Colorado Springs v. Securcare Self Storage

• Decision Date: 18 September 2000
• Docket Number: No. 99SC200.,99SC200.
• Citation: 10 P.3d 1244
• Parties: CITY OF COLORADO SPRINGS, a Colorado municipal corporation; the City of Colorado Springs Planning Commission; and the City Council of the City of Colorado Springs, Petitioners, v. SECURCARE SELF STORAGE, INC., a Colorado corporation, and Amoco Oil Company, a Maryland corporation, Respondents.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

10 P.3d 1244

CITY OF COLORADO SPRINGS, a Colorado municipal corporation; the City of Colorado Springs Planning Commission; and the City Council of the City of Colorado Springs, Petitioners, v. SECURCARE SELF STORAGE, INC., a Colorado corporation, and Amoco Oil Company, a Maryland corporation, Respondents.

No. 99SC200.

Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc.

September 18, 2000.

Rehearing Denied October 23, 2000.¹

Patricia K. Kelly, City Attorney, Stephen K. Hook, Assistant City Attorney, Colorado Springs, Colorado, Attorneys for Petitioners.

Deutsch, Spillane & Reutzel, P.C., John M. Spillane, David Wm. Foster, Denver, Colorado, Attorneys for Respondents.

Justice MARTINEZ delivered the Opinion of the Court.

In this zoning case, the petitioners seek review of a court of appeals' judgment upholding a district court's ruling that the City of Colorado Springs' zoning authorities may not deny a permitted use.² We do not agree with the court of appeals. We hold that the plain language of the City of Colorado Springs' Zoning Code allows the zoning authorities to review and deny a permitted use as that term is defined and treated in Colorado Springs' Zoning Code. Accordingly, we reverse and remand with instructions.

I.

SecurCare Self Storage, Inc. (SecurCare) owns approximately 4.4 acres of land (the plot) in Colorado Springs. In 1995, SecurCare sought to develop the entire plot by constructing mini-warehouses for self-storage. That year, SecurCare received administrative approval for its initial development plan, outlining SecurCare's intention to place mini-warehouses on its plot.

Shortly thereafter, SecurCare modified its development plan in light of an agreement it had with Amoco Oil Company (Amoco)³ to build a service station on approximately one acre of the plot, with the remaining 3.4 acres dedicated to the initial proposed use of mini-warehouses. The service station complex was to include a gas station, a convenience store, and an enclosed car wash.

Unlike the first development plan, this amended plan was submitted to the City of Colorado Springs Planning Commission (the Planning Commission) for its approval. At a public hearing before the Planning Commission on the amended development plan, several members of the surrounding community voiced their concerns about constructing a service station on the plot. After hearing arguments in favor of and against the service station, the Planning Commission refused to approve the amended development plan, ruling that the service station was "incompatible" with the surrounding residential neighborhood.

The Planning Commission reached this conclusion despite the fact that Colorado Springs zoned the plot as a Planned Business Center (PBC) in 1972. The Zoning Code of the City of Colorado Springs (Zoning Code) explicitly designates mini-warehouses, service stations, convenience stores and enclosed car washes as permitted uses in a PBC zone. SecurCare appealed the Planning Commission's decision to the City Council of the City of Colorado Springs (the City Council). On appeal, SecurCare argued that the Planning Commission had no discretion to deny the proposed permitted uses and objected to the Planning Commission's conclusion that the uses were incompatible with the surrounding neighborhood. The City Council, however, upheld the Planning Commission's denial of the development plan.

SecurCare then filed a petition in district court under C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4), appealing the decisions by the Planning Commission and the City Council.⁴ The sole argument made by SecurCare in support of its C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4) request to the district court was that a permitted use is by definition harmonious and compatible with the surrounding neighborhood. SecurCare did not challenge the standard itself as arbitrary and capricious, perhaps recognizing that we have previously approved criteria such as compatibility with the surrounding neighborhood. See Board of County Comm'rs v. Conder, 927 P.2d 1339, 1348 (Colo.1996)

(citing cases). The district court ruled in favor of SecurCare, holding that the actions of the Planning Commission and the City Council in denying permitted uses were "arbitrary and capricious and constitute[d] an illegal attempt to rezone the property" because a permitted use may not be denied. In the district court's view, Colorado Springs, by designating certain uses as permitted, already determined that such uses were harmonious and compatible with the surrounding neighborhood. Consequently, "the City may not attempt to reserve to itself the discretion to decide which of the complying land uses will be permitted." In a published opinion, the court of appeals affirmed the district court's decision. See SecurCare Self Storage, Inc. v. City of Colorado Springs, 987 P.2d 852, 853 (Colo.App.1998).

II.

Our analysis in this case begins with a clarification of the central issue before us. We continue with a general overview of Colorado Springs' zoning power and Zoning Code. Our discussion concludes by addressing whether the court of appeals properly interpreted the Zoning Code provisions.

A.

We begin our discussion by clarifying the nature of the issue before us. SecurCare initially brought suit in the district court under C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4), which provides that relief may obtained in district court

[w]here 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. . . . [R]eview 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.

(Emphasis added.)

Under this Rule, our review of the issue before us is limited to determining whether the court of appeals properly upheld the district court's conclusion that the zoning authorities of Colorado Springs abused their discretion or exceeded their jurisdiction. Ultimately, the resolution of this issue turns on whether the Zoning Code grants the zoning authorities the power to deny the development plan of a permitted use. See Sherman v. City of Colorado Springs Planning Comm'n, 680 P.2d 1302, 1304 (Colo.App.1983)

(holding that a local governmental body exceeds its jurisdiction under C.R.C.P. 106(a)(4) when it exercises discretion it does not have), aff'd, 763 P.2d 292, 294 (Colo.1988).

As such, our task in this case is to determine the extent of the authority that the Zoning Code provisions granted to the Colorado Springs' zoning authorities. Our analysis does not address, and the parties did not raise, issues regarding the constitutionality or wisdom of the Zoning Code provisions. But see Zavala v. City & County of Denver, 759 P.2d 664, 665-66 (Colo.1988)

(reviewing a party's challenge to Denver's zoning code on due process and equal protection grounds). Additionally, the parties have not argued that the findings of the Planning Commission were insufficient or that the record failed to support the findings. Mindful of the task before us, we continue with a brief overview of the Zoning Code.

B.

The Colorado Constitution explicitly grants Colorado Springs, a home-rule city, broad legislative authority to draft and implement its charter and ordinances regarding local and municipal matters. See Colo. Const. art. XX, § 6. On several occasions, we have categorized zoning as a local and municipal matter for purposes of this constitutional section. See, e.g., Voss v. Lundvall Bros., 830 P.2d 1061, 1064 (Colo.1992)

(recognizing that the exercise of zoning authority within a home rule city's municipal borders is a matter of local concern); City of Greeley v. Ells, 186 Colo. 352, 358, 527 P.2d 538, 541 (1974) (same); Roosevelt v. City of Englewood, 176 Colo. 576, 586, 492 P.2d 65, 70 (1971) (same).

This legislative authority to adopt and implement zoning policies, in turn, is governed and limited by Colorado Springs' own charter and ordinances. See Zavala, 759 P.2d at 669

; City of Colorado Springs v. Smartt, 620 P.2d 1060, 1062 (Colo.1980). As such, Colorado Springs may adopt and draft its Zoning Code as it chooses so long as it conforms with constitutional limitations and the city's own charter and ordinances. See Zavala, 759 P.2d at 670.⁵

The Charter of the City of Colorado Springs (the Charter) grants general powers to the City Council, including the power to legislate. Section 3-3-10(a) of the Charter provides, "All powers of the City shall be vested in the Council, except as otherwise provided by law or this Charter." Vested with these broad powers, the City Council drafted the Zoning Code.

The Zoning Code initially creates specific zone districts throughout Colorado Springs. See § 1-1-105(A), Zoning Code.⁶ The Zoning Code then defines the uses allowed within each zone district, specifying whether the use is conditional or permitted. See generally Table 2.2.1, Zoning Code (listing the permitted, conditional, and accessory uses of the various zone districts). A permitted use is defined as "[a]ny use of land or a structure which is allowed by right in a zone district and subject to the requirements of that district." § 1-2-201, Zoning Code (emphasis added). The Zoning Code defines a conditional use as "[a] land use which is contemplated with the permitted uses in a zone district but has operating and/or physical characteristics which require careful consideration and public review of the impact upon the neighborhood and the public facilities surrounding the proposed location." Id.

The zone district at issue here is the PBC zone district, which allows for a variety of permitted and conditional uses. As its title indicates, the PBC zone district is designed to accommodate commercial uses that serve adjoining neighborhoods. See § 2-2-202(C), Zoning Code. Permitted uses within the PBC zone district include those...