Haskell v. Washington Tp.
| Decision Date | 20 December 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 87-3927,87-3927 |
| Citation | 864 F.2d 1266 |
| Parties | W. Martin HASKELL, M.D., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP; Walter A. Buchanan, Trustee, Washington Township Board of Trustees, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Russell W. Miller, Trustee, Individually and in his Official Capacity; Ron Smith, Zoning Inspector, in his Official Capacity; Gary Huff (Director of Development and Zoning), Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit |
John A. Cumming, Coolidge, Wall, Womsley & Lombard, Dayton, Ohio, Roy Lucas (argued), Cincinnati, Ohio, for plaintiff-appellant.
John R. Koverman, Jr. (argued), Patrick K. Smith, Dayton, Ohio, for defendants-appellees.
Before MERRITT, MARTIN and MILBURN, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff-appellant W. Martin Haskell, M.D., appeals from the judgment of the district court dismissing his civil rights action filed pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1983. This case involves a long history of Haskell's unsuccessful attempts to open a clinic in Washington Township, Ohio ("the Township") where outpatient surgery and abortions would be performed. The principal issues on appeal are (1) whether the district court erred in holding that certain of Haskell's claims were barred by the statute of limitations; (2) whether the district court erred in concluding that Haskell lacked standing to bring this action; (3) whether the district court erred in failing to enter judgment declaring certain Washington Township zoning ordinances unconstitutional; (4) whether the district court should have awarded attorney's fees and costs pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Sec. 1988; (5) whether the district court erred in precluding Haskell from adding his wholly owned corporation as a party plaintiff; (6) whether the district court erred in dismissing the individual Township Trustees on the basis of qualified immunity; and (7) whether the district court erred in concluding that Haskell's proof of damages was insufficient. For the reasons that follow, the judgment of the district court is reversed.
Haskell, a board-certified family practitioner, began to include in his practice the performance of out-patient, first trimester surgical abortions in 1977. From 1977 through 1980, he was Director of the Emergency Room at Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio, and became the owner and physician-manager of the Women's Center in Cincinnati in 1979. The Women's Center is an out-patient surgical facility for early abortion procedures. Haskell has also maintained an interest in expanding the role of out-patient surgery.
In May of 1981, he consulted a Cincinnati medical architect, Robert Fox, about federal design standards and requirements for out-patient surgical facilities (surgicenters) and what type of property would lend itself to surgicenter adaptation. In September of 1981, Haskell located the Paragon Office Building in Washington Township, Ohio, and he and Fox designed a surgicenter where out-patient abortion surgery and other minor surgical procedures could be performed. On September 24, 1981, Haskell paid one and one-half month's rent to the owners of the Paragon Office Building for the use of one suite through October 31, 1981. The suite was not located in the part of the building where the proposed surgicenter was to be constructed, and no surgery was conducted in the brief period that it was used. However, telephones and an exam table were installed.
Haskell claims that over 200 different kinds of minor surgery can be performed safely in the type of surgicenter he and Fox envisioned. He also claims that through his established practice, he has approximately 2,500 doctors in the overall market area who have previously referred patients to him.
On October 8, 1981, Haskell signed a five-year lease for approximately 3,000 square feet on the first floor of the Paragon Office Building. The lease would have started when renovations were completed, and Haskell obtained architectural drawings for the anticipated renovations. Additionally, Haskell made an offer to purchase the Paragon Office Building, and the offer was conditionally accepted.
On October 6, 1981, however, a group of Washington Township citizens attended a meeting of the Washington Township Board of Trustees 1 to express their opposition to abortion and to the proposed surgicenter. At that meeting, the Township Trustees voted to request an interpretation of the existing zoning regulations from the Montgomery County, Ohio, attorney.
The next day, October 7, 1981, at the request of the Trustees, the Township zoning inspector measured the office building and its parking lot and reported that the building complied with the Township's zoning requirements for off-street parking. Moreover, from the time the building was given a certificate of occupation upon its completion in 1978, through October 7, 1981, no zoning enforcement action was ever taken against the building for parking deficiencies. Ron Smith, a former zoning inspector of Washington Township, testified that it was quite unusual for the Trustees to be involved in any decision concerning a building's compliance with the Township's off-street parking requirements.
Subsequent to the October 6, 1981, meeting, the Township Trustees were driven to the Paragon Office Building parking lot by John Koverman, an owner of the Paragon Supper Club, which was located across the street from the office building. Trustee Duane Snyder later testified at the trial of this case that the purpose of the unpublicized meeting was to consider the idea of using inadequate parking as a means of stopping the opening of the proposed abortion clinic. According to Snyder, the parking issue was a pretext, as it was to be used not as a means to enforce compliance with zoning regulations but to stop the opening of the proposed abortion clinic.
On October 17, 1981, Snyder met with Haskell and informed him that defendant Township Trustee Walter Buchanan was really pushing the parking issue. He also informed Haskell that if the parking angle did not work, the Trustees intended to do whatever necessary to keep the abortion clinic out of Washington Township.
At an executive session held on October 18, 1981, the Trustees determined that the building was without sufficient parking, and passed a resolution to hire an attorney to initiate legal proceedings against the owners of the Paragon Office Building. The resolution was passed in spite of the zoning inspector's conclusion that the building was in compliance with parking regulations. Moreover, both Evelyn List, Township zoning inspector at the time, and Ron Smith, List's successor, testified that the Township would ordinarily work with a business to find adequate parking. In fact, at the time of trial, the record reflects that the parking lot in question had been lined and had more than sufficient parking to comply with zoning requirements.
The record also reflects considerable additional effort undertaken by defendant Buchanan and the other Trustees to prevent the opening of Haskell's clinic. The manager of the Paragon Office Building, Frank McGee, testified that Buchanan came to his real estate office to see if anything could be done to stop the opening of the abortion clinic. McGee testified that he was given the impression that if he could not do anything to stop the opening of the clinic, "it wouldn't be in [his] best interests as a realtor in Washington Township." McGee testified that Buchanan was concerned that the opening of an abortion clinic would bring "an undesirable element" into Washington Township.
Fran Swift, a co-owner of the office building, also received a visit from Buchanan. She informed Buchanan that the parking area had previously been approved and that there had been no problems since the building opened. Buchanan then informed her that Haskell would not go forward with the purchase, "and asked us not to pursue it any further." Swift testified that Buchanan informed her that all residents and lessees of the building would be forced to evacuate and that the building would be closed if she allowed an abortion clinic to open.
Evelyn List, former Township zoning inspector, testified that Buchanan applied pressure on her as well. She testified that the Township was normally quite flexible in dealing with the parking requirements for buildings. However, Buchanan informed List that he wanted to close down the building if Haskell remained in the picture. List testified that Buchanan was very much opposed to abortion, and also indicated "that he did not want any undesirable people from West Dayton coming to the Township."
Haskell's wife, Valerie Haskell, testified that she overheard a conversation between Buchanan and Frank McGee, while in McGee's real estate office. She testified that Buchanan stated that "we don't want undesirables coming in from the west side of Dayton into our Township, and we've got to do whatever we need to keep them out."
Duane Snyder, President of the Board of Trustees at the time, also testified concerning Buchanan's involvement in considerable efforts to stop the opening of the clinic. Snyder testified that on several instances, Buchanan stated "that he felt this was not a type of institution that belonged in Washington Township." Moreover, Snyder claimed that Buchanan was concerned that the clinic would possibly draw a lower class of citizens to the community.
After learning of the Trustees' decision to initiate legal proceedings to block the opening of his proposed surgicenter due to inadequate parking, and in light of his conversation with Trustee Snyder, Haskell announced that he was abandoning his plan to open the facility in the Paragon Office Building on October 19, 1981. He did not purchase the building, and its owners released him from his lease on November 1, 1981. Thereafter, the Trustees took no further...
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