Geisler v. City Council of Cedar Falls

• Citation: 769 N.W.2d 162
• Decision Date: 10 July 2009
• Docket Number: No. 07-0474.,07-0474.
• Parties: Michael B. GEISLER, Appellant, v. CITY COUNCIL OF the CITY OF CEDAR FALLS, Iowa, Appellee.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

769 N.W.2d 162

Michael B. GEISLER, Appellant, v. CITY COUNCIL OF the CITY OF CEDAR FALLS, Iowa, Appellee.

No. 07-0474.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

July 10, 2009.

D. Raymond Walton of Beecher Law Offices, Waterloo, for appellant.

Susan Bernau Staudt, Cedar Falls, for appellee.

BAKER, Justice.

This appeal arises out of a petition for writ of certiorari filed by the appellant, Michael Geisler, against the appellee, the City Council of Cedar Falls. Geisler challenged the district court's dismissal of his claims that the City (hereinafter referred to as "the City") acted illegally in denying his proposed site plan for the development of real estate in the College Hill Neighborhood Overlay Zoning District (hereinafter referred to as "the Overlay District") and its subsequent enactment of a six-month moratorium on development in the Overlay District. The district court dismissed Geisler's claim that the moratorium was illegal on a motion to dismiss. Subsequently, on a motion for summary judgment, the court dismissed his remaining claim that the City acted illegally in denying approval of Geisler's site plan for the project because the ordinance that ultimately prohibited the project was under discussion at the time of Geisler's initial application.

The City has asserted that its issuance of the moratorium was a legislative function, and therefore, it is not reviewable by a writ of certiorari because certiorari review is only available when the lower tribunal is acting in a quasi-judicial capacity. We find the City's adoption of a moratorium is a legislative function and, therefore, not reviewable. We also find that the district court applied incorrect law in determining whether the City illegally denied Geisler's site plan and failed to consider whether the change in zoning was done in bad faith. Because the district court erred in granting summary judgment based upon an incorrect standard, we reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. Background Facts and Prior Proceedings.

In 2004, Geisler purchased real estate located in the Overlay District of Cedar Falls, Iowa, for the purpose of developing an eight-unit apartment complex. In May of 2005, he submitted a site plan for redevelopment of the land to the Cedar Falls Planning and Zoning Commission. At the Commission's May 18, 2005, meeting, city planner Martin Ryan stated that the site plan met all the basic ordinance requirements. However, there was a large amount of resident opposition to the proposed development, and the Commission voted to deny approval of Geisler's site plan.

The regular Cedar Falls City Council meeting was held on May 23, 2005. At the meeting, the Council considered Geisler's proposed site plan. Several Overlay District residents expressed concerns about the plan, including the increase in traffic it would generate and the detrimental effect to single-family homes in the area. The Council denied the site plan under Cedar Falls City Ordinance No. 29-160(f) because it was "inconsistent with the character of the neighborhood due to architectural design ... [and was] not of comparable scale and character in relation to adjoining properties." Under the ordinance in effect in May of 2005, the Council had the discretion to determine whether the site plan was compatible with surrounding buildings.

At the May 23, 2005, meeting, a motion also passed to discuss a temporary moratorium to study the issue of multi-family unit construction in the Overlay District. At the next City Council meeting on June 13, 2005, the City Council passed a resolution imposing a moratorium on all development or construction of multi-family housing in the Overlay District.

Also on this date, Geisler submitted a revised site plan to the City Department of Development. It was not processed in time to be discussed at the meeting. Later, on July 11, 2005, a city official refused to consider Geisler's revised site plan, effectively denying the project. After further study of a proposed zoning amendment, the City Council passed a resolution on December 12, 2005, down-zoning the Overlay District, prohibiting all development or construction of multi-family housing. Geisler did not resubmit the site plan after the enactment of the ordinance.

On June 22, 2005, Geisler filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the district court alleging that the City acted illegally by denying his site plan and subsequently passing the moratorium on development in the Overlay District. The petition stated these were illegal acts and an unconstitutional taking of his property for public use without just compensation. On July 25, 2005, the City filed a motion to dismiss Geisler's petition for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

On February 6, 2006, the district court issued an order overruling in part and granting in part the City's motion to dismiss. The trial court overruled the City's motion with regard to denial of the site plan because the record was not sufficient to conclude the City denied the plan because it intended to impose a moratorium on development. The court granted the City's motion as to Geisler's claim that the City acted illegally in imposing the moratorium, ruling the City was within its legislative authority to do so. Subsequently, the City filed a motion for summary judgment on the remaining claim, which the court granted because the December 2005 ordinance that prohibited the project was under discussion at the time Geisler submitted his initial site plan in May 2005. Geisler appeals.

II. Scope of Review.

Our review of the judgment entered by the district court in a certiorari proceeding is governed by the rules applicable to appeals in ordinary actions. Iowa R. Civ. P. 1.1412.

The moratorium issue comes to us from the district court's grant of a motion to dismiss. A court can grant a motion to dismiss if the plaintiff fails to state a claim upon which any relief may be granted. Iowa R. Civ. P. 1.421(1)(f). On appeal, we review a district court's ruling on a motion to dismiss for correction of errors at law. See Iowa R.App. P. 6.907 (2009); see also Mlynarik v. Bergantzel, 675 N.W.2d 584, 586 (Iowa 2004). A court cannot consider factual allegations contained in the motion or the documents attached to the motion. Berger v. Gen. United Group, Inc., 268 N.W.2d 630, 634 (Iowa 1978). The court must ignore these facts, except those of which the court may take judicial notice. Winneshiek Mut. Ins. Ass'n v. Roach, 257 Iowa 354, 365, 132 N.W.2d 436, 443 (1965). In determining whether to grant the motion to dismiss, a court views the well-pled facts of the petition "in the light most favorable to the plaintiff with doubts resolved in that party's favor." Haupt v. Miller, 514 N.W.2d 905, 911 (Iowa 1994). The purpose of the motion is to test the legal sufficiency of the petition. Berger, 268 N.W.2d at 634.

The issue of whether the City illegally denied Geisler's site plan comes to us on appeal from a ruling on a motion for summary judgment.

Summary judgment is appropriate when there is no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The burden is on the moving party to establish there is no genuine issue of material fact, and the facts must be viewed in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.

Rodda v. Vermeer Mfg., 734 N.W.2d 480, 483 (Iowa 2007).

III. Merits.

A. Legality of Moratorium. The City claimed that a writ of certiorari is an improper remedy for challenging the moratorium, as the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the legislative actions of the Cedar Falls City Council. The City contended that the issuance of a moratorium is a legislative function. Geisler disputed that a moratorium is a legislative function, asserting that it is a judicial function. He also asserted that the City acted illegally in imposing the moratorium.

In granting the motion to dismiss, the district court noted that the City "was within its legislative authority and discretion in issuing its development moratorium." In his resistance to the City's motion to dismiss, Geisler did not raise, and the court did not rule on his current claim, that in passing the moratorium, the City failed to follow procedures required by Iowa Code section 414.4 and the City's zoning ordinance. Because Geisler failed to raise this issue in his resistance, we do not address this claim. See State v. McCright, 569 N.W.2d 605, 607 (Iowa 1997) ("Issues not raised before the district court, including constitutional issues, cannot be raised for the first time on appeal."). We are, therefore, confronted only with the issue of whether the enactment of a moratorium is a legislative function and Geisler's challenge to the City's authority to enact the moratorium.

A writ of certiorari will not lie against the City if it was exercising a legislative function at the time it enacted the moratorium; such actions are not reviewable by the courts. Stream v. Gordy, 716 N.W.2d 187, 191 (Iowa 2006). This rule arises from the traditional separation of powers between the three branches of government. "The chief characteristic of the legislative function is the determination of broad policies or principles for the conduct of society's affairs." Goodell v. Humboldt County, 575 N.W.2d 486, 493 (Iowa 1998). We have long held that an amendment of a zoning ordinance is a legislative function. Boomhower v. Cerro Gordo County Bd. of Adjustment, 163 N.W.2d 75, 77 (Iowa 1968).

In enacting the moratorium until a revised zoning ordinance could be reviewed, the City was performing a traditional legislative function. Brown v. Crawford County, 960 F.2d 1002, 1012 (11th Cir. 1992); Jackson Ct. Condos., Inc. v. City of New Orleans, 874 F.2d 1070, 1076 (5th Cir.1989). A moratorium aids a governing body in performing the legislative task of municipal planning. See Schafer v. City of New Orleans, 743 F.2d 1086, 1090 (5th Cir.1984) ("Interim...