Gavlak v. Town of Somers

• Decision Date: 13 June 2003
• Docket Number: No. 302CV1410(GLG).,302CV1410(GLG).
• Citation: 267 F.Supp.2d 214
• Parties: David GAVLAK and Hillside Springs Farm, Inc. Plaintiffs, v. TOWN OF SOMERS and Somers Zoning Board of Appeals Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut

267 F.Supp.2d 214

David GAVLAK and Hillside Springs Farm, Inc. Plaintiffs, v. TOWN OF SOMERS and Somers Zoning Board of Appeals Defendants.

No. 302CV1410(GLG).

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

June 13, 2003.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

John R. Williams, Williams & Pattis, New Haven, CT, for Plaintiffs.

James Newhall Tallberg, Updike, Kelly & Spellacy, P.C., Hartford, CT, for Defendants.

OPINION

GOETTEL, District Judge.

The plaintiffs, David Gavlak and Hillside Springs Farm, Inc. (Hillside), have brought this federal action against the defendants, Town of Somers (Town) and the Somers Zoning Board, of Appeals (Board), claiming that the defendants deprived them of their property without just compensation under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments and violated their rights to Due Process and Equal Protection under the Fourteenth Amendment.¹ The defendants moved to dismiss [Doc. 11] the plaintiffs' complaint pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) and (6). We find that the plaintiffs' just compensation claim, based on a regulatory taking, is not ripe for adjudication and we dismiss it pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1). As to the plaintiffs' remaining claims, we find them sufficient to withstand the defendants' motion to dismiss.

I. Standard: 12(b)(1) and (6) Motions to Dismiss

Our standard for deciding a Rule 12(b)(6) motion is well settled.² We accept as true all of the allegations contained in the plaintiffs' well-pleaded complaint and draw all reasonable inferences in their favor. Burnette v. Carothers, 192 F.3d 52, 56 (2d Cir.1999), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1052, 121 S.Ct. 657, 148 L.Ed.2d 560 (2000). The complaint should not be dismissed unless it appears beyond doubt that the plaintiffs can prove no set of facts in support of their claims which would entitle them to relief. Id. The issue is whether the plaintiffs, as claimants, are entitled to offer evidence to support their claim, not whether they ultimately will prevail. Indeed, it may appear on the face of the pleadings that a recovery is very remote and unlikely but that is not the test. Piorkowski v. Parziale, No. 3:02CV00963(GLG), 2003 WL 21037353, at *1 (D.Conn. May 7, 2003). Stated otherwise, our task "is merely to assess the legal feasibility of the complaint." Ryder Energy Distrib. Corp. v. Merrill Lynch Commodities Inc., 748 F.2d 774, 779 (2d Cir.1984) (internal citation and quotation marks omitted).

II. Background/Facts

The history of this dispute dates back to 1996 and is discussed in detail in the Connecticut Supreme Court's opinion in Wood v. Zoning Bd. of Appeals of the Town of Somers, 258 Conn. 691, 784 A.2d 354 (2001). David Gavlak owns real property in Somers, Connecticut, where he resides. Hillside is a spring water business that is owned and operated by Gavlak in Somers, Connecticut. The spring water used by Hillside flows from one of four natural springs located on a thirty-three-acre parcel of land that the plaintiffs lease from a larger, 200-acre tract of land known as the Wood Farm, which is located in Somers. Prior to 1991, the water collected from the leased property was stored and sold for the filling of swimming pools. Since 1991, the collected and stored spring water has been transported off the property to various bottling facilities and, ultimately, sold for human consumption.³ The plaintiffs' operation of the spring water business continued until December 30, 1996, when the Somers zoning enforcement officer issued a letter to the plaintiffs. The letter advised the plaintiffs that the collection and storage of spring water on the subject property for transportation off that property is prohibited by Somers zoning regulations, and that such activity must be discontinued. The plaintiffs appealed the zoning officer's cease and desist order to the Board. See Conn. Gen.Stat. § 8-7. They claimed that their use of the subject property is a permitted use because it "falls within the scope of agriculture and/or farming." Wood, 258 Conn, at 694-95, 784 A.2d 354.

The Board held a public hearing regarding the plaintiffs' claim on April 10, 1997, during which the plaintiffs maintained that their collection of spring water for bottling and sale off the subject property is a permitted agricultural use. Alternatively, the plaintiffs claimed that their use of the "subject property to collect spring water constituted a legal nonconforming use inasmuch as water has been collected from the springs for several hundred years, long before any zoning regulations were in place." Id. at 695, 784 A.2d 354. The Board ruled against the plaintiffs and upheld the cease and desist order. The Board's ruling, however, was based solely on its determination that the plaintiffs' activities did not fall within the scope of permitted agricultural uses within the meaning of the Somers Town Code § 214-4. The Board made no determination on the plaintiffs' nonconforming use claim.

The plaintiffs appealed the Board's decision to the trial court. See Conn. Gen. Stat. § 8-8(b). After a hearing, the trial court affirmed the Board's ruling regarding its determination that the plaintiffs' activities did not constitute permitted agricultural use. The trial court also concluded that the plaintiffs' use of the subject property did not constitute a legal nonconforming use, and rendered judgment dismissing the plaintiffs' appeal. Wood, 258 Conn, at 695-96, 784 A.2d 354.

Pursuant to Conn. Gen.Stat. § 8-8(o), the plaintiffs petitioned to appeal the trial court's judgment to the Appellate Court. The Connecticut Supreme Court transferred the appeal to itself. See Conn. Gen. Stat. § 51-199(c). The Connecticut Supreme Court held the the plaintiffs' use of the subject property did not constitute a permissible "agriculture" use under the Town's zoning regulations, and that the Board's determination in that regard was proper. The court held further, however, that because the Board never addressed and rendered a decision on the plaintiffs' nonconforming use claim in the first instance, it was improper for the trial court to issue a ruling on that claim. Consequently, the court reversed and remanded the case to the trial court with orders for it to remand the case to the Board for the limited purpose of determining whether the plaintiffs' use of the subject property constituted a non-conforming use. Wood, 258 Conn, at 695-96, 709, 784 A.2d 354.

The Board considered the issue on February 12, March 12 and April 11 of 2002. Despite the plaintiffs' request to be heard on the matter, the Board concluded, without a hearing afforded them, that their use of the subject property did not constitute a nonconforming use.⁴ Consequently, the Board upheld the issuance of the cease and desist order on that basis. This law suit followed, challenging the Board's actions on federal constitutional grounds. Additional facts will be set forth as necessary.

III. Discussion

The plaintiffs' claims are made via 42 U.S.C. § 1983. To state a claim under section 1983, the plaintiffs "must allege facts indicating that some official action has caused [them] to be deprived of [their] constitutional rights" and that such deprivation of rights has caused them to suffer injury. Colombo v. O'Connell, 310 F.3d 115, 117 (2d Cir.2002), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 123 S.Ct. 1750, 155 L.Ed.2d 512 (2003).

A. Ripeness

The plaintiffs contend that the defendants deprived them of their property without just compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment. They also claim a denial of substantive and procedural due process rights, as well as a denial of their equal protection rights. The defendants have not challenged the ripeness of these claims. We, nevertheless, address them to determine if they are ripe for adjudication, which implicates federal subject matter jurisdiction. United States v. Quinones, 313 F.3d 49, 58 (2d Cir.2002). "Because subject matter jurisdiction remains `an unwaivable sine qua non for the exercise of federal judicial power,' Herrick Co., Inc. v. SCS Communications, Inc., 251 F.3d 315, 321 (2d Cir.2001), it is this Court's obligation to address, sua sponte, this threshold question when it appears from the complaint that it [might be] lacking." Chiu v. An, No.3:02cv2081, 2003 WL 21003441, at *1 (D.Conn. Mar. 28, 2003); see also, Jacobs v. Patent Enforcement Fund, Inc., 230 F.3d 565, 567 (2d Cir. 2000).

1. Takings and Due Process Claims

"The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, applicable to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment, prohibits the government from taking private property for public use without just compensation." Palazzolo v. Rhode Island, 533 U.S. 606, 617, 121 S.Ct. 2448, 150 L.Ed.2d 592 (2001) (citation omitted). The Takings Clause, which clearly applies to instances in which the government encroaches on or occupies land, Loretto v. Teleprompter Manhattan CATV Corp., 458 U.S. 419, 427, 102 S.Ct. 3164, 73 L.Ed.2d 868 (1982), also recognizes regulations that, absent encroachment or occupation, go "too far". Palazzolo, 533 U.S. at 617, 121 S.Ct. 2448.

In Williamson County Reg'l Planning Comm'n v. Hamilton Bank, 473 U.S. 172, 105 S.Ct. 3108, 87 L.Ed.2d 126 (1985), the United States Supreme Court set forth a two-pronged test for assessing the ripeness of takings-type claims. Under the first prong, a claim is not ripe for adjudication if the government entity charged with enforcing the zoning regulations at issue has not rendered a "final decision" regarding the application of the regulation to the property at issue. Id, at 186, 105 S.Ct. 3108. Under the second prong, "[i]f a State provides an adequate procedure for seeking just compensation, the property owner cannot claim a violation of the Just Compensation Clause until it has used the procedure and been denied just compensation." Id. at 195, 105 S.Ct. 3108; see also Webster v. Moquin, 175 F.Supp.2d 315, 323-24 (D.Conn.2001); Katz v. Stannard Beach Ass'n, 95 F.Supp.2d 90, 98 (D.Conn. 2000). Further, if no...