Jaylin Investments, Inc. v. Moreland Hills

• Decision Date: 11 January 2006
• Docket Number: No. 2004-1145.,2004-1145.
• Citation: 107 Ohio St.3d 339,2006 Ohio 4,839 N.E.2d 903
• Parties: JAYLIN INVESTMENTS, INC., Appellant, v. VILLAGE OF MORELAND HILLS, Appellee.
• Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Page 903

839 N.E.2d 903

107 Ohio St.3d 339

2006-Ohio-4

JAYLIN INVESTMENTS, INC., Appellant, v. VILLAGE OF MORELAND HILLS, Appellee.

No. 2004-1145.

Supreme Court of Ohio.

Submitted June 15, 2005.

Decided January 11, 2006.

Berns, Ockner & Greenberger, L.L.C., Sheldon Berns, and Benjamin J. Ockner, Cleveland, for appellant.

Leonard A. Spremulli and Santo T. Incorvaia, Cleveland, for appellee.

Byron & Byron Co., L.P.A., Barry M. Byron, and Stephen L. Byron, Willoughby, urging affirmance for amici curiae Ohio Municipal League and Cuyahoga County Law Directors Association.

Frost Brown Todd, L.L.C., Scott D. Phillips, and Matthew C. Blickensderfer, Cincinnati, urging affirmance for amicus curiae village of Indian Hill.

David M. Benjamin, Solon City Law Director, urging affirmance for amicus curiae city of Solon, Ohio.

Walter & Haverfield, L.L.P., R. Todd Hunt, and Frederick W. Whatley, Cleveland, urging affirmance for amici curiae Chagrin River Watershed Partners, Inc. and Cuyahoga Soil and Water Conservation District.

McDonald Hopkins Co., L.P.A., Michael W. Wise, and Richard W. Cline, Cleveland, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, L.L.P., and Louis E. Tosi, Toledo, Aronoff, Rosen & Hunt, Stanley J. Aronoff, and Richard A. Paolo, Keating, Muething & Klekamp, P.L.L., Joseph L. Trauth Jr., and Thomas M. Tepe Jr., Cincinnati, urging reversal for amici curiae Associated Estates Realty Corporation, First Interstate Properties, Ltd., Forest City Enterprises, Inc., Goldberg Companies, Inc., Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati, Home Builders Association of Greater Cleveland, Home Builders Association of Greater Toledo, Ohio Home Builders Association, Inc., and Visconsi Companies, Ltd.

LUNDBERG STRATTON, J.

{¶ 1} This is an appeal from an action seeking a declaratory judgment that a zoning ordinance, as applied to a landowner's proposed use of property, is unconstitutional. Specifically, the question before us involves the extent to which a court's analysis must focus on the owner's proposed use of the property that is prohibited by the zoning regulation.

{¶ 2} We hold that, in a constitutional analysis, the object of scrutiny is the government's action; therefore, the state or local law or regulation is the focal point of the analysis, not the property owner's proposed use. In an "as applied" challenge, the proposed use may be a relevant factor to be considered; however, the owner must also present evidence to overcome the presumption that the zoning is a valid exercise of the municipality's police powers, as it is applied to the property at issue.

{¶ 3} During the years 2000 and 2001, plaintiff-appellant, Jaylin Investments, Inc. ("Jaylin"), purchased 18 acres of undeveloped land in the village of Moreland Hills, Ohio, appellee. The land is an irregularly shaped tract on a hillside isolated between steep ravines to the south and east and older, modest homes on Ellendale Road and Berkeley Avenue to the north and west.

{¶ 4} Jaylin's property is zoned U1 for single-family homes and subject to area regulations on subdivision lots. Moreland Hills Planning and Zoning Code 1129.02 establishes a two-acre minimum lot size¹ and 1129.03 and 1129.04 of the code establish minimum setbacks and side-yard widths for homes throughout the U1 zoned area.

{¶ 5} Jaylin developed plans to build a subdivision on its property to be named Owl Ridge, consisting of 29 homes on lots approximately one-half acre.² Jaylin submitted its proposal to the village's planning commission, but the village refused to approve Jaylin's proposal because it violated the area regulations in the Planning and Zoning Code, in particular, the two-acre minimum lot size.

{¶ 6} Jaylin did not formally apply for a variance or seek rezoning of its property, but rather filed a complaint for declaratory judgment under R.C. 2721.03 seeking a declaration that the "prohibition of the Proposed Use by the Village's Planning and Zoning Code does not advance the health, safety, morals or general welfare of the Village, is arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable and is, therefore, unconstitutional as applied to the Property." Jaylin asked for an order requiring the village to permit Jaylin to develop its property as proposed.

{¶ 7} Following a bench trial, the court declared that Jaylin had "demonstrated beyond fair debate that, as applied to the Property, the prohibition in the Village's zoning regulations of the Proposed Use is arbitrary and unreasonable and without substantial relation to the public health, safety, morals, or general welfare of the community" and therefore unconstitutional as applied to the property. The court said that Jaylin's proposed use of the property "will have no more adverse impact on the environment than would a development of two acre lots on the Property." The court ordered that Jaylin was entitled to develop its property as it had proposed.

{¶ 8} The appellate court, however, concluded that the trial court had erroneously focused on what Jaylin would do to the property to accommodate the village's environmental concerns and the economic impact upon Jaylin if required to build homes on two-acre lots. However, Jaylin had not alleged a taking of its property. Thus, the testimony about the economic feasibility of the proposed plan, without more, did not invalidate the village's environmental concerns or prove beyond fair debate that the two-acre lot minimum, as applied to Jaylin's property, was unconstitutional. The court of appeals concluded that Jaylin failed to meet its burden of proof. The court reversed the judgment of the trial court.

{¶ 9} This cause is before this court upon our acceptance of a discretionary appeal upon reconsideration of our initial denial.

{¶ 10} Zoning is a valid legislative function of a municipality's police powers. Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. (1926), 272 U.S. 365, 47 S.Ct. 114, 71 L.Ed. 303; Section 19, Article I, Ohio Constitution ("Private property shall ever be held inviolate, but subservient to the public welfare"). Courts should not interfere with zoning decisions unless the municipality exercised its power in an arbitrary and unreasonable manner and the decision has no substantial relation to the public health, safety, morals, or general welfare. Id. at 394, 47 S.Ct. 114, 71 L.Ed. 303; Valley Auto Lease of Chagrin Falls, Inc. v. Auburn Twp. Bd. of Zoning Appeals (1988), 38 Ohio St.3d 184, 185, 527 N.E.2d 825; Willott v. Beachwood (1964), 175 Ohio St. 557, 560, 26 O.O.2d 249, 197 N.E.2d 201.

{¶ 11} A zoning ordinance may be challenged as unconstitutional on its face or as applied to a particular set of facts. Belden v. Union Cent. Life Ins. Co. (1944), 143 Ohio St. 329, 28 O.O. 295, 55 N.E.2d 629, paragraph four of the syllabus. In a facial challenge to a zoning ordinance, the challenger alleges that the overall ordinance, on its face, has no rational relationship to a legitimate governmental purpose and it may not constitutionally be applied under any circumstances. State ex rel. Bray v. Russell (2000), 89 Ohio St.3d 132, 137, 729 N.E.2d 359. See, also, State v. Beckley (1983), 5 Ohio St.3d 4, 7, 5 OBR 66, 448 N.E.2d 1147.

{¶ 12} In an "as applied" challenge to a zoning ordinance, the landowner questions the validity of the ordinance only as it applies to a particular parcel of property. If the ordinance is unconstitutional as applied under those limited circumstances, it nevertheless will continue to be enforced in all other instances. Yajnik v. Akron Dept. of Health, Hous. Div., 101 Ohio St.3d 106, 2004-Ohio-357, 802 N.E.2d 632, ¶ 14. A landowner may also allege that the ordinance so interferes with the use of the property that, in effect, it constitutes a taking of the property. Goldberg Cos., Inc. v. Richmond Hts. City Council (1998), 81 Ohio St.3d 207, 210, 690 N.E.2d 510. Jaylin does not allege that the village's zoning effects a taking of its property.

{¶ 13} In Goldberg, we reaffirmed the standard in Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co. as the appropriate test in a constitutional challenge to zoning regulation in Ohio when the landowner does not allege a taking. Goldberg at 210, 690 N.E.2d 510. Goldberg held that "[a] zoning regulation is presumed to be constitutional unless determined by a court to be clearly arbitrary and unreasonable and without substantial relation to the public health, safety, morals, or general welfare of the community." Id. at syllabus. "The burden of proof remains with the party challenging an ordinance's constitutionality, and the standard of proof remains `beyond fair debate.'" Id., 81 Ohio St.3d at 214, 690 N.E.2d 510. See Shemo v. Mayfield Hts. (2000), 88 Ohio St.3d 7, 10, 722 N.E.2d 1018; Cent. Motors Corp. v. Pepper Pike (1995), 73 Ohio St.3d 581, 584, 653 N.E.2d 639. The parties do not dispute these basic legal principles. Nor do they advocate revisiting Goldberg, and we see no reason to do so.

{¶ 14} In a constitutional analysis, courts must strive to balance the benefits to the public against the disadvantages to the private interests of the landowner. C. Miller Chevrolet, Inc. v. Willoughby Hills (1974), 38 Ohio St.2d 298, 303, 67 O.O.2d 358, 313 N.E.2d 400. Each case is judged on its own unique facts.

{¶ 15} Jaylin does not assert a facial challenge to the zoning or allege a taking of its property. The essence of Jaylin's case is that the court of appeals should have focused its analysis on Jaylin's proposed use of the property and whether it was unconstitutional for the village to prohibit Jaylin from building on the one-half-acre lots. Jaylin contends that its proposed use meets or exceeds the environmental goals underlying the zoning ordinances; therefore, it was unconstitutional for the city to prohibit Jaylin from building Owl Ridge as proposed.

{¶ 16} The court of appeals, however, narrowly articulated the issue as "whether the village's ordinance is unconstitutional as applied to the particular parcel of property at issue," citing Goldberg, 81...