Quality Refrigerated Services, Inc. v. City of Spencer

• Decision Date: 21 October 1998
• Docket Number: No. 96-1857,96-1857
• Citation: 586 N.W.2d 202
• Parties: QUALITY REFRIGERATED SERVICES, INC., Appellant, v. CITY OF SPENCER, and the City Council for the City of Spencer, Namely Steve Waller, Ed Krebs, Reynold Peterson, Mary Huston, Jim Roling, Ron Sears, and David Scott, Appellees.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 202

586 N.W.2d 202

QUALITY REFRIGERATED SERVICES, INC., Appellant, v. CITY OF SPENCER, and the City Council for the City of Spencer, Namely Steve Waller, Ed Krebs, Reynold Peterson, Mary Huston, Jim Roling, Ron Sears, and David Scott, Appellees.

No. 96-1857.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Oct. 21, 1998.

Rehearing Denied Dec. 8, 1998.

Michael W. Ellwanger of Rawlings, Nieland, Probasco, Killinger, Ellwanger, Jacobs & Mohrhauser, Sioux City, and R. Jeffrey Lewis and S.P. DeVolder of Lewis, Webster, Johnson, Van Winkle & DeVolder, Des Moines, for appellant.

Marvin F. Heidman and John D. Ackerman of Heidman, Redmond, Fredregill, Patterson, Plaza & Dykstra, L.L.P., Sioux City, for appellees.

Considered by HARRIS, P.J., and LARSON, CARTER, NEUMAN, and TERNUS, JJ.

TERNUS, Justice.

The appellant, Quality Refrigerated Services, Inc. (QRS), sought relief from zoning restrictions on its property located in the City of Spencer. We agree with the district court that the City's decision to change the zoning classification of the QRS site and the City's subsequent refusal to rezone the property were valid. Therefore, we affirm.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

In 1989, QRS acquired property from the appellee, City of Spencer. An abandoned meat packing plant was located on this property. For several years prior to QRS's acquisition of the site, the City had attempted to locate a company that would remodel the facility and reopen a business that would provide employment for the City's residents. QRS intended to renovate the building to house a cold storage warehouse and then, after additional construction and remodeling, lease a portion of the facility for on-site meat processing. QRS's plans for the building were well-known to city officials and encouraged by them.

By February 1990, the first phase of renovation was completed and QRS opened its cold storage warehouse. QRS had difficulty finding a meat processing tenant, but proceeded with the second phase of remodeling to enhance the chances of obtaining such a tenant. Meanwhile, in April 1991, the city council adopted comprehensive amendments to its zoning ordinance. These amendments changed the zoning district for the area in which the QRS site was located from "E Heavy Industrial" to "C-2 Highway Commercial." Meat processing was permitted in the old classification but not in the new one.

In early 1995, QRS located a possible tenant for the meat processing portion of its facility. To obtain this tenant, QRS needed to expand the size of its plant; it applied for a building permit to do so. The City's building and zoning officer denied the application on the basis that the proposed use--meat processing--was not permitted in a C-2 Highway Commercial zoning classification. The denial of its application was the first knowledge QRS had that its property had been rezoned.

QRS then sought to have its property rezoned D Light Industrial, a classification allowing meat processing. Although the planning and zoning commission approved the rezoning, the city council voted against the recommendation after hearing the concerns of citizens at the council's public meeting.

QRS filed this action against the City and the city council members seeking a writ of certiorari and declaratory relief. In its petition for a writ of certiorari, QRS claimed the city council's denial of QRS's request for rezoning was "illegal, arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable." This claim was denied on a summary judgment ruling on the basis that there was no genuine issue of material fact as to the legitimate reasons upon which the council based its decision.

QRS's request for declaratory relief challenged the 1991 rezoning of its property as well as the City's denial of its request for rezoning. QRS also sought a declaratory ruling that the use of its property for meat processing qualified as a nonconforming use. In its summary judgment ruling, the district court rejected QRS's nonconforming-use claim. A trial to the court of the remaining claims resulted in a judgment adverse to QRS. The bases for the trial court's ruling are apparent in the issues QRS raises in this appeal: (1) the trial court erroneously concluded that QRS had failed to exhaust its administrative remedies; (2) the trial court erred in ruling QRS was not entitled to personal notice of the zoning change; and (3) the trial court erroneously determined that QRS did not have a vested right to the original zoning designation. In addition, QRS challenges the trial court's admission of expert legal testimony as to the administrative remedies available to QRS, and the district court's summary dismissal of its petition for writ of certiorari. QRS has abandoned on appeal any claim that meat processing qualifies as a nonconforming use.

II. Scope of Review Applicable to Ruling on Request For Declaratory Judgment.

The declaratory judgment action was tried in equity and, therefore, our review is de novo. See Iowa R.App. P. 4. Although we are not bound by the trial court's factual findings, we give them weight. See Hyler v. Garner, 548 N.W.2d 864, 870 (Iowa 1996).

QRS contends the trial court's factual findings are not entitled to any weight here because the trial court did not exercise independent judgment in making these findings. This contention is based on the court's nearly verbatim adoption of the City's proposed findings and conclusions of law. We have considered similar requests before and have declined to adopt a different standard of review under such circumstances. See Care Initiatives v. Board of Review, 500 N.W.2d 14, 16 (Iowa 1993). Although we do not encourage the verbatim adoption of one party's proposed findings and conclusions, the trial court may do so without jeopardizing its independent judgment.

III. Validity of 1991 Zoning Ordinance.

We begin our discussion with QRS's assertion that the 1991 amendments to the zoning ordinance were ineffective to change the zoning classification applicable to its property. This assertion rests on two legal arguments: (1) QRS was entitled to personal notice of the proposed change in the zoning classification governing its property; and (2) QRS had a vested right to the original zoning designation.

A. Requirement of personal notice. QRS contends that the United States Constitution and the City's zoning ordinance required the City to give it personal notice of the changes affecting its property resulting from the proposed amendments to the zoning ordinance. We disagree.

1. Constitutional claim. The Due Process Clause requires that any deprivation of property "be preceded by notice and opportunity for hearing appropriate to the nature of the case." Mullane v. Central Hanover Bank & Trust Co., 339 U.S. 306, 313, 70 S.Ct. 652, 656-57, 94 L.Ed. 865, 873 (1950) (emphasis added); see U.S. Const. amend. XIV. In determining the notice required in a particular case, the court is required to balance the "interest of the State" and "the individual interest sought to be protected by the Fourteenth Amendment." Tulsa Professional Collection Servs., Inc. v. Pope, 485 U.S. 478, 484, 108 S.Ct. 1340, 1344, 99 L.Ed.2d 565, 574-75 (1988). "The focus is on the reasonableness of the balance, and ... whether a particular method of notice is reasonable depends on the particular circumstances." Id. at 484, 108 S.Ct. at 1344, 99 L.Ed.2d at 575. Thus, although personal service of notice is the "classic form of notice," it is not always required. Mullane, 339 U.S. at 314, 70 S.Ct. at 657, 94 L.Ed. at 873. Moreover, it is appropriate to consider "the practical difficulties and costs" attendant on personal service of notice in determining whether such notice is constitutionally required. Id. at 317, 70 S.Ct. at 659, 94 L.Ed. at 875.

Here, QRS's interest is its right to appear before the city council and express its views on the proposed comprehensive amendments to the zoning ordinance and the effect of the amendments on QRS's use of its property, an important interest as the facts of this case illustrate. On the other hand, the proposed amendments were comprehensive and affected the entire community. The task of providing personal notice to every property owner in the city is enormous. Furthermore, the city-wide scope of the proposed amendments makes it more likely that notice by publication will result in actual notice. The notice published by the City warned that the comprehensive amendments "will affect all property in the City and will change or revise, in many instances, the permitted uses of property." (Emphasis added.) More specifically, the notice stated that the comprehensive amendments would also result in a change of zoning classification of some properties. Notice of such widespread changes in the City's existing zoning districts would surely generate some discussion among the general public as well as further publicity through the news media. In fact, the local media covered both the public meeting of the planning and zoning commission as well as the subsequent meeting of the city council held to consider the amendments.

We think notice by publication under the circumstances of this case is reasonably certain to inform those affected. In balancing the interests of the City and the property owners, we conclude notice by publication is sufficient under the facts of this case to inform property owners such as QRS that their property may be affected by the proposed zoning amendments so as to satisfy the requirements of due process. See Fisette v. DiPietro, 28 Conn.App. 379, 611 A.2d 417, 420 (1992) (approving constructive notice for a comprehensive zoning change); Threatt v. Fulton County, 266 Ga. 466, 467 S.E.2d 546, 549 (1996) (holding personal notice of comprehensive land and water use plans not required); Fortier v. City of Spearfish, 433 N.W.2d 228, 229-30 (S.D.1988) (holding notice by publication of flood control ordinance affecting an entire community was constitutionally adequate). See...