Lee v. Osage Ridge Winery

• Decision Date: 31 March 1987
• Docket Number: No. 51759,51759
• Citation: 727 S.W.2d 218
• Parties: Terrance LEE, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. OSAGE RIDGE WINERY, et al., Defendants-Respondents.
• Court: Missouri Court of Appeals

Page 218

727 S.W.2d 218

Terrance LEE, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. OSAGE RIDGE WINERY, et al., Defendants-Respondents.

No. 51759.

Missouri Court of Appeals,

Eastern District,

Division Four.

March 31, 1987.

Rollings, Gerhardt & Borchers by James A. Borchers, St. Charles, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Terry A. Gould, Richard A. Stockenberg, Clayton, for defendants-respondents.

SIMON, Judge.

Plaintiffs, Terrance Lee, James M. Schnur and Mary Ann Schnur, husband and wife, Lucian W. Dressel and Eva B. Dressel, husband and wife, appeal an order of the Circuit Court of St. Charles County dismissing their petition for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. On appeal, plaintiffs assert that the trial court erred in dismissing their petition because: (1) they have adequately pleaded their cause; (2) they need not exhaust administrative remedies before seeking injunctive relief; and (3) an equitable suit is the proper method to challenge a violation of zoning ordinances. We reverse and remand.

On August 31, 1984, the St. Charles County Zoning Commissioner, James B. Evans, investigated a possible zoning violation by the Osage Ridge Winery (Osage), located east of Augusta, Missouri in unincorporated St. Charles County. Osage is a limited partnership. Horace Peek and Robert Levine are the general partners. The investigation was conducted pursuant to a request by plaintiffs. Following the investigation, Mr. Joe Nichols, the St. Charles County Planning Director, notified Osage that it was operating in violation of the St. Charles County Zoning Ordinances. Osage's property is located in an A-2 agricultural district, and the applicable ordinance provides that there shall be "no restrictions to the sale or marketing of products raised on the premises." The investigation revealed that none of the wines for sale at Osage were the product of grapes grown on the premises.

In a letter dated September 10, 1984, Osage expressed that it envisioned that its winery would grow and it would harvest grapes on its property and use those grapes to produce wine to sell on the premises. Mr. Nichols was of the opinion that "[u]nder such an arrangement, additional grapes grown elsewhere could be brought in to supplement the native grapes in the wine-making process. Likewise, wines made elsewhere could be sold as a supplement to the wines made there. But the key factors that must be present are that grapes must be grown on the winery grounds and they must be used in the production of wine at the winery."

Osage ceased sales and marketing operations for approximately ten and one-half months. During that time, Osage harvested, crushed, and incorporated grapes grown at the winery into wine made on the premises. Apparently, during that time Osage sought another review by the Zoning Commissioner. Osage sought and received an opinion from the St. Charles County Counselor concerning Osage's compliance with the zoning ordinance. On July 23, 1985 the County Counselor's Office issued an opinion stating that "it is permissible for a winery to produce and sell on the premises wine made from a very small percentage of grapes grown within the A-2 agricultural district." Based on the County Counselor's opinion and another inspection conducted on August 28, 1985, Mr. Nichols concluded that Osage had brought itself within compliance. No written notice was given to plaintiffs. By letter dated August 29, 1985, Mr. Nichols advised the St. Charles County Clerk that Osage would be requesting a county liquor license and since Osage complied with the zoning ordinance, the Commission would not object to the issuance of the license.

On November 25, 1985, plaintiffs filed suit against Osage, seeking to enjoin its operation as a commercial winery in violation of the zoning ordinances applicable to the A-2 agricultural district. Plaintiffs also sought a declaratory judgment to the effect that Osage maintain, use, and occupy its property in conformance with the A-2 zoning ordinance and that such ordinance permitted only the sale or marketing of products raised exclusively on the premises owned by Osage.

On March 24, 1986, Osage filed a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The motion was based on the following grounds: (a) plaintiffs failed to exhaust their administrative remedies; (b) plaintiffs had an adequate remedy at law; (c) plaintiffs had not alleged that they had been damaged; (d) plaintiffs had not alleged that they had suffered any special damages; and (e) the trial court lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter. On June 9, 1986, the trial court dismissed plaintiffs' petition "for failure to state a cause of action and for failure to recite facts which would entitle plaintiffs to relief." The dismissal was predicated on all of the grounds set forth in Osage's motion.

It is well established that in reviewing a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, we accept as true all well pleaded facts, giving the averments a liberal construction, and making reasonable inferences fairly deductible from the facts stated. Schweig v. City of St. Louis, 569 S.W.2d 215, 218 (Mo.App.1978) (citing Concerned Parents v. Caruthersville School District 18, 548 S.W.2d 554, 558 (Mo. banc 1977)). If the facts pleaded and reasonable inferences drawn therefrom, viewed in a light most favorable to the plaintiff, show any ground upon which relief can be granted, then the plaintiff has a right to proceed. Id. (citing Euge v. Golden, 551 S.W.2d 928, 931 (Mo.App.1977)). In accordance with these principles, we consider whether plaintiffs' petition states a claim for relief.

Plaintiffs' petition contained two counts. In Count I, plaintiffs, Terrance Lee and James and Maryann Schnur, alleged that they own property that is directly adjacent to Osage's land, and that because their property is "in such close proximity" to Osage's land, they are "immediately and adversely affected by [Osage's] current use of the property." They allege further that all properties (plaintiffs Lee and Schnur and Osage) involved in Count I are located in an A-2 zoning district as defined in the St. Charles zoning ordinances and that Osage is operating a commercial winery in a manner prohibited by the ordinance, in that Osage is selling and marketing products not raised on the premises. Plaintiffs Lee and Schnur alleged that an actual controversy has arisen and now exists between the parties concerning their respective rights and duties under the zoning ordinances, in that Osage contends that it can produce and sell wines on its property from grapes not raised on the property. Plaintiffs allege that only grapes raised on the property can be sold on the premises under the ordinance, absent a variance granted by the St. Charles County Board of Adjustment. Plaintiffs aver that a judicial declaration is necessary in order that the parties may ascertain their rights with respect to their property. Plaintiffs alleged that Osage's prohibited use of its property has and will continue to cause excessive traffic, congestion, and will create substantial safety hazards and annoyances to plaintiffs, their families and properties. Plaintiffs alleged further that Osage's prohibited use of its property will irreparably injure the value of their property and that they have no adequate remedy at law. For Count I plaintiffs prayed that Osage be enjoined from using its land as a commercial winery in violation of the zoning ordinances and that a declaratory judgment be entered determining that under the zoning ordinance the permissive uses in an A-2 district include the sale or marketing of only those products raised on the premises.

In Count II, plaintiffs, Lucian and Eva Dressel, alleged that they operate a commercial winery located in St. Charles County. They allege that their business and property "are in close proximity to [Osage's] land and are immediately and adversely effected by [Osage's] current use of [its] property for commercial purposes." Plaintiffs Dressel then alleged the same violation of the zoning ordinance as contained in Count I and the same need for a declaratory judgment. They allege that Osage's illegal use of its land "has diminished the salability and rentability of plaintiffs Dressels' property, and changed the character of plaintiffs' property and the immediate neighborhood such that its value as lawfully zoned is being irreparably injured, and is being greatly devaluated constituting an illegal infringement on plaintiffs' property rights." Plaintiffs Dressel seek the same relief as prayed for in Count I.

The trial court's order dismissing plaintiffs' petition for failure to state a claim, rests on the grounds alleged in Osage's motion. Essentially, the grounds present two bases for the trial court's action. The first is that plaintiffs failed to allege special and peculiar damage so as to be entitled to equitable relief. The second is that plaintiffs failed to exhaust administrative remedies, thereby depriving the trial court of jurisdiction. We find no merit in either basis.

Osage argues, and plaintiffs concede, that a private citizen's action to enjoin a zoning violation must be founded on a special damage which is unique to the plaintiffs and different from that suffered by the public at large. We agree. Equity will not interfere to restrain the violation of a zoning ordinance at the insistence of a citizen who suffers no special or peculiar injury (from the act sought to be restrained) different from that suffered by any other citizen. Shelton v. Lentz, 191 Mo.App. 699, 178 S.W. 243, 244-45 (1915). Osage argues that the only type of damage set forth in plaintiffs' petition is excessive traffic, congestion, and noise creating substantial safety hazards and annoyances. Osage maintains per Grommet v. St. Louis County, 680 S.W.2d 246 (Mo.App.1984), that this type of damage is "no different in...