Matthews v. U.S., 82-8111
| Decision Date | 29 August 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 82-8111,82-8111 |
| Citation | 713 F.2d 677 |
| Parties | Peggy J. MATTHEWS, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. The UNITED STATES of America, et al., Defendants-Appellees. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
Willard & Rushing, H. Bruce Jackson, David Louis Hill, Atlanta, Ga., for plaintiff-appellant.
Bernard E. Namie, Asst. U.S. Atty., Martin W. Matzen and Edward J. Shawaker, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Washington, D.C., for United States.
Erwin, Epting, Gibson & McLeon, Eugene A. Epting, Athens, Ga., for Harbor Light, Sidney L. Moore and Warren A. Moore.
John F. Manning, Stepp & Manning, Decatur, Ga., for all others.
Appeals from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.
Before FAY, HENDERSON and HATCHETT, Circuit Judges.
We here review (1) the district court's refusal to grant an injunction requiring the United States Army Corps of Engineers to remove a boat dock and enforce the applicable regulations regarding discharge of sewage into a lake; (2) the district court's refusal to enforce an implied restrictive covenant in favor of a lakeside property owner, and (3) denial of an award of attorney's fees against the United States pursuant to 28 U.S.C.A. § 2412. We affirm in part and reverse in part.
Peggy J. Matthews brought this action to challenge the United States Army Corps of Engineer's (Corps) authorization of the placement and operation of a condominium-styled boat dock as part of a commercial marina on Lake Hartwell in Hart County, Georgia. Matthews alleges that the location of the boat dock adjacent to her property causes a diminution in the value of her property and obstructs her view of the cove on which her property is located.
The United States owns Lake Hartwell, and it is under the administration of the Corps of Engineers. In 1965, the Corps executed a thirty-year commercial concession lease to Tugaloo Development Corp. for fourteen acres of Lake Hartwell shoreline, referred to as "collar lands." Tugaloo Development Corp. assigned this lease to Harbor Light Marina, Inc. (Harbor Light). The lease specifically authorizes Harbor Light
to furnish facilities and provide and maintain docks for privately-owned boats, to service and care for privately-owned boats, to sell gasoline and oil, and to rent boats and transport passengers for hire, all for the benefit of the boating public. Defendants, Warren and Sidney Moore, are officers, directors, shareholders, and managers of Harbor Light Marina, Inc.
Matthews v. United States, 526 F.Supp. 993, 995-96 (M.D.Ga.1981).
The main Harbor Light Marina complex is comprised of six large docks containing multiple boat slips. Except for dock D-1, boat slips are available to the public on a Corps of Engineers approved rental basis. Until December, 1978, when Dock F was constructed, Warren Moore and the other Dock F slip owners rented boat slips in the main marina complex.
In late 1976, several of the Dock F slip owners submitted a proposal to Warren Moore regarding the construction of a boat dock. The dock under the proposal would be constructed in the area leased to Harbor Light Marina and would be financed, owned, and maintained by private individuals rather than by Harbor Light Marina. The eleven interested individuals formed a "Dock F Association" which included Warren Moore. The proposed location of Dock F was three-quarters of a mile around the shoreline from the main marina complex and adjacent to Matthews's lake house. In November, 1977, the Corps approved Dock F's location, construction, and operation on a condominium basis with the eleven individuals in the Dock F Association as owners. The Dock F Association purchased a parcel of private property from Harbor Light Marina adjacent to the proposed location of the dock, designated Lot C, for use as a parking lot.
In April, 1978, construction of Dock F began and was substantially completed by June of 1978. Permanent fixtures for telephone and electric lines were completed in January, 1979. The eleven individuals owning boat slips in Dock F paid the total cost of Dock F, approximately $20,000. Each individual owner was additionally required to pay $50.00 into an escrow account for the maintenance and repair of the dock and for utilities. Approximately $2,000, ten percent of these amounts, was paid to Harbor Light Marina which reported this amount as income from boat slip rental. Of that ten percent, three percent, or about $600, was paid to the United States under the lease; thus, the total profit to Harbor Light Marina was approximately $1,500. Matthews, 526 F.Supp. at 996.
Under the terms of the commercial concession lease, Harbor Light Marina was authorized to construct docking facilities. Therefore, as a matter of formality, Harbor Light Marina issued bills of sale for the boat slips in Dock F to the eleven individual owners. The district court found that the
bills of sale purport to pass title to the eleven individual defendants, and provide that Harbor Light is authorized to expend funds from the escrow account as may be necessary for repairs on Dock F and to pay insurance and utilities bills 'if and only when' the individual owners failed to do so. The bills of sale further provided that the sale of Dock F is made subject to the terms of the commercial concession lease.
526 F.Supp. at 996. The district court also found that, although Harbor Light Marina was ultimately responsible for ensuring that owners of Dock F did not violate the terms of the lease, "in reality, Harbor Light Marina, Inc., has had little, if any, involvement in the planning, construction, operation, or supervision of Dock F." 526 F.Supp. at 996. Lot C was paved for use as a parking lot and provides access across public "collar lands" to Dock F. The district court found that at least two of the parking spaces constructed for Lot C extend onto public "collar lands." The only public access to Dock F is by boat, or by walking along the public shoreline. "Private property," or signs containing similar messages, were posted on or around Dock F until protests by Corps officials caused their removal. Dock F is used exclusively by the eleven individual defendants or their invitees. The court found that no public services or facilities such as boat ramps, restrooms, food, fuel pumps, or other such services are associated with Dock F. 526 F.Supp. at 997.
After Matthews purchased her lot in 1974, the Corps required Matthews and Harbor Light Marina to remove a private dock in the vicinity of the present location of Dock F. Matthews used that dock as her personal dock. The reason the Corps gave "for requiring removal of the dock ... was that the dock was located in an area reserved for public use and had not been approved by the Corps." 526 F.Supp. at 998.
In 1976, when Warren Moore spoke to her regarding the possibility of a dock being built in the area near her property, Matthews objected. Matthews was not given any further notice by Moore, the Corps, or any of the individual owners of the proposed construction of Dock F. In either late June or early July, 1978, Matthews first saw the dock. At that time, construction of the main structure of the dock was substantially completed. Matthews hired a lawyer who notified the Corps of her objections to the dock. From July, 1978, through November, 1979, the lawyer attempted to resolve the matter with the Corps. After unsuccessfully seeking to resolve the matter through public officials, on March 6, 1980, Matthews filed the present action.
The district court held that, under Georgia law, it was unable to find the existence of an implied restrictive covenant limiting Lot C to residential use. Based on the United States Environmental Protection Agency's classification of Lake Hartwell, and the Corps' regulations, the court found that the discharge of sewage from boats berthed at Dock F was not unlawful. Consequently, the court refused to grant an injunction prohibiting discharge of treated effluent from the boats berthed at Dock F. Matthews prevailed on the issue of the location of Dock F. The court held that by permitting the construction and operation of Dock F, a private dock, in the public recreation area leased to Harbor Light Marina, the Corps abused its discretion. Despite the fact that Matthews prevailed on this issue, the court refused to grant an injunction requiring the removal of Dock F from its present location. The district court also refused to award Matthews attorney's fees against the United States under the Equal Access to Justice Act, 28 U.S.C.A. § 2412(d)(1)(A).
In a pendent state claim, Matthews alleged that the individual defendants, Harbor Light Marina, Sidney Moore, and Warren Moore, breached a restrictive covenant applicable to Lot C by permitting it to be used as a parking lot. Matthews argues that the district court is erroneous in finding that there is no implied restrictive covenant limiting Lot C to residential use because no specific plans, plots, or general scheme of residential development were ever prepared for the property.
The district court's findings of fact will not be set aside unless they are clearly erroneous. Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a). The clearly erroneous standard of review applies to both subsidiary and ultimate facts. American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia v. Rabun County, etc., 698 F.2d 1098, 1110 (11th Cir.1983). The district court's findings on this issue are not clearly erroneous.
The district court found that Dock F is a private dock, not a public commercial concession dock as contemplated by the lease between Harbor Light and the United States. The court further found that the Corps abused its discretion in violation of the applicable regulations governing management of Lake Hartwell when it approved the construction, placement, and operation of Dock F as a private dock. Although the district...
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