Martino v. Santa Clara Valley Water Dist.
| Decision Date | 14 April 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 81-4578,81-4578 |
| Parties | Bruno MARTINO and Eugenia Martino, Plaintiffs/Appellants, v. SANTA CLARA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT, et al., Defendants/Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Joseph M. Gughemetti, San Mateo, Cal., for plaintiffs-appellants.
Richard J. Wylie, Wylie, Blunt & McBride, San Jose, Cal., Marc G. Hynes, Sunnyvale, Cal., for defendants-appellees.
On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Before BROWNING, Chief Judge, PREGERSON, Circuit Judge, and SOLOMON, * District Judge.
Bruno and Eugenia Martino brought this action for damages against the Santa Clara Valley Water District ("Water District"), the City of Morgan Hill ("Morgan Hill") and the Water District's chief real estate agent, Donald A. Lawrie. The Martinos sought damages for inverse condemnation and for violations of the Federal Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1983, 1985 and 1986, arising out of an alleged "taking" of their property without just compensation.
The district court granted defendants' motion for summary judgment against the Martinos on both claims. The court held that the Martinos' failure to submit a development plan upon which the Water District and Morgan Hill could act precluded the Martinos from proving an "invasion or appropriation" of their property rights and that the case was therefore not ripe for adjudication. The Martinos appealed.
Based on our belief that the Martinos' complaint alleged facts which, if true, could constitute a "taking" whether or not a development plan was submitted, we hold that summary judgment was inappropriate. Accordingly, we reverse and remand the matter for trial.
The Martinos are the owners of approximately 4.4 acres of land in the City of In March 1974, the Water District adopted Ordinance No. 74-1, which provides, in pertinent part:
Morgan Hill, Santa Clara County, California. The Martinos' land is located within a 66,400-acre area covered by the Llagas Creek Watershed Project Plan ("the Llagas Project"), a flood-control program begun in 1968. The Llagas Project has three basic objectives: (1) providing land-treatment measures to reduce erosion and sediment production within the watershed; (2) modifying 29.4 miles of the Llagas Creek and its major tributaries to increase their capacity and constructing levees to limit the flood-plain width along 2.8 miles of Llagas Creek; and (3) raising Chesbro Dam 11 feet. From the inception of the Llagas Project, part of the Martinos' land has been slated for eventual public acquisition by the Water District for channel excavation and construction of a waterway levee.
7.2 Without having first secured a permit ... or other written approval from the [Water] District, it shall be unlawful after the effective date of this ordinance for any person, firm, corporation, ... or district to do or cause to be done any of the following:
* * *
B. Construct, place or maintain any structure or perform any grading upon a levee or on a District project.
In addition, Section 10 of the ordinance states:
In order to permit the provision of flood control services by the District, the Engineer will request, wherever equitable and appropriate, that the city or the county having jurisdiction secure flood control dedications to the District from landowners seeking a change of land use.
In August 1975, the Martinos applied for subdivision of their land into three parcels. The Morgan Hill Planning Commission approved the application subject to the condition that the Martinos reserve or dedicate to the Water District a 96-foot-wide right of way across their property. The Martinos appealed the Planning Commission determination to the Morgan Hill City Council. The City Council ordered that the dedication be reduced to 35 feet and that an additional 61 feet be reserved for eventual purchase by the Water District if needed. The Martinos subsequently conveyed the 35-foot easement to the Water District without compensation and leased one of the subdivided parcels for the construction of a Burger King restaurant.
In January 1980, Morgan Hill completed a "General Plan Policy Document," which provided, in part, that "[d]evelopment shall be prohibited within the floodway areas." Apparently in response to this declaration of policy, the Martinos wrote a letter to Lawrie, chief real estate agent for the Water District, dated July 3, 1980, inquiring (1) when the Water District intended to purchase or condemn the proposed right of way across the Martinos' property, and (2) what would be the effect, if any, on the right of way if the Martinos submitted a development plan for either or both of their remaining two parcels.
By letter dated July 18, 1980, Lawrie informed the Martinos that construction on the relevant portion of the Llagas Creek "probably would not occur prior to 1986" and that acquisition of the necessary rights of way "would normally occur in the preceding year, most likely 1985." Lawrie explained that the Llagas Project was then in a moratorium stage pending completion of an Environmental Impact Statement and that the target date for reauthorization of the Project was July 1, 1981. Lawrie further stated:
The proposed right of way width is 180 feet, 1 as indicated on the attached drawing. Previously, an easement was granted to the District by you across a portion of the property. The right of way requirements would be the same, should you submit a development plan prior to project acquisition.
The 180-foot right of way comprises, according to the Martinos, 1.12 acres, or one-third of the subject property.
On or about July 21, 1980, the Martinos wrote again to Lawrie requesting, among other things, more specific information regarding the likely effect of the proposed right of way on any development plan that the Martinos might later submit. Lawrie, by letter dated July 25, 1980, responded:
If you submit a development plan during the present restudy period and prior to the completion and approval of the Environmental Impact Statement, the District would request that the entire 180 feet of right of way be dedicated. Once we are assured that the Federal project is going to proceed, and if, subsequently to that time, a development plan is submitted, we would request that the land be reserved for future purchase.
In September 1980, the Martinos sought an informal opinion from Morgan Hill regarding the prospects of developing their property in light of the Water District's plans for public acquisition. Morgan Hill responded by letter dated September 16, 1980, that the Martinos "would have to meet all City and Water District requirements in order to have the project approved" and "go through the proper steps with engineering and archtectural [sic] consultants to prepare plans for the City and meet the City requirements and obtain the necessary approvals." It is undisputed that the Martinos never applied for a development permit and never attempted to sell the property.
The Martinos filed their complaint on October 24, 1980. They alleged that the acts of the Water District and Morgan Hill were intended to preclude all development and use of their property and to depress the value of their property pending public acquisition. According to the Martinos, their property "has been deprived of all of its reasonable beneficial economic uses and its economic return and marketability," thus resulting in a "taking" of the property without just compensation in September 1980. The Martinos also alleged that these same acts, taken together with the acts of Lawrie as the Water District's agent, constituted a violation of the Federal Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. Secs. 1983, 1985 and 1986.
Defendants moved for summary judgment on both claims, contending, in essence, (1) that the matter was not "ripe" for judicial intervention because the Martinos had not submitted a development plan upon which the Water District and/or Morgan Hill could take official action; (2) that the conduct alleged by the Martinos did not amount to a "taking"; and (3) that even if a "taking" had occurred, the Martinos' proper remedy was declaratory relief and not damages.
After oral argument, the district court tentatively denied the motion. Less than one week later, however, the court requested reargument on the question whether the opinions of the California Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court in Agins v. City of Tiburon, 24 Cal.3d 266, 598 P.2d 25, 157 Cal.Rptr. 372 (1979), aff'd, 447 U.S. 255, 100 S.Ct. 2138, 65 L.Ed.2d 106 (1980), were dispositive of the instant case. At the conclusion of reargument on October 15, 1981, the court stated from the bench:
The California Supreme Court through Justice Richardson, and the Supreme Court of the United States through Justice Powell, have made it abundantly clear that simply relying on a general plan of the city, or the water district, is not sufficient to constitute inverse condemnation.
Both decisions make it clear--and counsel--able counsel who have read both of these decisions agree--that there must be an invasion.
Now the question as to whether or not there is an exception to this rule, I don't think ... applies in this case.
In the first place, the cases that were relied upon actually involved takings. But, in any event, it doesn't seem to me that the case is now ripe for trial. And using the language of the court in Selby against the City of San Buenaventura: The adoption of a general plan is several And in the case at bar, the landowner has made no application for approval of a specific form of development.
leagues short of a firm declaration of an intention to condemn property. In order to state a cause of action for inverse condemnation, there must be an invasion or appropriation of some valuable property right which the landowner possesses and the invasion or...
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