Smithfield Concerned Citizens v. Town of Smithfield
| Decision Date | 21 July 1989 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 87-0246-T. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island |
| Parties | SMITHFIELD CONCERNED CITIZENS FOR FAIR ZONING; Jackson Despres, Alfred Constantino, individually and as principals of Smithfield Concerned Citizens for Fair Zoning; Joan Johnson; Johnson Insulation Co., Inc.; Rollingwood Acres, Inc.; Nicholas Cambio d/b/a Universal Properties Group; Durastone, Inc.; Angelo Calcagni; Calcagni Construction Corp.; Larry Colaluca; Chester's Service Station, Inc.; Frank Sleboda; Colony Ice Cream Co.; Michael and Ralph DiDomenico; William Steere; William Steere, Jr.; Steere's Inc.; Thomas Farrell; Scott Wilcox; Cavanagh Company; R.S.R. II; Colonial Land Development; 844 Group; R & S Realty; John Does, Nos. 1 through ____ as property owners located in the Town of Smithfield; John Does, Nos. 1 through ____ as all those who have been injured as a result of the Acts complained of herein, Plaintiffs, v. The TOWN OF SMITHFIELD, by and through its Treasurer Lillian RAINVILLE; the Town Council of the Town of Smithfield; John F. Emin, Jr., Gloria Nerney, F. Monroe Allen, individually and as Members of the Town Council of the Town of Smithfield, Defendants. |
Michael A. Kelly, Providence, R.I., for plaintiffs.
C. Russell Bengston, Harry Asquith, Edward Moses, Edmund Alves, Providence, R.I., for defendants.
This matter is before the Court on the plaintiffs' objection to that portion of a Magistrate's Report and Recommendation recommending dismissal of the complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6).
On April 14, 1987, the Town Council of the Town of Smithfield (the "Council") adopted a new zoning ordinance (the "Ordinance"). Among other things, the Ordinance provides for a wide variety of residential, commercial, industrial and public uses; prescribes the geographical districts in which each of the uses is permitted; establishes performance standards addressing a number of environmental concerns; and creates a zoning board of review which is empowered to interpret the Ordinance and grant variances and exceptions from its terms.
Eighteen of the twenty-five plaintiffs are individuals or entities that own property and/or operate businesses in Smithfield. Four plaintiffs are identified only as individual who live outside of Smithfield or persons who claim to have been damaged in some unspecified way. The remaining plaintiffs are Smithfield Concerned Citizens for Fair Zoning, which is described, simply, as a nonprofit organization located in Smithfield, and two of its principals.
The plaintiffs allege that the Ordinance has substantially altered the municipality's zoning designations in ways that adversely impact them. Most complain that it changed the designation of their property from commercial or industrial to residential. The plaintiffs have brought this action against the Town, the Council, and its individual members seeking a declaration that the Ordinance is invalid; injunctive relief against its enforcement and/or implementation; and $50 million in damages.
The defendants have counterclaimed contending that the plaintiffs' suit is frivolous and that their excessive claim for damages has impaired the town's bond rating. However, the defendants did not object to that portion of the Magistrate's report recommending dismissal of the counterclaim for lack of jurisdiction presumably because the Magistrate also recommended dismissal of the complaint.
An objection to a Magistrate's recommendation with respect to a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss requires a de novo determination by the Court. 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(1). A 12(b)(6) motion should not be granted "unless it appears beyond doubt that the opposing party can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief." Conley v. Gibson, 355 U.S. 41, 45-46, 78 S.Ct. 99, 102, 2 L.Ed.2d 80 (1957). In making that determination the complaint should be construed in the light most favorable to the party against whom the motion is directed. E.g., Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 236, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 1686, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974). Every doubt must be resolved in the opponent's favor, and all well-pleaded allegations of the complaint must be accepted as true. E.g., Miree v. DeKalb County, 433 U.S. 25, 27 n. 2, 97 S.Ct. 2490, 2492 n. 2, 53 L.Ed.2d 557 (1977).
In their complaint, the plaintiffs present a smorgasbord of claims under the Constitution and statutes of both the United States and the State of Rhode Island. Some of the claims are difficult to decipher because they are vague and overlapping. However, it is clear that they are predicated on the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1983; the "takings" clause of the fifth amendment; the "due process" clause of the fourteenth amendment; the "conspiracy" section of the Civil Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3); the Fair Housing Act of 1968, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq.; and a variety of state constitutional and statutory provisions. These claims will be considered seriatim.
42 U.S.C. § 1983 provides:
Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State ... subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.
The rights that the plaintiffs say they have been deprived of are their property and due process rights as set forth in the fifth and fourteenth amendments.
The fifth amendment provides that private property shall not "be taken for public use, without just compensation." The plaintiffs claim that the rezoning of their land constitutes such a taking because it has deprived them of "all economically viable use" of the property and diminished its value.
In order to establish a fifth amendment violation, a property owner must demonstrate both that his property was "taken" and that no provision was made for awarding him just compensation. Land use regulation constitutes a "taking" if it deprives the owner of economically viable use of his land or does not substantially advance a legitimate state interest. Agins v. Tiburon, 447 U.S. 255, 260, 100 S.Ct. 2138, 2141, 65 L.Ed.2d 106 (1980). Whether a regulation has such an effect involves an essentially ad hoc, factual inquiry to determine "the economic impact of the regulation on the claimant" and "the extent to which the regulation has interfered with distinct investment-backed expectations." Penn Central Transp. Co. v. New York City, 438 U.S. 104, 124, 98 S.Ct. 2646, 2659, 57 L.Ed.2d 631 (1978). However, that assessment cannot be made until a final decision has been made regarding the regulation's applicability to the property in question. Thus, when the regulation takes the form of a zoning ordinance, a takings claim is not ripe for adjudication until the administrative procedures for making that determination have been exhausted. Williamson County Regional Planning Comm'n v. Hamilton Bank, 473 U.S. 172, 186, 105 S.Ct. 3108, 3116, 87 L.Ed.2d 126 (1985).
In Williamson, a developer alleged that enactment of a zoning ordinance amounted to a "taking" of its property. A jury found for the developer and awarded damages. The Supreme Court set aside the award, in part, on the ground that judicial review was premature inasmuch as the developer had not sought a variance from the Planning Commission. In its opinion, the Court stated:
Respondent has not yet obtained a final decision regarding how it will be allowed to develop its property. Our reluctance to examine taking claims until such a final decision has been made is compelled by the very nature of the inquiry required by the Just Compensation Clause. Although "the question of what constitutes a `taking' for purposes of the Fifth Amendment has proved to be a problem of considerable difficulty," this Court consistently has indicated that among the factors of particular significance in the inquiry are the economic impact of the challenged action and the extent to which it interferes with reasonable investment-backed expectations. Those factors simply cannot be evaluated until the administrative agency has arrived at a final, definitive position regarding how it will apply the regulations at issue to the particular land in question.
473 U.S. at 190-191, 105 S.Ct. at 3118-19 (citations omitted).
The Williamson court also addressed the "just compensation" requirement saying:
The Fifth Amendment does not proscribe the taking of property; it proscribes taking without just compensation. Nor does the Fifth Amendment require that just compensation be paid in advance of, or contemporaneously with, the taking; all that is required is that a "`reasonable, certain and adequate provision for obtaining compensation'" exist at the time of the taking.
473 U.S. at 194, 105 S.Ct. at 3120 (citations omitted). The Court concluded that the developer's failure to resort to available state law procedures for seeking compensation constituted another reason for denominating his claim as premature.
In the instant case, the Ordinance and applicable state law provide both a mechanism by which application of the Ordinance to the plaintiffs' land may be administratively determined and a procedure for obtaining just compensation for "constructive takings" or "inverse condemnations." Sections 8.4.1.a. and 8.4.4.c. of the Ordinance and General Laws of Rhode Island (1956) (1988 Reenactment) §§ 45-24-13 and 45-24-19 provide for a zoning board of review which is specifically empowered to grant variances where literal enforcement of the zoning regulations would result in...
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