Moody Hill Farms v. U.S. Dept. of the Interior
| Citation | 976 F.Supp. 214 |
| Decision Date | 04 September 1997 |
| Docket Number | No. 95 CIV. 11001(RWS).,95 CIV. 11001(RWS). |
| Parties | MOODY HILL FARMS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, Douglas Durst and Susanne Durst, Raymond McEnroe, Frank S. Perotti and Doris Perotti, Plaintiffs, v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, Defendant. |
| Court | United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. United States District Courts. 2nd Circuit. Southern District of New York |
Rosenberg & Estis, P.C., New York City, for Plaintiffs; Gary M. Rosenberg, Norman Flitt, Michael E. Lefkowitz, Todd E. Soloway, of counsel.
Mary Jo White, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, New York City, for Defendant; Robert W. Sadowski, Assistant U.S. Attorney, of counsel.
Plaintiffs Moody Hill Farms Limited Partnership, Douglas Durst, Susanne Durst, Raymond McEnroe, Frank S. Perotti and Doris Perotti, ("Plaintiffs"), have brought this motion pursuant to Rule 56(b), Fed.R.Civ.P., for summary judgment regarding their action pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. § 701 et seq., (the "APA"), challenging the denial by the Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places (the "Keeper") of Plaintiffs' petition to remove the Hamlet of Coleman Station, ("Coleman Station"), from the National Register of Historic Places, ("National Register"). Defendant the National Park Service of the United States Department of the Interior, (the "NPS"), has also moved for summary judgment and, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(c), for denial of discovery.
For the reasons set forth below, the Moody Hill Plaintiffs' summary judgment motion is denied in part and granted in part, and the NPS' motion for summary judgment is denied.
Moody Hill Farms Limited Partnership ("Moody Hill") operates a composting facility and organic farm at its principal place of business in Coleman Station, a hamlet in the Town of Northeast in Dutchess County, New York. The property on which Moody Hill operates is included within the Coleman Station Historic District.
Douglas and Susanne Durst are the owners of the property upon which Moody Hill operates. Douglas Durst ("Durst") is also a partner in Moody Hill. Raymond McEnroe ("McEnroe") owns a two hundred acre farm, of which twenty-one acres are included within the Coleman Station Historic District. McEnroe is a partner with Durst in Moody Hill (collectively "Moody Hill Plaintiffs"). Frank and Doris Perotti (the "Perottis") own a farm adjacent to the Coleman Station Historic District.
The NPS administers the National Register, which lists districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects of historical, architectural, archeological, cultural and engineering significance.
Plaintiffs filed the instant action on December 29, 1995, seeking judicial review of the Keeper's denial of its petition for removal or Coleman Station from the National Register. Plaintiffs allege that the denial was arbitrary and capricious because the Keeper failed to follow the regulatory requirements for designation of historic districts. In addition, Plaintiffs assert that notice of listing on the National Register was insufficient because the owners of property within the district were not notified until a year and a half after the listing took place, and the Perottis, who own property adjacent to the Coleman Station Historic District, were not notified of the listing at all. While no notice requirement exists under the National Historic Preservation Act ("NHPA"), Plaintiffs maintain that their right to timely, individual notification arises from the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
On March 8, 1996, the Court ordered discovery to proceed. On May 3, 1996, the NPS moved simultaneously for summary judgment and for the denial of discovery. On August 20, 1996, the NPS' motions were denied.
On February 26, 1997, Plaintiffs filed this motion for summary judgment. The NPS also moved for summary judgment and oral argument was heard on May 7, 1997, at which time the motion was deemed fully submitted.
Coleman Station is a hamlet in the Town of Northeast in Dutchess County, New York. In February 1993, several local residents submitted an application to the National Register and the State Register requesting nomination of Coleman Station as a Historic District. It may be fair to infer that the organic fertilizing employed by Moody Hill did not endear the farm to its neighbors. The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, (the "NYHP"), sent notice to property owners within the district, notifying them of the nomination to the State and National Registers, as required by federal regulations. 36 C.F.R. § 60.6(c).1 The Moody Hill Plaintiffs submitted objections regarding the nomination to the National and State Registers on the grounds that the area did not meet the necessary criteria.2 In August 1993, the Deputy Commissioner of the NYHP approved Coleman Station for listing on the State Register without written opinion, and forwarded the nomination to the Keeper.
On October 25, 1993, seventy-four days after the approval of Coleman Station for listing on the State Register, property owners within Coleman Station received notice that Coleman Station had been listed on the State Register. The Moody Hill Plaintiffs then filed an Article 78 proceeding in Supreme Court, Dutchess County, challenging the listing as arbitrary and capricious on three grounds: (1) Coleman Station did not meet the criteria for such a listing as established by the New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Law; (2) notice of determination of the listing did not provide notice within the time required by the New York Code of Rules and Regulations, 9 N.Y.C.R.R. § 427.5; and (3) the decision had been issued without a written finding in support as required by the regulations. Id. On June 29, 1994, the New York Supreme Court, Dutchess County, granted Moody Hill's Article 78 proceeding and annulled the determination which listed Coleman Station on the State Register. The court based its decision on the violation of state regulations requiring timely notice and a written finding. In the Matter of the Application of Moody Hill Farms Limited Partnership v. New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, Dutchess Cty. Clerk's Index No. 0324/94, June 29, 1994 (Beisner, J.).
On August 19, 1994, the Moody Hill Plaintiffs received notice that the NYHP was considering renomination of Coleman Station as a historical district for both the State and National Registers. Because the Moody Hill Plaintiffs had not yet received notice that the National Register listing had occurred, this letter reinforced their impression that their objections as to both listings would be considered. The Moody Hill Plaintiffs submitted written objections raising questions as to whether Coleman Station met the standards and criteria necessary for State or National Register listing.
Meanwhile, at the federal level, on August 31, 1993, the NPS published notice in the Federal Register that Coleman Station was being considered for entry on the National Register, as required by federal regulations. 36 C.F.R. § 60.6(a). On September 30, 1993, Coleman Station was listed on the National Register. Pursuant to federal regulations, notice of the listing was published in the Federal Register the same day and notice was sent to the NYHP, id. § 60.13(b), who was responsible for notifying property owners within the district. Id. § 60.6(u).3 The NYHP did not notify property owners of the National Register listing until December 31, 1994, seventeen months later. No notice was provided for adjacent property owners. Federal regulations do not impose any time limit for the State Agency to provide notice of listing on the National Register, nor do the regulations require provision of notice to owners of contiguous property.
In mid-January 1995, the NYHP notified the Moody Hill Plaintiffs that it would consider their objections only as to nomination to the State Register, but not as to the National Register. At a hearing on February 2, 1995, the Board decided not to renominate Coleman Station to the State Register.
On February 28, 1995, Plaintiffs submitted a petition to remove Coleman Station from the National Register, pursuant to 36 C.F.R. § 60.15,4 on grounds that: (1) the property did not meet the National Register criteria for evaluation; (2) there was an error in professional judgment as to whether the property meets the criteria for evaluation; and (3) there was prejudicial procedural error in the listing process. In support of the first two grounds, Plaintiffs alleged that the boundaries of the Coleman Station Historic District were defective and that Coleman Station lacked the "historical integrity" required by 36 C.F.R. § 60.4(a). In support of their assertion of prejudicial procedural error, Plaintiffs alleged that the seventeen month delay in notice to property owners within the district and lack of notice to owners of adjacent property violated their procedural due process rights under the Fifth Amendment. The Plaintiffs also asserted that the National Register listing was voided by the New York State Supreme Court's annulment of the State Register listing and the NYHP's subsequent failure to renominate the district to the State Register.
Moody Hill's petition for removal was accompanied by a letter from the Deputy Commissioner for the NYHP, which stated that questions had been raised regarding the integrity of this district, and that an error in drawing the boundaries may have occurred.
On August 18, 1995, the Keeper denied the petition for removal. Regarding the eligibility of the historic district, she found that the nomination materials established eligibility for listing according to the criteria set forth in the federal regulations. Regarding the possibility that errors may have occurred regarding the boundaries of the district, as mentioned in...
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Moody Hill Farms v. U.S. Dept. Interior
...Register. After the district court granted summary judgment to plaintiffs-appellees, see Moody Hill Farms Ltd. Partnership v. United States Dep't of Interior, 976 F. Supp. 214, 222-23 (S.D.N.Y. 1997), the Park Service At the heart of this case is a dispute between neighboring landowners abo......