Minneapolis Auto Parts Co. v. City of Minneapolis, 3-82 Civ. 1320.
| Decision Date | 23 August 1983 |
| Docket Number | No. 3-82 Civ. 1320.,3-82 Civ. 1320. |
| Citation | 572 F. Supp. 389 |
| Parties | MINNEAPOLIS AUTO PARTS COMPANY, INC., Joseph E. Garber and Nancy Garber, Plaintiffs, v. The CITY OF MINNEAPOLIS, Albert J. Hofstede, Judy Corrao, Patrick M. Daugherty, Louis DeMars, Walter Dziedzic, Zollie Green, Sally Howard, Charlee Hoyt, Mark Kaplan, Alice W. Rainville, Walter H. Rochstein, Dennis W. Schulstad, Jacqueline Slater, Parker Trostel, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
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Rosen & Ballenthin by William S. Rosen, St. Paul, Minn., for plaintiffs.
Robert J. Alfton, City Atty., City of Minneapolis, by Les R. Karjala, Asst. City Atty., Minneapolis, Minn., for defendants.
This matter comes before the court upon defendants' motion for summary judgment. This memorandum order sets forth the material facts about which the court finds there is no genuine issue, and the conclusions of law regarding defendants' motion.
Plaintiff Minneapolis Auto Parts Company, Inc. (hereinafter "MAPCO") is a Minnesota corporation with its principal place of business in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Plaintiffs Joseph and Nancy Garber, husband and wife, are citizens of the United States and residents of the State of Minnesota. They are controlling stockholders of MAPCO and employed by MAPCO.
Defendant City of Minneapolis is an incorporated city in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Defendant Hofstede is a resident of the State of Minnesota and at all relevant times was Mayor of the City of Minneapolis. Defendants Corrao, Daugherty, DeMars, Dziedzic, Green, Howard, Hoyt, Kaplan, Rainville, Rockenstein, Schulstad, Slater and Trostel are residents of the State of Minnesota and at all relevant times were Aldermen of the City of Minneapolis.
MAPCO is a motor vehicle parts business. Specifically, the business involves the purchase of used motor vehicles, the dismantling of the vehicles, the open storage and display of motor vehicle parts and accessories, and the sale of those parts to the public. Since 1928, MAPCO or its predecessor proprietors consisting of members of the Garber family, conducted business in the 1600 block of Washington Avenue North in Minneapolis. The land at that location was zoned M-3, which explicitly permits the operation of a junk yard. In 1979, the property at 1600 Washington Avenue North was acquired by the State of Minnesota under the power of eminent domain for the purpose of constructing a highway. As a result of this acquisition, plaintiffs were forced to move MAPCO to a different location.
Joseph Garber and members of his family own and control a corporation which is the fee owner of property located at 4640 Lyndale Avenue North in Minneapolis. From 1979 to present, the Lyndale property has been zoned M-2 Limited Manufacturing District.
Plaintiffs intended to move the MAPCO business to the Lyndale property. In order to do so, they were required to first secure the proper permits and licenses. Title 13 Minneapolis Code of Ordinances § 265.60 provides that:
No building, structure, vacant lot or premises within the city shall be kept, used or maintained for the purpose of therein or thereon keeping, storing, handling, buying, selling or wrecking used, secondhand or junked motor vehicles or motor vehicle accessories, unless permission to do so has been first obtained from the city council.
Permits under § 265.60 are referred to as special council permits. In addition, Title 13 Minneapolis Code of Ordinances § 321.40 provides that no person shall engage "in the business of dealer in secondhand goods or junk without a secondhand goods dealer's license under this article."
On April 19, 1979, plaintiffs filed with the City of Minneapolis an application for a special council permit and a transfer of their secondhand goods dealer's license to the Lyndale location. A hearing was held before the City Council at which plaintiffs and the City of Minneapolis presented evidence. By resolution adopted by defendants Corrao, Daugherty, DeMars, Dziedzic, Green, Howard, Hoyt, Kaplan, Rainville, Rockenstein, Schulstad, Slater and Trostel on May 25, 1979, the Minneapolis City Council denied both of plaintiffs' applications. This decision was approved by defendant Hofstede on May 30, 1979.
The City Council based the denial on its written finding that plaintiffs' business would violate the local zoning ordinance because it would be classified as a junk yard. In reaching this decision, the City Council members relied in part on the recommendation of William Nordrum, Jr., Zoning Supervisor of the City of Minneapolis, who told the Council that plaintiffs' proposed use would have been in violation of the Minneapolis Code of Ordinances as he interpreted them. The Council members also relied upon testimony and evidence offered at public hearings, reports of staff and opinions of the City Attorney in arriving at their decision.
On June 27, plaintiff MAPCO commenced an action for injunctive and declaratory relief against the City of Minneapolis in Hennepin County District Court seeking, inter alia, an order directing the City Council to adopt a resolution granting MAPCO's applications and enjoining the City from interfering with MAPCO's use of the Lyndale property for its business. MAPCO alleged in its Complaint that the denial of its applications for the permits and licenses necessary to conduct its business at the Lyndale property was contrary to the ordinances of the City of Minneapolis, was unrelated to the public health, safety and welfare, and was unreasonable, arbitrary, capricious, unlawful and void. Furthermore, MAPCO alleged that the denial of its applications deprived it of the equal protection of the laws and constituted a taking in contravention of the United States Constitution and the Minnesota Constitution.
Plaintiffs had made application to the City Council for a used motor vehicle parts dealer's license pursuant to Title 13 Minneapolis Code of Ordinances § 348.20 in April, 1979. Section 348.20 was not effective until July 1, 1979, at which time MAPCO's civil action in Hennepin County District Court was pending. Plaintiffs also had made application during the summer of 1979 to the City Council for a permit to construct a building on the Lyndale property. Defendants deferred action on plaintiffs' applications for a used motor vehicle parts dealer's license and a building permit until resolution of the Hennepin County action.
On December 14, the Hennepin County District Court issued its decision holding that the denial of MAPCO's applications for licenses and permits1 was "unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious, and therefore unconstitutional and void" and "discriminatory and arbitrary and in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Minnesota Constitution and the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution." Based thereon, the District Court ordered that the City issue to MAPCO the necessary permits and licenses to conduct its business at the Lyndale location and also enjoined the City, its officers, agents, elected representatives and employees from "interfering with the plaintiff's continuous peaceful use and enjoyment of the property" on Lyndale Avenue. The City Council granted the permits and licenses in accordance with the District Court's order. The City's appeal was dismissed by the Minnesota Supreme Court on November 10, 1980.
The City of Minneapolis had commenced a criminal action against plaintiffs Joseph and Nancy Garber on September 13, 1979 for conducting their used motor vehicle parts business at the Lyndale location without the proper licenses and permits. The Municipal Court continued the criminal case until a decision was reached in the then pending Hennepin County action. The criminal charges were dismissed after the resolution of the civil action.
Plaintiffs filed this lawsuit on October 7, 1982. The Complaint alleges that the prosecution of the criminal action against plaintiffs was "in violation of the equal protection and due process clauses of the United States Constitution." Furthermore, it alleges that the denial of plaintiffs' applications for the permits and licenses necessary to conduct their business at the Lyndale location deprived plaintiffs "of their rights and privilege secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States and the State of Minnesota."
Although plaintiffs' Complaint does not specifically refer to it, this action is brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983. In order to state a cause of action under § 1983, plaintiffs must allege that they were deprived of a federal right and that the deprivation was caused by a person or persons acting under color of state law. Gomez v. Toledo, 446 U.S. 635, 640, 100 S.Ct. 1920, 1923-24, 64 L.Ed.2d 572 (1980). Plaintiffs have alleged that defendants, under color of state law, violated their rights to due process and to equal protection of the laws by denying their applications for the permits and licenses necessary to conduct their business at the Lyndale location and by criminally prosecuting plaintiffs for operating their business without the proper permits and licenses. Defendants have moved for summary judgment as to all claims. For the reasons set forth more fully below, the court will grant defendants' motion.
There are both procedural and substantive aspects to due process. Plaintiffs' counsel stated at oral argument, however, that plaintiffs do not claim any violation of procedural due process in this case. Thus, plaintiffs' due process claim embraces only alleged violations of substantive due process.
The general rule is that state action deprives an individual of substantive due process if the state acts in an arbitrary or capricious manner regarding that individual. See Evans v. Page, 516 F.2d 18, 21 (8th Cir.1975). However, the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has rejected the view that "substantive due process is a specific...
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