Scott v. Town of Monroe

• Decision Date: 27 February 2004
• Docket Number: No. 3:02 CV1539 (EBB).,3:02 CV1539 (EBB).
• Citation: 306 F.Supp.2d 191
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Connecticut
• Parties: Martha SCOTT, Plaintiff, v. TOWN OF MONROE and Town of Easton, Defendants.

Page 191

306 F.Supp.2d 191

Martha SCOTT, Plaintiff, v. TOWN OF MONROE and Town of Easton, Defendants.

No. 3:02 CV1539 (EBB).

United States District Court, D. Connecticut.

February 27, 2004.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

John R. Williams, Williams & Pattis, New Haven, CT, for Plaintiff.

John J. Radshaw, III, Thomas R. Gerarde, Howd & Ludorf, Hartford, CT, Mark A. Perkins, Thomas M. Murtha, Maher & Murtha, Bridgeport, CT, for Defendants.

RULING ON DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO DISMISS

ELLEN B. BURNS, Senior District Judge.

Introduction

Martha Scott ("plaintiff" or "Scott") brings this action against the Town of Monroe and the Town of Easton ("defendants") for changing the border separating the two towns such that plaintiff's property became a part of Monroe, despite the fact that the plaintiff has paid taxes and voted in Easton since she became the owner of the property in 1962. Plaintiff's complaint alleges numerous constitutional violations under the substantive and procedural due process clauses and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Fifth Amendment Takings Clause, as well as a state tort claim. The defendants now move this court to dismiss the plaintiff's complaint pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.

FACTS

For the purposes of a motion to dismiss, the court must accept the allegations contained in the complaint as true and draw all inferences in favor of the nonmovant. Accordingly, the factual background set forth in this opinion is derived from the plaintiff's complaint, and sets forth only those facts deemed necessary to an understanding of the issues raised in, and decision rendered on, this Motion.

Plaintiff has owned and resided at 575 Judd Road in Easton, Connecticut since 1962. The deed to plaintiff's residence shows that it is located in Easton and the deed is recorded in the Town of Easton Land Records. Plaintiff has paid taxes and voted in Easton since she has resided at 575 Judd Road. On June 18, 2001, the First Selectman of the Town of Easton informed the plaintiff that the Town of Easton and the Town of Monroe were in agreement that the plaintiff's land and property no longer were located in Easton, but were located in Monroe. On October 24, 2001, the Assessor of the Town of Monroe informed the plaintiff that the defendant Towns had agreed that the line separating the two municipalities was such that the plaintiff and her property were now part of Monroe and not Easton. On March 11, 2002, the plaintiff learned that the Monroe Town Council voted to confirm a change in the border between the two towns so that plaintiff no longer lives, votes or owns property in the Town of Easton.

Plaintiff's complaint alleges that the change in the status of her residence has 1) deprived the plaintiff of substantive and procedural due process of law in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution; 2) deprived the plaintiff of her right to vote in Easton elections as she has done for forty years; 3) acted arbitrarily toward plaintiff in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment; 4) deprived plaintiff of property without just compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment; and 5) inflicted severe emotional distress upon the plaintiff.

Legal Analysis

I. Subject Matter Jurisdiction/Abstention

Before turning to the substantive law to decide whether the plaintiff has stated a claim upon which relief can be granted, this Court must determine whether is appropriate for this court to entertain these federal claims based on actions of municipalities. It has long been held that "annexation by a city or town is purely a state political matter, entirely within the power of the state legislature to regulate." Hunter v. City of Pittsburgh, 207 U.S. 161, 178-79, 28 S.Ct. 40, 52 L.Ed. 151 (1907). While, in general, municipal annexations are deemed internal affairs of a state, "subsequent decisions have made clear, however, that municipal annexations are subject to at least some scrutiny under both the Fifteenth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution." Baldwin v. Winston-Salem, 710 F.2d 132, 134-135 (4th Cir.1983) ("We think it plain, based on these cases, that the exercise by a state of the discretion accorded to it in structuring its internal political subdivisions is subject to judicial review under the Fourteenth Amendment only where that exercise involves the infringement of fundamental rights or the creation of suspect classifications."). See also Gomillion v. Lightfoot, 364 U.S. 339, 81 S.Ct. 125, 5 L.Ed.2d 110 (1960) (invalidating an Alabama law redefining the municipal limits where that redefinition was motivated by a desire to disenfranchise black citizens). Accordingly, there is no reason this court should exercise its discretionary authority and abstain from hearing this case.¹ Rather, it is appropriate to review the plaintiff's complaint to determine whether she has asserted any cognizable claims of infringement of her constitutional rights.

II. Standard of Review

Defendants assert that plaintiff's claims should be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. A motion to dismiss under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) should be granted only if "it is clear that no relief could be granted under any set of facts that could be proved consistent with the allegations." Hishon v. King & Spalding, 467 U.S. 69, 73, 104 S.Ct. 2229, 81 L.Ed.2d 59 (1984). "The function of a motion to dismiss `is merely to assess the legal feasibility of the complaint, not to assay the weight of the evidence which might be offered in support thereof.'" Ryder Energy Distrib. Corp. v. Merrill Lynch Commodities, Inc., 748 F.2d 774, 779 (2d Cir.1984) (quoting Geisler v. Petrocelli, 616 F.2d 636, 639 (2d Cir.1980)). In considering a motion to dismiss, a court must presume all factual allegations of the complaint to be true and must draw any reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party. Cruz v. Beto, 405 U.S. 319, 322, 92 S.Ct. 1079, 31 L.Ed.2d 263 (1972).

III. Standard As Applied

A. Substantive Due Process Claim

Plaintiff asserts that the change in her residency status deprived her of substantive due process in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. "Substantive due process standards are violated only by conduct that is so outrageously arbitrary as to constitute a gross abuse of governmental authority." Natale v. Town of Ridgefield, 170 F.3d 258, 263 (2d Cir.1999) (citing County of Sacramento v. Lewis, 523 U.S. 833, 846, 118 S.Ct. 1708, 140 L.Ed.2d 1043 (1998)) ("[o]nly the most egregious official conduct can be said to be arbitrary in the constitutional sense.") (citation and internal quotation marks omitted). In assessing a substantive due process claim in the context of land regulations, the Second Circuit has explained:

this Court is always "mindful of the general proscription that `federal courts should not become zoning boards of appeal to review nonconstitutional land[-]use determinations by the Circuit's many local legislative and administrative agencies.'" Zahra v. Town of Southold, 48 F.3d 674, 679-80 (2d Cir.1995) (quoting Sullivan v. Town of Salem, 805 F.2d 81, 82 (2d Cir.1986) (alterations in Zahra)). Given this concern, a party asserting a deprivation of substantive due process must first establish a valid property interest within the meaning of the Constitution. Zahra, 48 F.3d at 680. Second, the party must demonstrate that the defendant acted in an arbitrary or irrational manner in depriving him of that property interest. Southview Assocs., Ltd. v. Bongartz, 980 F.2d 84, 102 (2d Cir.1992), cert. denied, 507 U.S. 987, 113 S.Ct. 1586, 123 L.Ed.2d 153 (1993).

Crowley v. Courville, 76 F.3d 47, 52 (2d Cir.1996)

Applying this standard to the case before us, while the plaintiff certainly has a property interest in her residence, neither her Complaint nor her Memorandum in Opposition to the Motion to Dismiss makes any allegations or provides any facts that could support a finding that the Town of Monroe or Easton acted in an arbitrary or irrational manner in changing the town border.

Indeed, the Supreme Court itself has emphasized "the extraordinarily wide latitude that States have in creating various types of political subdivisions and conferring authority upon them." Holt Civic Club v. Tuscaloosa, 439 U.S. 60, 71, 99 S.Ct. 383, 58 L.Ed.2d 292 (1978). The Connecticut Supreme Court has also long held that "the determination of municipal boundaries is a function wholly within the power of the legislature." Suffield v. East Granby, 52 Conn. 175, 180 (1884). See also Conn. Const., art. X, § 1; 2 E. "Implicit in the legislative power over political subdivisions is the power to establish town boundaries...Pursuant to constitutional authority, the legislature has delegated authority for establishing such boundaries to the towns, cities and boroughs themselves. General Statutes § 7-113 directs towns to mark their boundaries." Romanowski v. Foley, 10 Conn.App. 80, 521 A.2d 601, 603-4 (1987); Conn. Const., art. X, § 1. Because the towns of Easton and Monroe have acted pursuant to authority delegated to them by the Connecticut Legislature, and there is nothing in the complaint to convince this court that the municipalities' actions were unreasonable or arbitrary, plaintiff has not stated a substantive due process claim upon which relief may be granted.

B. Deprivation of Property and Liberty without Procedural Due Process

Plaintiff also argues that she has been deprived of her property rights without procedural due process because the change in town lines has reduced the value of her home. "In order for a person to establish that the state has deprived him of property without due process, he must first identify a property right, second show that the state has deprived him of that right, and third show that the deprivation was effected without due...