Johnson v. City of Shorewood, Minnesota
| Decision Date | 05 March 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 02-3562.,No. 02-4081.,No. 03-2023.,02-3562.,02-4081.,03-2023. |
| Citation | 360 F.3d 810 |
| Parties | Ronald Richard JOHNSON; Dee Lundberg Johnson, Plaintiffs/Appellants, v. CITY OF SHOREWOOD, MINNESOTA; City of Minnetonka, Minnesota, and its Mayor in her official capacity; Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District, and the Chair of its Board of Managers in his official capacity; Trivesco, a partnership, and its partners; Robert H. Mason, Inc., a corporation; Highland Properties, Inc., a corporation; Steiner & Koppelman, Inc., a corporation; Highland Villa Builders, Inc., a corporation; United States of America; Corps of Engineers, being sued as the Corps of Engineers of the United States; Louis Caldera, The Honorable, Secretary of the United States Army in his/her official capacity or his successor; Joseph N. Ballard, Lt. General, the Commander-in-Chief of the Corps of Engineers of the United States in his/her official capacity, Defendants/Appellees. Ronald Richard Johnson; Dee Lundberg Johnson, Plaintiffs/Appellees, v. City of Shorewood, Minnesota; Defendant/Appellant, City of Minnetonka, Minnesota, and its Mayor in her official capacity; Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District, and the Chair of its Board of Managers in his official capacity; Trivesco, a partnership, and its partners; Robert H. Mason, Inc., a corporation; Steiner & Koppelman, Inc., a corporation; United States of America; Corps of Engineers, being sued as the Corps of Engineers of the United States; Louis Caldera, The Honorable, Secretary of the United States Army in his/her official capacity or his successor; Joseph N. Ballard, Lt. General, the Commander-in-Chief of the Corps of Engineers of the United States in his/her official capacity; Highland Properties, Inc., a corporation; Highland Villa Builders, Inc., a corporation, Defendants/Appellees. Ronald Richard Johnson; Dee Lundberg Johnson, Plaintiffs/Appellants, v. City of Shorewood, Minnesota; and its Mayor in his official capacity; City of Minnetonka, Minnesota, and its Mayor in her official capacity; Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District, and the Chair of its Board of Managers in his official capacity; Trivesco, a partnership, and its partners; Robert H. Mason, Inc., a corporation; Highland Properties, Inc., a corporation; Steiner & Koppelman, Inc., a corporation; Highland Villa Builders, Inc., a corporation; United States of America; Corps of Engineers, being sued as the Corps of Engineers of the United States; The Honorable Louis Caldera, Secretary of the United States Army in his/her official capacity or his successor; Lt. General Joseph N. Ballard, the Commander-in-Chief of the Corps of Engineers of the United States in his/her official capacity, Defendants/Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eighth Circuit |
Erick G. Kaardal, argued, Minneapolis, Minnesota, for appellants/cross-appellees.
George C. Hoff, argued, Eden Prairie, Minnesota, (Kimberly B. Kozar, on the brief), for appellee/cross-appellant City of Shorewood.
Joseph N. Ballard, Louis Caldera, argued, Corps of Engineers, United States, Patricia R. Cangemi, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Thomas B. Heffelfinger, on the brief).
Christopher Scott Hayhoe, argued, Minneapolis, Minnesota, for appellees Highland Villa and Highlan Properties.
Before LOKEN, Chief Judge, WOLLMAN, and HANSEN, Circuit Judges.
This appeal represents the continuation of Ronald and Dee Johnson's multi-year litigation over a 20-acre parcel of land they own in Hennepin County, Minnesota. After pursuing several state court actions during the 1990s, the Johnsons brought this suit in federal court against the cities of Shorewood and Minnetonka, Minnesota, the Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District (Watershed District), various private real estate developers,1 and the United States of America (acting through the Army Corps of Engineers and certain Army officials). The Johnsons assert a multitude of federal and state claims, but their primary allegation is that the appellees have, individually and in concert, effected various regulatory and physical takings of their property and conspired to prevent them from receiving just compensation. Adopting a series of reports and recommendations by a magistrate judge,2 the district court3 dismissed the claims against the United States for want of subject matter jurisdiction and on statute of limitations grounds, granted summary judgment to the remaining defendants, and declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the pendent state law claims.4 The Johnsons appeal each of these decisions, as well as certain discovery rulings and the decision denying them leave to submit a third amended complaint. Shorewood cross-appeals, arguing that the district court should have found certain claims barred by res judicata. We affirm in all respects, albeit on slightly different grounds with respect to some of the claims.
The subject property, which the Johnsons purchased in 1981, is located within the city of Shorewood. It consists of three wooded knolls separated by a flat, centrally located field. The field is diagonally bisected by a drainage ditch running from the northeast corner to the southwest corner. Before 1984, water ran through the ditch and headed south from the Johnson property, ultimately emptying into Purgatory Creek. In 1980, prior to the Johnsons' purchase, the field was designated as a wetland on the National Wetland Inventory Map issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.5
After the Johnsons purchased the property, Trivesco began developing land to the south and west. Dubbed "Waterford," the resulting subdivision required the installation of roads and utilities. In 1984, Shorewood obtained the consent of the United States Army Corps of Engineers to install the roads and utilities under an existing Clean Water Act Permit that authorized the filling of "headwaters wetlands." The Watershed District issued permits for the work.
Shorewood constructed a road berm, culvert, and pond-control structure along the southern boundary of the Johnson property. The pond-control structure raised the bottom of the drainage ditch above its original elevation and created a pond near the southern boundary of the Johnson property. Based on the design of the pond-control structure, the Watershed District designated a 100-year storm event flood plain at an elevation of 917.1 feet above sea level and prohibited construction at elevations lower than 919.1 feet. Johnson v. City of Shorewood, No. 91-18099, at 4 (Minn. Dist. Ct., Aug. 17, 1993, Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Order For Judgment).
The Johnsons commenced state court litigation against Shorewood in 1991, alleging inverse condemnation under both the federal and Minnesota constitutions. The state court determined that the flood plain restrictions did not constitute a regulatory taking, but concluded that the pond and associated control structure had physically taken the Johnsons' property up to 914 feet above sea level because the pond would rise to that elevation during "major storm events." Id. at 5. Accordingly, the state court issued a writ of mandamus compelling Shorewood to commence condemnation proceedings for the purpose of acquiring a drainage easement on the Johnsons' property up to 914 feet above sea level. Id. The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed this judgment. Johnson v. City of Shorewood, No. CX-93-2452 , review denied, (Minn. July 15, 1994).
Shorewood instituted condemnation proceedings and awarded the Johnsons $2,000 for the easement and $3,000 for "cost to cure" damages. Not satisfied with the award, the Johnsons brought a second state court action, this one challenging the scope of the taking and the amount of the award. The state court held that the Johnsons were collaterally estopped from re-litigating the scope of the taking6 and submitted the valuation issue to a jury. The jury awarded the Johnsons $2,000 for the taking and $63,000 for clean-up costs. The state court vacated the $2,000 takings award, however, in light of the jury's finding that the taking had not diminished the market value of the Johnsons' land. Although both parties appealed, the Johnsons did not contest the amount of the award. The Minnesota Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment, holding that the $63,000 award was appropriate because the value of the Johnsons' property would have been diminished absent clean-up of debris caused by the flooding. City of Shorewood v. Johnson, No. C5-97-1525, 1998 WL 188561, at *1 (Minn.Ct.App. April 21, 1998).
In 1996, the Johnsons brought suit against the city of Minnetonka, alleging that development of the Aschcroft subdivision in Minnetonka had been diverting storm water on to the Johnsons's property since as early as 1992. The state court dismissed the action without prejudice for failure to join necessary parties. The Johnsons did not appeal from the dismissal, electing instead to file the federal district court action giving rise to the present appeal.
The Johnsons's second amended complaint spans fifty-five pages and includes twenty-three counts. It alleges numerous constitutional violations stemming from regulatory and physical takings of the Johnson property from at least 1984 to the present,7 and alleges a conspiracy to accomplish the takings and to prevent the Johnsons from receiving compensation. The complaint also alleges a violation by the United States of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and includes a battery of pendent state law claims for, inter alia, breach of contract, promissory estoppel, fraud, misrepresentation, negligence, and inverse condemnation.
The district court concluded that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the Johnsons's takings claims against the United States. Having reviewed the...
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