Hat Ass'n of Vt v. Winooski Val. Park Dist.

• Decision Date: 17 November 2006
• Docket Number: No. 05-056.,05-056.
• Citation: 2006 VT 82,913 A.2d 391
• Parties: HUNTERS, ANGLERS AND TRAPPERS ASSOCIATION OF VERMONT, INC. v. WINOOSKI VALLEY PARK DISTRICT.
• Court: Vermont Supreme Court

913 A.2d 391

2006 VT 82

HUNTERS, ANGLERS AND TRAPPERS ASSOCIATION OF VERMONT, INC. v. WINOOSKI VALLEY PARK DISTRICT.

No. 05-056.

Supreme Court of Vermont.

November 17, 2006.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Jacob B. Perkinson, South Burlington, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Richard C. Whittlesey of Roesler, Whittlesey, Meekins & Amidon, Burlington, for Defendant-Appellee.

Present: REIBER, C.J., DOOLEY, JOHNSON, SKOGLUND and BURGESS, JJ.

¶ 1. JOHNSON, J.

This appeal arises from a challenge by plaintiff Hunters, Anglers and Trappers Association of Vermont, Inc. ("HAT") to the Winooski Valley Park District's posted ban on hunting and trapping on lands within the District. The superior court upheld the hunting ban, granting summary judgment to the District on HAT's principal claim. HAT contends the court erred by: (1) concluding that the District possessed the authority to prevent hunting and trapping within the District; (2) relying on evidence outside the record, and refusing to order discovery, regarding the issue of whether hunting and trapping could be accomplished safely within the District; (3) dismissing as moot HAT's claims that the District lacked authority to ban possession of firearms within the District; and (4) failing to rule on HAT's motion to amend its complaint to add further claims against the District. We affirm.

¶ 2. The relevant facts, which are not in dispute, are as follows. HAT is a nonprofit corporation "comprised of people and entities interested in the activities of hunters, anglers and trappers in Vermont." The District is a union municipal district containing portions of the municipalities of Burlington, Colchester, Essex, Jericho, South Burlington, Williston, and Winooski. It was chartered in 1972 to engage in "[t]he planning of its lands and waters in the Winooski Valley for the purposes of conservation, recreation, the establishment of parks and the preservation of natural areas" and "[t]he acquisition and management of lands and waters in the Winooski Valley." Under the statute allowing formation of union municipal districts, such districts possess all of the powers of a municipal corporation upon their formation, 24 V.S.A. § 4865, including the power to acquire real property. 10 V.S.A. § 6302. The District has acquired an ownership interest in approximately 1,730 acres of land, and it leases an additional 134 acres. The District manages this land as parkland that is open to the public for a variety of uses. The District does not allow hunting, shooting, or trapping on any District property, and it has posted signs to that effect according to the requirements applicable to private property owners under 10 V.S.A. § 5201. Prior to the commencement of this action, the District's signs prohibiting hunting also included a ban on the possession of firearms.

¶ 3. In February 2003, HAT filed a complaint seeking an injunction to prevent the District from regulating hunting and trapping. HAT also sought to enjoin the District from banning the possession of firearms on its lands. The complaint alleged that the District's ban on hunting, trapping, and firearm possession violated both the Vermont Constitution's protection of the right to hunt and 24 V.S.A. § 2295, which prohibits municipalities from directly regulating hunting or trapping. During the course of the ensuing litigation, the District changed its policy to eliminate its ban on the possession of firearms, and began changing the wording of its signs accordingly. HAT and the District filed cross-motions for summary judgment regarding the hunting and trapping ban. HAT also filed a "conditional" motion to amend its complaint, seeking to add further claims in the event that the court ruled in favor of the District on the original claims. These additional claims alleged that the District's actions violated due process and the Vermont Consumer Fraud Act, and requested declaratory relief stating that the District did not have the right to ban possession of firearms on its lands.

¶ 4. In July 2003, the superior court ruled that the District's elimination of its ban on the possession of firearms would render that part of the litigation moot, assuming the District followed through by changing the wording of its signs. In October 2003, following further submissions related to the District's progress toward changing its signs, the court ruled that the firearm possession claim was moot. In the same order, the court ruled that the District possessed legal authority to prohibit hunting and trapping on its own lands. The court did not rule on HAT's motion to amend its complaint. Instead, it gave HAT until the end of October 2003 to show cause why the action should not be dismissed, given its rulings in favor of the District. Within that period, HAT submitted affidavits from hunters attesting that it was safe to hunt on the District's lands. HAT's submission sought to contradict any assertion that hunting was necessarily unsafe on the District's lands, and stated that "good cause exists to allow the requested amendment of its Complaint and that this case should not be dismissed." In January 2005, the court entered final judgment in favor of the District. This appeal followed.

I.

¶ 5. HAT's principal claim on appeal is that the court erred by concluding that the District has the legal authority to prohibit hunting and trapping on its own lands. We review this question of law de novo. Charbonneau v. Gorczyk, 2003 VT 105, ¶ 2 176 Vt. 140, 838 A.2d 117. HAT's assertion rests on the Vermont Constitution, general principles of local government law, and a statutory provision that specifically prohibits municipalities from regulating hunting and trapping.

¶ 6. First, HAT argues that Chapter II, § 67 of the Vermont Constitution guarantees the right to hunt and trap. Section 67 provides:

The inhabitants of this State shall have liberty in seasonable times, to hunt and fowl on the lands they hold, and on other lands not inclosed, and in like manner to fish in all boatable and other waters (not private property) under proper regulations, to be made and provided by the General Assembly.

Vt. Const. ch. II, § 67. We agree with HAT that this provision provides constitutional hunting rights, but those rights are not necessarily implicated in this case. Section 67 vests the Legislature with the power to regulate hunting and trapping even on privately held lands, and we have previously held that the Legislature may delegate this power to some other "body or person." Elliott v. Fish & Game Comm'n, 117 Vt. 61, 69, 84 A.2d 588, 593 (1951). Thus, provided that the Legislature has properly delegated its authority to the District, the District's regulation of hunting and trapping will not violate any constitutional right.

¶ 7. HAT next relies on the general principle that municipalities may not act without explicit authorization from the state. HAT is correct that "[w]e have consistently adhered to the so-called Dillon's rule that `a municipality has only those powers and functions specifically authorized by the legislature, and such additional functions as may be incident, subordinate or necessary to the exercise thereof.'" In re Ball Mountain Dam Hydroelectric Project, 154 Vt. 189, 192, 576 A.2d 124, 126 (1990) (quoting Hinesburg Sand & Gravel Co. v. Town of Hinesburg, 135 Vt. 484, 486, 380 A.2d 64, 66 (1977)). The limitations imposed by Dillon's Rule are not dispositive here, however. If the Legislature has delegated sufficient authority to the District to satisfy the demands of the Vermont Constitution, it follows that the District needs no further legislative approval under Dillon's Rule. Moreover, Dillon's Rule is subject to the exception that when the character of the municipality's actions is "proprietary" and not "governmental," the municipality's power is not so limited. See 1 J. Dillon, Municipal Corporations § 109, at 182 (5th ed. 1911) (stating that "[o]ver all [a municipal corporation's] civil, political, or governmental powers, the authority of the legislature is, in the nature of things, supreme and without limitation," but that "in its proprietary or private character ... the [municipal] corporation is to be regarded ... as a private corporation, or at least not public in the sense that the power of the legislature over it or the rights represented by it, is omnipotent" (emphasis in original)). While the proprietary functions of a municipality are often difficult to distinguish from its governmental powers, id. § 110, at 183, the distinction is especially clear with respect to the municipality's ownership of property. See id. § 109, at 181 (stating that the distinction between governmental and proprietary functions "is highly important, and is frequently referred to, particularly in the cases relating to the property ... of municipal corporations"). Since the District owns or leases all of the lands in question, Dillon's Rule places no limitation on the District's ability to restrict hunting and trapping.

¶ 8. HAT's final assertion as to the District's authority relies on 24 V.S.A. § 2295, which states, in relevant part "Except as otherwise provided by law, no town, city or incorporated village, by ordinance, resolution or other enactment, shall directly regulate hunting, fishing and trapping or the possession ... of traps, firearms, ammunition, or components of firearms or ammunition." There is no question that this statute, standing alone, would prohibit any municipality from enacting regulations limiting hunting and trapping within its boundaries. The District, however, points out that § 2295 does not apply where "otherwise provided by law," and cites two sources of legal authority to implement a hunting and trapping ban despite the restrictions of § 2295. First, it relies on 24 V.S.A. § 2291(8), which states that municipalities have the authority "[t]o regulate or prohibit the use or discharge, but not possession of, firearms within the...