Parkview Assoc. v. City of Lebanon

• Decision Date: 23 August 2000
• Docket Number: No. 98-,98-
• Citation: 225 F.3d 321
• Parties: (3rd Cir. 2000) PARKVIEW ASSOCIATES PARTNERSHIP; CHAM NAGARAJ; SHUSHELLA NAGARAJ; DAVID SIMPSON; EDWARD SHEIB, Appellants v. CITY OF LEBANON; CITY OF LEBANON ZONING HEARING BOARD (D.C. Civilcv-00455) NO. 99-3828
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

Page 321

225 F.3d 321 (3rd Cir. 2000)

PARKVIEW ASSOCIATES PARTNERSHIP; CHAM NAGARAJ; SHUSHELLA NAGARAJ; DAVID SIMPSON; EDWARD SHEIB, Appellants v. CITY OF LEBANON; CITY OF LEBANON ZONING HEARING BOARD (D.C. Civil No. 98-cv-00455)

NO. 99-3828

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT

Argued June 13, 2000

Filed August 23, 2000

On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania District Judge: Hon. Sylvia H. Rambo

Attorney for Appellants: Mark Steven Colucci (Argued) Youngstown, Ohio 44503

Attorney for Appellees: Jonathan F. Ball (Argued) Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin Philadelphia, PA 19103

Before: SLOVITER, BARRY and ALDISERT, Circuit Judges

OPINION FOR THE COURT

SLOVITER, Circuit Judge.

I.

Plaintiffs Parkview Associates Partnership, Cham Nagaraj, Shushella Nagaraj, David Simpson, and Edward Sheib (collectively "Parkview") appeal the District Court's order dismissing its action against the City of Lebanon and the City of Lebanon Zoning Hearing Board for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. We must decide whether the District Court erred in holding that the Rooker-Feldman doctrine precluded it from entertaining a suit challenging the denial of a zoning permit as violative of federal and state anti-discrimination statutes because there had been a state court appellate, on-the-record review of the adverse zoning decision.

II.

The underlying dispute stemmed from the efforts of Parkview to obtain a zoning permit to convert the former Oakwood Residential Care and Nursing Home, a nursing home and personal care facility in the City of Lebanon, into a personal care facility. Oakwood operated as a non-profit home with 28 nursing beds and 22 personal care beds until its closure on November 24, 1994. It was located in an area zoned as a Residential Low Density District in the City of Lebanon. The City's zoning ordinance does not permit a personal care facility in that area. However, the home, including its personal care portion, had operated at that location for more than 50 years and, as it had been in existence before the adoption of the zoning ordinance, was considered a valid non-conforming use.

In November 1993, Parkview entered into an agreement to purchase Oakwood's real estate and facilities to be converted into a full personal care facility with no nursing beds.¹ On November 29, 1993, Parkview obtained a zoning use permit from a city zoning officer to operate a 70-bed personal care home at the Oakwood location as a continuation of the existing non-conforming use. On March 2, 1994, however, two residents of the neighborhood where Oakwood was located filed an appeal with the City of Lebanon Zoning Hearing Board (the "Board") objecting to the issuance of the zoning permit on the ground that the proposed use was a substantial change in use that was more non-conforming than the existing use.

After hearings held in April 1994, the Board revoked Parkview's permit. It found that the zoning officer who had issued the permit acted beyond his authority when he issued the permit without requiring a hearing. The Board concluded that Parkview's proposed use would change the essential character of the prior use and would increase non-conformity, thus making it ineligible for a special exception permit.

Parkview appealed the Board's decision to the Court of Common Pleas of Lebanon County under the procedure set out in Pa. Stat. Ann. tit. 53, S 11002-A. Although the parties have not described the statutory procedure, it appears that the Court of Common Pleas may hold a hearing and receive additional evidence in considering the appeal, see Pa. Stat. Tit. 53, S 11005-A, but if the court does not take additional evidence, then it, the Commonwealth Court, and/or the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania may overturn the Zoning Hearing Board's decision only if the Zoning Hearing Board committed an abuse of discretion or an error of law. See Baker v. Chartiers Township Zoning Hearing Bd., 677 A.2d 1274, 1276 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 1996). "A conclusion that the zoning hearing board abused its discretion may be reached only if its findings are not supported by substantial evidence." Id.

In its appeal to the court, Parkview set forth 39 separate reasons why the Board's decision was an abuse of discretion and/or contrary to law. Although Parkview alleged in its notice of appeal to the Court of Common Pleas that the Board's consideration of the age of putative residents was illegal under state and federal anti-discrimination statutes, it did not allege the disability-based discrimination claims that it now presents in federal court.

The Court of Common Pleas affirmed the Board's decision after reviewing the record before the Board to determine whether there was substantial evidence to support its decision. The court did not mention Parkview's allegations of age discrimination, defining its duty in the appeal as "to examine the record and determine whether the board committed either an abuse of discretion or an error of law concerning the issues raised by Parkview," App. at 62, and characterizing Parkview's claims as challenging the Board's application of the zoning laws to the evidence before it. The court described Parkview's challenges to the Board's decision as follows:

1. Whether Objectors filed a timely appeal from the issuance of the use permit to Parkview by the City Zoning Officer.

2. Whether the City Zoning Officer was acting within his authority when the permit was issued.

3. Whether the proposed use of the facility by Parkview qualifies as a permitted use by special exception as a convalescent home, or whether the proposed non-conforming use was equally or more appropriate to the use district than the existing non- conforming use.

App. at 63.

Parkview appealed the decision of the Court of Common Pleas to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, which also affirmed after on-the-record review. Parkview filed a petition for allowance of appeal with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which was denied.

On September 7, 1994, while its appeal was pending in the Court of Common Pleas, Parkview filed a second permit application with the City. This time the proposed use was for a 50 to 53 bed personal care home on the Oakwood site. The City zoning official denied the application, finding that the proposed use was a conversion of a non-conforming use that required a special exception. Parkview appealed the denial to the Zoning Hearing Board by filing a petition for a special exception. The Board held a hearing on October 5, 1994, and issued a written opinion on November 14, 1994, finding, inter alia, that the proposed change of use would significantly change the character of the neighborhood. Parkview appealed the Board's decision to the Court of Common Pleas, which affirmed after on-the-record review. Parkview appealed that decision to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania on May 27, 1997 but subsequently withdrew its appeal.

On March 19, 1998, Parkview filed suit in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania against the City of Lebanon and the City of Lebanon Zoning Hearing Board (collectively "the City") alleging that the Board's denials of the zoning permits were acts of discrimination on the basis of disability that violated the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. SS 3601-3631, the Americans with Disabilities Act, 42 U.S.C. SS 12101-12213, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. SS 701-796(1), and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, Pa. Stat. Ann. tit. 43, SS 951-963. The City moved for summary judgment on all counts arguing, inter alia, that the District Court lacked jurisdiction over the action under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. The District Court granted the motion on that ground, holding that Parkview's disability-based discrimination claims were barred under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine even though Parkview had not raised, and the state court had not decided, those claims in the state proceeding.

Our review of the District Court's grant of summary judgment and its application of the Rooker-Feldman doctrine is plenary. See Gulla v. North Strabane Township, 146 F.3d 168, 171 (3d Cir. 1998).

III.

The Rooker-Feldman doctrine is based on the statutory foundation of 28 U.S.C. S 1257 and the well-settled understanding that the Supreme Court of the United States, and not the lower federal courts, has jurisdiction to review a state court decision. Section 1257 states, in relevant part:

[f]inal judgments or decrees rendered by the highest court of a State in which a decision could be had, may be reviewed by the Supreme Court by writ of certiorari where the validity of a treaty or statute of the United States is drawn in question or where the validity of a statute of any State is drawn in question on the ground of its being repugnant to the Constitution, treaties, or laws of the United States . . . .

The doctrine derives from two Supreme Court decisions, Rooker v. Fidelity Trust Co., 263 U.S. 413 (1923), and District of Columbia Court of Appeals v. Feldman, 460 U.S. 462 (1983). In Rooker, a party to a state court action that had been affirmed by the state's supreme court brought a bill in equity in federal district court seeking to have the state court judgment declared null and void as being in violation of the United States Constitution. The plaintiffs' allegations in the federal suit were indistinguishable from those usually made in an appeal: they claimed that the state court had given effect to an unconstitutional state statute and had failed to give effect to a prior decision that had become law of the case. See 263 U.S. at 415.

The Supreme Court held that the district court lacked jurisdiction over the action. The Court stated:

It affirmatively appears from the bill that the judgment was rendered in a cause wherein the circuit court had jurisdiction of both the subject matter and the parties; that a full hearing was had therein;...