S.C. Public Interest Found. v. S.C. Dep't of Transp.
Decision Date | 04 March 2015 |
Docket Number | No. 5299.,Appellate Case No. 2012–213599.,5299. |
Citation | 412 S.C. 18,770 S.E.2d 399 |
Parties | SOUTH CAROLINA PUBLIC INTEREST FOUNDATION and Edward D. Sloan, individually, and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Appellants, v. SOUTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION and John V. Walsh, Deputy Secretary of Transportation for Engineering, Respondents. |
Court | South Carolina Court of Appeals |
James G. Carpenter and Jennifer J. Miller, both of Carpenter Law Firm, of Greenville, for Appellants.
Beacham O. Brooker, Jr., of Columbia, for Respondents.
South Carolina Public Interest Foundation and Edward D. Sloan, Jr., individually, and on behalf of all others similarly situated (collectively, Appellants), filed this declaratory judgment action against South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT), and John V. Walsh, Deputy Secretary of Transportation for Engineering at SCDOT. Appellants appeal, arguing the trial court erred in (1) failing to grant Appellants public importance standing, (2) failing to acknowledge taxpayer standing, (3) failing to apply exceptions to mootness, (4) ruling SCDOT was legitimately assisting a municipality, and (5) failing to find SCDOT used public funds for private purposes. We affirm.
Woodside Plantation (Woodside) is a gated housing development in the City of Aiken. As of July 2011, Woodside had approximately four thousand residents and was expected to grow to eight thousand residents. The City of Aiken refused to acquire the roads in Woodside unless the gates were removed.
Throughout 2010 and 2011, Woodside Plantation Property Owners' Association, Inc. and the City of Aiken1 attempted to enlist SCDOT's assistance in inspecting three wooden bridges located in Woodside. Walsh emailed the Chief Engineer for Operations of SCDOT to discuss the issue, stating, “I need to get some bridges reviewed for safety/loading purposes.” On August, 18, 2001, the Chief Engineer requested an inspection of the bridges in Woodside. A three-man SCDOT crew inspected the bridges on August 23, 2011. By affidavit, Walsh testified the estimated cost to SCDOT for the inspection was $1,400. Walsh also testified that in ten years, only one other private bridge had been inspected at the request of a local government-on Fripp Island in 2006. Walsh concluded the bridges were in good condition with minor problems. After the inspection, an employee reported improper use of SCDOT employees to SCDOT's Office of the Chief Internal Auditor (OCIA). OCIA investigated and determined “SCDOT has no obligation to inspect bridges on private property.” OCIA notified the Secretary of SCDOT, Robert St. Onge, of its interpretation.
Appellants filed this declaratory judgment action seeking a declaration that SCDOT actions in inspecting the privately owned bridges in Woodside at the request of the City of Aiken violated Article X, sections 5 and 11 of the South Carolina Constitution. Appellants also sought costs and attorneys' fees under section 15–77–300 of the South Carolina Code. After receipt of cross-motions for summary judgment and a hearing, the circuit court granted SCDOT's motion for summary judgment and dismissed the complaint. This appeal followed.
This is an action in equity. See Sloan v. Greenville Cnty., 356 S.C. 531, 544, 590 S.E.2d 338, 345–46 (Ct.App.2003) (Sloan 2003 ) ( ). In an appeal from an action in equity tried by a judge, an appellate court may find facts in accordance with its own view of the preponderance of the evidence. Townes Assocs., Ltd. v. City of Greenville, 266 S.C. 81, 86, 221 S.E.2d 773, 775–76 (1976).
Appellants argue the circuit court erred in failing to grant them standing based on public importance. We disagree.
Sloan 2003, 356 S.C. at 547, 590 S.E.2d at 347 (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). “Standing may be acquired: (1) by statute; (2) through the rubric of ‘constitutional standing’; or (3) under the ‘public importance’ exception.” ATC S., Inc. v. Charleston Cnty., 380 S.C. 191, 195, 669 S.E.2d 337, 339 (2008). Id. at 199, 669 S.E.2d at 341. “For a court to relax general standing rules, the matter of importance must, in the context of the case, be inextricably connected to the public need for court resolution for future guidance.”Id.
In this case, we find Appellants do not have standing based on public importance. SCDOT has conducted its own audit and concluded its own actions were improper. Thus, there is no “future guidance” to be provided by this court.
Appellants next argue the circuit court erred in failing to grant them taxpayer standing. We disagree.
“A taxpayer's standing to challenge unauthorized or illegal governmental acts has been repeatedly recognized in South Carolina.” Sloan v. Sch. Dist. of Greenville Cnty., 342 S.C. 515, 520, 537 S.E.2d 299, 301 (Ct.App.2000) (Sloan 2000 ).
“[A] court may confer standing upon a party when an issue is of such public importance as to require its resolution for future guidance.” Baird v. Charleston Cnty., 333 S.C. 519, 531, 511 S.E.2d 69, 75 (1999). “The general rule is that a taxpayer may not maintain a suit to enjoin the action of State officers when he has no special interest and his only standing is the exceedingly small interest of a general taxpayer.” Crews v. Beattie, 197 S.C. 32, 49, 14 S.E.2d 351, 357–58 (1941). “The mere fact that the issue is one of public importance does not confer upon any citizen or taxpayer the right to invoke per se a judicial determination of the issue.” Sloan 2003, 356 S.C. at 549, 590 S.E.2d at 347 (quoting Crews, 197 S.C. at 49, 14 S.E.2d at 357–58 ). “For a plaintiff to have taxpayer standing, the party must demonstrate some overriding public purpose or concern to confer standing to sue on behalf of her fellow taxpayers.” Id.; see also Baird, 333 S.C. at 531, 511 S.E.2d at 75 ( ).
For the same reasons we find Appellants do not meet the public importance basis for standing, we find they do not have taxpayer standing. In Sloan 2000, 342 S.C. at 522, 537 S.E.2d at 303, this court found a taxpayer had standing to challenge contracts entered into by the school district without following the prescribed competitive sealed bidding procedure. In Sloan 2003, 356 S.C. at 551, 590 S.E.2d at 349, this court again found a taxpayer had standing to challenge contracts entered into by the county without following the procurement procedures set out in the county code. The public interest involved was the prevention of the unlawful expenditure of money raised by taxation. Id. at 550, 590 S.E.2d at 348.
Unlike the Sloan 2000 and Sloan 2003 cases, we find Appellants do not have taxpayer standing here because there is not a public interest involved in preventing the unlawful expenditure of inspecting private bridges when SCDOT has already determined its own policy prohibits the action. See Sloan v. Greenville Cnty., 361 S.C. 568, 571–72, 606 S.E.2d 464, 466 (2004) (Sloan 2004 ) ( ).
Appellants also maintain the circuit court erred in failing to apply several exceptions to the mootness doctrine. We disagree.
Before any action can be maintained, a justiciable controversy must be present. Byrd v. Irmo High Sch., 321 S.C. 426, 430, 468 S.E.2d 861, 864 (1996). “A justiciable controversy is a real and substantial controversy appropriate for judicial determination, as opposed to a dispute or difference of a contingent, hypothetical or abstract character.” Sloan 2003, 356 S.C. at 546, 590 S.E.2d at 346. The court does not concern itself with moot or speculative questions. Sloan v. Dep't of Transp., 379 S.C. 160, 167, 666 S.E.2d 236, 240 (2008) (Ladson Road ). “A case becomes moot when judgment, if rendered, will have no practical legal effect upon the existing controversy.” Sloan v. Greenville Cnty., 380 S.C. 528, 535, 670 S.E.2d 663, 667 (Ct.App.2009) ( Sloan 2009 ). “Mootness also arises when some event occurs making it impossible for the reviewing court to grant effectual relief.” Id. There are three exceptions to mootness. Id. at 535, 670 S.E.2d at 667.
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