Smith Inv. Co. v. Sandy City

• Decision Date: 30 April 1998
• Docket Number: No. 970008-CA,970008-CA
• Citation: 958 P.2d 245
• Parties: 342 Utah Adv. Rep. 10 SMITH INVESTMENT COMPANY, a Utah corporation; and Sandy Hills, Inc.; a Utah corporation, Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. SANDY CITY et al., Defendants and Appellees.
• Court: Utah Court of Appeals

Page 245

958 P.2d 245

342 Utah Adv. Rep. 10

SMITH INVESTMENT COMPANY, a Utah corporation; and Sandy Hills, Inc.; a Utah corporation, Plaintiffs and Appellants, v. SANDY CITY et al., Defendants and Appellees.

No. 970008-CA.

Court of Appeals of Utah.

April 30, 1998.

Clark W. Sessions and Kristine Edde, Salt Lake City, for Appellants.

Jody K. Burnett, Salt Lake City, for Appellees.

Before WILKINS, Associate P.J., and GREENWOOD and JACKSON, JJ.

OPINION

JACKSON, Judge:

Smith Investment Co. and Sandy Hills, Inc. (Sandy Hills) appeal the trial court's order of summary judgment in favor of Sandy City. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

"In reviewing a grant of summary judgment, we view the facts in a light most favorable to the party against which the motion was granted. We state the facts ... accordingly." Sandy City v. Salt Lake County, 827 P.2d 212, 215 (Utah 1992) (citations omitted).

In 1960, Reed and Barbara Smith bought about twenty-three acres of undeveloped property (the property) on the west side of 700 East Street where it intersects with 9200 South Street in Salt Lake County. At the Smiths' request, the property was annexed to Sandy City in 1960, then rezoned C-2 for commercial use in 1962. The Smiths transferred the property to their company, Sandy Hills, intending to commercially develop the entire property.

Sandy City apparently welcomed the idea of commercial development in that area. On October 12, 1961, the Sandy City mayor sent a letter to Salt Lake County about, among other things, Sandy Hills's proposed development of the property, stating:

The economic center of [Sandy City] has moved from [8600 South between State Street and 300 East Street,] and Sandy City in June of 1960 after consideration of studies prepared by the University of Utah relating to the economics of Salt Lake Valley, traffic, population, and service requirements, zoned a twenty-five (25) acre tract commercial. This tract is located at the corner of 9300 South and 7th East. In relation to this tract, Sandy City has co-operated with the developers of the tract in order to assure them of a sound economic basis and a representative development.

Beginning around early 1962, Sandy Hills built a shopping center along the east edge of the property, fronting 700 East Street. Over the next several years, Sandy Hills leased its shopping center space to a variety of commercial tenants and left its rear 15.8 acres undeveloped.

In January of 1980, the Sandy City Council (city council) adopted a new development code. Then, the following month, the city council directed the Sandy City Planning Department (planning department) to examine each of the five planning communities in Sandy City to determine whether existing zoning should be changed to reflect the goals and policies of the new development code. The property was located in the Sandy Community.

In September of 1980, the planning department submitted to the city council and the Sandy City Planning Commission (commission) a memorandum entitled, "Zoning Change Recommendations for the Development Code--Sandy Community." In that memorandum, the planning department recommended, among other rezonings, that the rear 15.8 acres of the property (rear acreage) be rezoned, or downzoned, ¹ from C-2 to a residential classification. The memorandum listed the following reasons for that recommendation:

1. [T]he Sandy Community Citizens' Report[ ²] recommended the western portion of the parcel be rezoned to single family residential use;

2. the Sandy City Comprehensive Plan goals and policies recommend to limit the depth of 700 East commercial development to 200 feet unless conditional use approval is granted;

3. the existing 364[,] 500 square feet of retail space exceeds the Commercial/Industrial Study recommendation that Community Commercial should not exceed 250,000 square feet retail space;

4. the stub roads into the parcel create traffic circulation problems in the existing residential and commercial development;

5. traffic from the area when developed should enter and leave through the existing residential subdivision streets and not travel through the commercial center; and

6. good access to commercial or multiple unit development behind the existing commercial development would be difficult.

During a meeting of the city council and commission on September 30, 1980, the planning department introduced the proposed rezonings, including downzoning of the rear acreage. The minutes of that meeting show that--in support of the downzoning of the rear acreage--the planning department suggested,

With the existing commercial it appears there may be excessive commercially zoned land and developed commercial square footage in this area for this type of commercial use development. Additional concerns were over the number of stub streets that go into the back of the property, existing street pattern and traffic generation and the access to future commercial development.

The minutes of that meeting also show that the commission and city council received a letter from Sandy Hills formally objecting to the downzoning. Sandy Hills further objected to the downzoning through its attorney at a commission meeting on October 16, 1980.

The proposed downzoning was discussed again at a commission meeting on November 6, 1980. There, a member of the commission moved that the rear acreage be downzoned for the following reasons: "[T]he Sandy Citizen's report recommends the area be downzoned, the property has remained undeveloped for at least 20 years, it has residential on 3 sides and [residential zoning] would be an appropriate buffer." After discussing the motion, the commission tabled the matter until a later meeting.

On November 20, 1980, after more comment from Sandy Hills, the commission voted to recommend to the city council that the rear acreage be downzoned. The minutes of that meeting show the following reasons were stated to support the vote: "[T]he Sandy Citizen's report recommends the area be residential, it is directly adjacent [to] residential [property] on three sides of the property, there are adjacent stub streets, there is ample commercial zoning to make an attractive center, and [residential zoning] would be a good buffer."

The minutes of the city council meeting held on February 28, 1981 show that the downzoning was considered during the meeting. Various city council members noted, among other things, that (1) even if the rear acreage was downzoned, "over 6 acres of commercial would exist along 700 East"; and (2) because a subdivision adjacent to the rear acreage was experiencing "deteriorating housing and high turnover of owners," downzoning the rear acreage to allow "additional residential development ... might stab[i]lize the neighborhood." The proposed downzoning was remanded for further discussion by the commission regarding the specific residential classification to be assigned to the rear acreage.

On April 2, 1981, the commission listened to more comment from Sandy Hills. The minutes from that meeting show the commission recognized again that the land on three sides of the rear acreage was residential. The commission additionally noted that "the area has experienced high owner turnover in existing homes recently. The recommended zoning could add stability to the area." The commission then voted to recommend to the city council that the rear acreage be rezoned R-2-10. ³

Finally, on April 18, 1981, the city council amended the zoning map to, among other things, downzone the rear acreage to R-2-10. The Sandy City mayor then approved the downzoning on May 7, 1981.

On March 25, 1988, Sandy Hills brought suit against Sandy City, attacking the downzoning. Sandy Hills asserted before the trial court that--on its face--the downzoning violated its Fifth Amendment rights by both denying it substantive due process and effecting a taking of the rear acreage without just compensation. On cross-motions for summary judgment, the trial court ruled for Sandy City. Sandy Hills appeals.

ISSUES AND STANDARD OF REVIEW

Under its substantive due process claim, Sandy Hills argues that Sandy City's decision to downzone the rear acreage was an invalid use of the city's police power because the downzoning did not rationally advance legitimate goals involving the public's health, safety, or general welfare. Under its regulatory takings claim, Sandy Hills argues that, regardless of whether the downzoning was an invalid use of the police power, the downzoning effectively eliminated all economically viable use of the rear acreage, leaving the rear acreage practically valueless. ⁴

Summary judgment is proper solely in cases in which no genuine issues of material fact exist and the movant merits judgment as a matter of law. See Sandy City v. Salt Lake County, 827 P.2d 212, 217-18 (Utah 1992). We accord no deference to the trial court's legal conclusions, reviewing them for correctness. See id.

ANALYSIS

As mentioned above, Sandy Hills challenges just the facial constitutionality of Sandy City's downzoning ordinance. ⁵ " 'Thus, the only question before this court is whether the mere enactment of the [ordinance] constitutes [a substantive due process violation or] a taking.' " Keystone Bituminous Coal Ass'n v. DeBenedictis, 480 U.S. 470, 493, 107 S.Ct. 1232, 1246, 94 L.Ed.2d 472 (1987) (citation & emphasis omitted). And, it is Sandy Hills that bears the "heavy burden" of successfully attacking the ordinance. See id.; accord State v. Gardner, 947 P.2d 630, 655 (Utah 1997) (Russon, J., dissenting) (citing United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 745, 107 S.Ct. 2095, 2099, 95 L.Ed.2d 697 (1987)); see also 1 Kenneth H. Young, Anderson's American Law of Zoning § 3.16, at 121 (4th ed. 1996) (stating challenger's burden of proof in upsetting zoning ordinance "can properly be described as an 'extraordinary' one"). This is because of our "strong ... reluctance" to proclaim a legislative action ⁶ facially unconstitutional. Salt...