, Plaintiff, v. City of Clewiston, Mali Gardner, Al Perry, Travis Reese, Debbie McNeil, and Kathy Combass, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Middle District of Florida |
This matter is before the Court on Plaintiff's three Motions for Partial Summary Judgment1 (Docket Nos. 137, 154, 159) and Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment (Docket No. 161). For the following reasons, Defendants' Motion is granted in part and denied without prejudice in part, and Plaintiff's Motions are denied without prejudice.
This case involves a zoning dispute over Clewiston Commons, a mobile-home park in Clewiston, Florida ("the City"). The full factual history of the case has been set forth previously (Docket No. 145), and the relevant facts are incorporated into the discussion. Clewiston Commons brings claims alleging equal protection, state-law due process, inversecondemnation, tortious interference, and Fla. Stat. § 286.911 violations. Clewiston Commons further asks for declaratory relief regarding its use of the property. Clewiston Commons asks for summary judgment on its equal-protection claim, its claim for declaratory relief, and against Defendant's assertion of sovereign immunity. The City and the individual Defendants move for summary judgment on all claims.
Summary judgment is proper only if there are no disputed issues of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322-23 (1986). The Court must view the evidence and the inferences that may be reasonably drawn from the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Burton v. City of Belle Glade, 178 F.3d 1175, 1187 (11th Cir. 1999) (citation omitted).
The moving party bears the burden of showing that there is no genuine issue of material fact and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. O'Ferrell v. United States, 253 F.3d 1257, 1265 (11th Cir. 2001). When opposing a motion for summary judgment, the nonmoving party must demonstrate the existence of specific facts in the record that create a genuine issue for trial. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 256 (1986). A party opposing a properly supported motion for summary judgment may not rest on mere allegations or denials and "must do more than simply show that there is some metaphysical doubt as to the material facts." Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. Ltd. v. Zenith Radio Corp., 475 U.S. 574, 586 (1986) (citation omitted).
The parties bring cross-Motions as to Clewiston Commons's claim that the City, Gardner, Perry, Reese, and McNeil violated the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments by denying permits to replace damaged units, denying a special exception to zoning the law, and issuing termination notices at the property without a rational basis.
To prevail on this "class of one" equal protection claim, a plaintiff must show that it was treated differently from others who were similarly situated and "there is no rational basis for this difference in treatment." Grider v. City of Auburn, 618 F.3d 1240, 1266 (11th Cir. 2010). Similarly situated comparators must be prima facie identical in all relevant respects. Campbell v. Rainbow City, 434 F.3d 1306, 1314 (11th Cir. 2006). Clewiston Commons bears the burden to "negat[e] every conceivable basis which might support [the City's actions], whether or not the basis has a foundation in the record." Lofton v. Sec'y of Dep't of Children & Family Servs., 358 F.3d 804, 818 (11th Cir. 2004).
Clewiston Commons first alleges that it is the only legal nonconforming mobile-home park to be issued termination notices. But the termination notices have not yet gone into effect, the mobile-home park continues to operate, and this issue is already on appeal in state court. See City of Clewiston v. Clewiston Commons, LLC, Case No: 2018-CA-0777. This claim is thus not ripe in federal court, and both parties' Motions are denied without prejudice as to this aspect of the claim.
Clewiston Commons next claims that it is the only mobile-home park operating as a legal non-conforming use to be denied replacement permits. Clewiston Commons fails to allege sufficient facts support its bald claim that any properties are similarly situated.Further, whether Clewiston Commons operates as a legal nonconforming use is unresolved at the state level. Therefore, this claim is likewise not ripe in federal court, and both parties' Motions are denied without prejudice as to this aspect of the claim.
Clewiston Commons's final contention is that similarly situated comparators were granted special exceptions to the zoning law. In particular, Clewiston Commons alleges that the City granted Clewiston Marina, Inc., a special exception. Clewiston Marina's temporary exception for a transient RV park is on its face distinguishable from Clewiston Commons's request for a permanent exception for a permanent RV park. Further, the properties are zoned differently—Clewiston Marina is zoned high-density residential, while Clewiston Commons is zoned commercial. (Reese Aff. (Docket No. 51-4); Appl. for Special Exception (Docket No. 168-2).) Therefore, these properties are not similarly situated in all relevant aspects, and the claim fails as to the permits.
Even if Clewiston Commons could meet its burden of alleging a similarly situated comparator, the City provides legitimate government purposes to plausibly explain its actions, such as reducing blight and creating a cohesive neighborhood. "[T]he Supreme Court and this court have repeatedly held . . . noise, traffic, congestion, safety, aesthetics, valuation of adjoining land, and effect on city services" "to be rational and permissible bases for land use restrictions." Corn v. City of Lauderdale Lakes, 997 F.2d 1369, 1387 (11th Cir. 1993)."2
Gardner, Perry, Reese, and McNeil also assert qualified immunity on the equal-protection claim. "Qualified immunity offers complete protection for government officials sued in their individual capacities [for violations of § 1983] if their conduct 'does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known.'" Vinyard v. Wilson, 311 F.3d 1340, 1346 (11th Cir. 2002) (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818 (1982)). Defendants seeking qualified immunity must first establish that they were acting within the scope of their discretionary authority. McClish v. Nugent, 483 F.3d 1231, 1237 (11th Cir. 2007). Then the plaintiff must show that the defendant violated a constitutional right and prove that the constitutional violation was "clearly established." Saucier v. Katz, 533 U.S. 194, 201 (2001). Gardner, Perry, Reese, and McNeil's alleged actions were made in their official capacities, and Clewiston Commons makes no showing of a "clearly established" constitutional violation. Thus, even if the equal-protection claim succeeded, the City officials are entitled to qualified immunity.
The City asks for summary judgment on Plaintiff's claim that it was denied procedural due process under Article I, Section 9 of the Florida Constitution.
First, Clewiston Commons claims that the City violated due process by not providing a pre-deprivation hearing before the termination notices issued. As noted, however, Clewiston Commons has appealed the termination notices to state court. "While the remedyin State Court may not be [Clewiston Commons's] preferred remedy, it is more than adequate to cure any procedural due process defects." Goodman v. The City of Cape Coral, No. 2:12cv654, 2013 WL 12091684, at *3 (M.D. Fla. Aug. 19, 2013). Because Clewiston Commons has yet to complete its appeal of the Hendry County Special Magistrate's code-enforcement opinion, it cannot yet bring any due-process claim arising out of that opinion. See Fla. Stat. § 162.11. The Special Magistrate's opinion is not final, and any claim arising out of that opinion is not yet ripe. Moreover, although the Special Magistrate concluded that federal court was the proper venue to pursue the due-process claim, his opinion cannot bestow jurisdiction on this Court. (Hendry Cnty. Order (Docket No. 161-32).) Article III of the United States Constitution does not allow this Court to rule on controversies that are not yet ripe. Abbott Labs. v. Gardener, 387 U.S. 136, 148 (1967). Clewiston Commons has yet to suffer any cognizable constitutional inquiry, and its due-process claim arising out of the termination notices is not ripe.
Next, Clewiston Commons claims that it was deprived of due process in 2016 when the City did not allow damaged, destroyed, or uninhabitable mobile homes to be replaced. Due process does not require an opportunity to be heard before a building permit is refused. City of Pompano Beach v. Yardam Rest., Inc., 834 So. 2d 861, 866 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2002). Moreover, Clewiston Commons conceded that it could have sought a writ of certiorari regarding the denial, but claims without further explanation that such a process would have been insufficient. (Pl.'s Opp'n Mem. (Docket No. 123) at 14-15.) See Fla. R. App. P. 9.190. But if a plaintiff fails to avail itself of adequate state remedies, that plaintiff "cannot rely on that failure to claim that the state deprived [it] of procedural due process."Dibbs v. Hillsborough Cnty., 67 F. Supp. 3d 1340, 1354 (quoting Cotton v. Jackson, 216 F.3d 1328, 1331 (11th Cir. 2000)). There was no due process violation as to the permits.
Finally, Clewiston Commons argues that the City moved the hearing for the special exception "without any notice of the actual date." (Compl. (Docket No. 11) at 25.) However, the City mailed Clewiston Commons and its counsel a notice of the new date, though neither attended the hearing. (July 21, 2016 Letter (Docket No. 161-26).) The letter satisfied due process...
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