Ross Scopellitti, Individually, Greenpark Residences, Inc. v. City of Tampa, Corp., 15-15394
| Decision Date | 24 January 2017 |
| Docket Number | No. 15-15394,15-15394 |
| Parties | ROSS SCOPELLITTI, individually, GREENPARK RESIDENCES, INC., a Florida corporation, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CITY OF TAMPA, a municipal corporation, Defendant-Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit |
[DO NOT PUBLISH]
Non-Argument Calendar
D.C. Docket No. 8:14-cv-00949-MSS-TGW
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida Before WILSON, ROSENBAUM, and DUBINA, Circuit Judges.
Appellants Ross Scopelliti and GreenPark Residences, Inc. (collectively referred to as "GreenPark") appeal the district court's order granting summary judgment in favor of Appellee, the City of Tampa ("the City"), on GreenPark's claims for inverse condemnation, violation of the Fair Housing Act ("FHA"), §1983 deprivation of procedural due process, abuse of process, and selective enforcement. After reviewing the briefs and the record, we affirm.
GreenPark Residences, Inc. is a Florida corporation that operates and maintains an 18-unit mobile home park in Tampa, Florida. Scopelliti is the president and sole shareholder of GreenPark Residences, Inc. In October 2011, the City cited eight of GreenPark's units for violations of the City's Code of Ordinances pertaining to property maintenance and structural standards ("the Code"). These violations included failure to provide heat; broken and unrepaired steps, handrails, toilets, walls, and windows; roof leaks; missing smoke detectors; and faulty electrical wiring. In late October 2011, Scopelliti appeared on behalf of GreenPark at several hearings before the Code Enforcement Board ("CEB") regarding the violations.
The violations were never remedied. The City sent formal notice of the violations to GreenPark on November 17, 2011, and a reinspection conducted on January 26, 2012 revealed that the same units remained noncompliant with the Code. On April 12, 2012, following another re-inspection, the City hand delivered a "final notice" warning that "[i]f the violations are not corrected by April 22, 2012 this case will result in further legal action, including forwarding to a special magistrate, and/or court summons, or abatement by a contractor." No representative from GreenPark appeared at the subsequent hearing scheduled before a CEB Special Magistrate on August 1, 2012. The Special Magistrate entered eight separate violation orders finding GreenPark in violation of the Code. GreenPark requested and was granted a rehearing regarding the violation orders on August 7, 2012. After the rehearing, the Special Magistrate affirmed the violation orders and found GreenPark in noncompliance with the orders.
On November 20, 2012, the City obtained a warrant to inspect the GreenPark property for compliance with the CEB Special Magistrate's violation orders. Nine of GreenPark's units were found to be unfit for human habitation, to pose a serious public health and safety threat, and to constitute a public nuisance. The City issued condemnation orders for those nine units on November 28, 2012. The orders gave GreenPark the right to appeal by attending a hearing on December 5, 2012.
By January 10, GreenPark had neither appealed nor complied with the condemnation orders, and the City served demolition orders on GreenPark on January 16, 2013. The demolition orders provided that GreenPark should either demolish the condemned units on or before February 1, 2013, or appeal the orders within twenty-one days of service. On January 18, 2013, the City also issued six Criminal Report Affidavits against Scopelliti based on twenty-four Code violations in six of GreenPark's units. These six units were not the same units subject to the condemnation orders. Criminal proceedings against Scopelliti were stayed pending the outcome of the instant suit.
GreenPark did not meet the demolition deadline for the nine condemned units, and the City hired a private company to conduct the demolition. The company began demolition on February 4, prior to the expiration of GreenPark's appeal deadline. That same morning, GreenPark served the CEB with a cease and desist letter, and the City halted demolition and vacated the property. The roof of one unit was removed before demolition ceased.
On March 13, 2013, a CEB Special Magistrate held a hearing regarding GreenPark's appeal of the demolition orders. The Special Magistrate concluded that the City had: 1) properly applied the Code; 2) followed all required procedures and provided GreenPark proper notice; 3) issued demolition orders supported by facts shown in the inspection reports, files, and photographs in the record; and 4)that the expert reports submitted by GreenPark were insufficient to overturn the demolition orders. The Special Magistrate affirmed the demolition orders as valid and enforceable. GreenPark subsequently filed a complaint with the district court.
GreenPark filed its complaint with the district court on April 22, 2014, alleging fifteen claims against the City. The parties' scheduling order set the close of discovery for April 1, 2015. On March 30, 2015, GreenPark filed a motion to extend the deadlines for discovery and dispositive motions. Upon review of GreenPark's motion, the magistrate judge described GreenPark's complaint as the "epitome of a 'shotgun' pleading," and noted the difficulty defense counsel and the court would have in disposing of GreenPark's claims on summary judgment. The magistrate judge issued a report and recommendation that the complaint should be dismissed with leave to file an amended complaint.
The district court rejected the magistrate's report and recommendation. The district court noted that GreenPark had failed to request leave to amend its complaint for an entire year, seeking leave to amend only after the magistrate judge's report. The district court indicated that permitting GreenPark to amend its complaint would prejudice the City's ability to file a motion for summary judgment based on the original complaint. GreenPark subsequently voluntarily dismissed eight counts from its complaint, and the City filed its motion forsummary judgment on the remaining counts. The district court granted the City's motion for summary judgment based on the fact that the inverse condemnation claim was not yet ripe and GreenPark failed to present evidence in support of its remaining claims. GreenPark subsequently perfected this appeal.
"We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, viewing the record and drawing all factual inferences in a light most favorable to the nonmoving party." Bhogaita v. Altamonte Heights Condo. Ass'n, Inc., 765 F.3d 1277, 1284 (11th Cir. 2014) (internal quotation marks omitted). Questions concerning ripeness are also reviewed de novo. Elend v. Basham, 471 F.3d 1199, 1203 (11th Cir. 2006). We review for an abuse of discretion "[a] district court's decision to grant or deny leave to amend" a complaint. Jennings v. BIC Corp., 181 F.3d 1250, 1254 (11th Cir. 1999).
The district court correctly found that GreenPark's inverse condemnation claim was not ripe for adjudication. GreenPark's claim seeks just compensation for the City's invasion of its property and partial demolition of its unit. "In order for such a claim to be ripe for adjudication, the landowner must overcome two hurdles: the final decision hurdle and the just compensation hurdle." Reahard v.Lee Cnty., 30 F.3d 1412, 1415 (11th Cir. 1994) (internal quotation marks omitted).1
GreenPark failed to meet the just compensation hurdle, which "boils down to the rule that state courts always have a first shot at adjudicating a takings dispute because a federal constitutional claim is not ripe until the state has denied the would-be plaintiff's compensation." Agripost, LLC v. Miami-Dade Cnty., Fla., 525 F.3d 1049, 1052 (11th Cir. 2008) (discussing Williamson Cnty. Reg'l Planning Comm'n v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City, 473 U.S. 172, 105 S. Ct. 3108 (1985)); see also Reahard, 30 F.3d at 1417. GreenPark did not avail itself to Florida's inverse condemnation cause of action and therefore cannot claim that it has been denied just compensation. The district court properly found that GreenPark's claim is not ripe for adjudication.
GreenPark alleged that the City's enforcement of the Code has a disparate and adverse impact upon African-Americans in violation of the FHA. To establish a prima facie case for disparate impact, GreenPark must provide some comparative evidence to show that enforcement of the Code results in a disparate impact on African-Americans. See Schwarz v. City of Treasure Island, 544 F.3d 1201, 1218(11th Cir. 2008) (). GreenPark provided statements from two witnesses that the "goal of the city was to remove African-Americans from the neighborhood" and allegations of discriminatory statements made by City representatives in connection with Code enforcement activities. GreenPark's expert reports referenced other mobile home parks in the area in similar states of disrepair and opined that lack of "similar action against similar parks" was the result of selective enforcement against GreenPark.2
GreenPark argues that the evidence of the City's discriminatory animus and singling out of GreenPark is sufficient to create a dispute of fact as to disparate impact on African-Americans. This argument overlooks GreenPark's burden to establish a prima facie case, as "there can be 'no genuine issue as to any material fact,' [where] a complete failure of proof concerning an essential element of the nonmoving party's case necessarily renders all other facts immaterial." Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S. Ct. 2548, 2552 (1986). At best,GreenPark's evidence shows disparities in the treatment of mobile home units. "[S]imply...
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