Snake River Brewing v. Town of Jackson

• Decision Date: 29 January 2002
• Docket Number: No. 00-298.,00-298.
• Citation: 39 P.3d 397,2002 WY 11
• Parties: SNAKE RIVER BREWING COMPANY, INC., a Wyoming corporation, Appellant (Defendant), v. The TOWN OF JACKSON, Wyoming, a municipal corporation, Appellee (Plaintiff).
• Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

39 P.3d 397

2002 WY 11

SNAKE RIVER BREWING COMPANY, INC., a Wyoming corporation, Appellant (Defendant), v. The TOWN OF JACKSON, Wyoming, a municipal corporation, Appellee (Plaintiff).

No. 00-298.

Supreme Court of Wyoming.

January 29, 2002.

Representing Appellant: John L. Gallinger, P.C., and Paula A. Fleck of Holland & Hart, LLP, Jackson, WY.

Representing Appellee: Daniel M. Hesse, Jackson, WY.

Before LEHMAN, C.J., and GOLDEN, HILL, and VOIGT, JJ., and DAN SPANGLER, District Judge (Ret.).

VOIGT, Justice.

[¶ 1] In 1993, Snake River Brewing Company, Inc. (Snake River) obtained from the Town of Jackson (the Town) a building permit for a restaurant and micro-brewery. Snake River then invested approximately $1,768,000.00 in the project. The zoning ordinances in effect at the time allowed Snake River to choose from three methods of providing patron parking: on-site, off-site, and fee in-lieu-of parking. Snake River chose a combination of on-site parking and off-site leased parking. The Town approved this arrangement. In 1995, the Town amended its zoning ordinances so that Snake River's property was no longer in the area approved for payment of a fee in-lieu-of parking. In 1996, the Town approved an expansion of Snake River's project, and Snake River eventually invested another $1,000,000.00 or so in the business. In 1998, Snake River's parking lease became, in its opinion, cost-prohibitive, so it searched for other alternatives, including paying the fee in-lieu-of parking. The Town has taken the position that Snake River abandoned the fee in-lieu-of parking choice by not adopting it initially in 1993, or within twelve months of issuance of the building permit, and that Snake River has now abandoned the off-site choice by not renewing its parking lease for twelve months.

[¶ 2] Snake River has appealed the district court's order granting summary judgment to the Town in a declaratory judgment action. Finding that summary judgment should have been granted to Snake River, rather than the Town, we reverse.

ISSUES

[¶ 3] The parties identified the interrelated issues in terms of non-conforming uses and abandonment. We will restate the determinative issues as follows:

1. As part of a non-conforming use, did Snake River have a vested right to pay a fee in-lieu-of providing off street parking for its restaurant and micro-brewery?

2. If Snake River did have such a right, was that right abandoned?

3. Is the application of the Town's present parking regulations to Snake River's property a reasonable exercise of municipal police power?

LEGAL CONTEXT

SUMMARY JUDGMENT

[¶ 4] Our standard for review of summary judgments is well established:

Summary judgment motions are determined under the following language from W.R.C.P. 56(c):

"The judgment sought shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law."

The purpose of summary judgment is to dispose of suits before trial that present no genuine issue of material fact. Moore v. Kiljander, 604 P.2d 204, 207 (Wyo. 1979). Summary judgment is a drastic remedy designed to pierce the formal allegations and reach the merits of the controversy, but only where no genuine issue of material fact is present. Weaver v. Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Wyoming, 609 P.2d 984, 986 (Wyo.1980). A fact is material if proof of that fact would have the effect of establishing or refuting one of the essential elements of a cause of action or defense asserted by the parties. Schuler v. Community First Nat. Bank, 999 P.2d 1303, 1304 (Wyo.2000). The summary judgment movant has the initial burden of establishing by admissible evidence a prima facie case; once this is accomplished, the burden shifts and the opposing party must present specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue of material fact. Boehm v. Cody Country Chamber of Commerce, 748 P.2d 704, 710 (Wyo.1987); Gennings v. First Nat. Bank of Thermopolis, 654 P.2d 154, 156 (Wyo. 1982).

This Court reviews a summary judgment in the same light as the district court, using the same materials and following the same standards. Unicorn Drilling, Inc. v. Heart Mountain Irr. Dist., 3 P.3d 857, 860 (Wyo.2000) (quoting Gray v. Norwest Bank Wyoming, N.A., 984 P.2d 1088, 1091 (Wyo.1999)

). The record is reviewed, however, from the vantage point most favorable to the party who opposed the motion, and this Court will give that party the benefit of all favorable inferences that may fairly be drawn from the record. Garcia v. Lawson, 928 P.2d 1164, 1166 (Wyo.1996). Mere inferences, conclusions, and assertions are not sufficient to defeat summary judgment. McClellan v. Britain, 826 P.2d 245, 247 (Wyo.1992); Mayflower Restaurant Co. v. Griego, 741 P.2d 1106, 1113 (Wyo.1987) (quoting Stundon v. Sterling, 736 P.2d 317, 318 (Wyo.1987)); Blackmore v. Davis Oil Co., 671 P.2d 334, 336-37 (Wyo.1983) (quoting Gennings, 654 P.2d at 155).

Garnett v. Coyle, 2001 WY 94, ¶¶ 3-5, 33 P.3d 114, 116-17 (Wyo.2001). The fact that both parties have moved for summary judgment does not mean there are no genuine issues of material fact. The court must still make that determination. Seay v. Vialpando, 567 P.2d 285, 287 (Wyo.1977). Summary judgment is appropriate in a declaratory judgment action so long as there are no genuine issues of material fact. Fontaine v. Board of County Com'rs of Park County, 4 P.3d 890, 892 (Wyo.2000); 22A Am.Jur.2d Declaratory Judgments § 225 (1988).

DECLARATORY JUDGMENT

[¶ 5] Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-37-103 (Lexis-Nexis 2001) provides, in pertinent part:

Any person ... whose rights, status or other legal relations are affected by ... a... municipal ordinance ... may have any question of construction or validity arising under the [ordinance] determined and obtain a declaration of rights, status or other legal relations.

[¶ 6] Declaratory judgments have the effect of other final judgments. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-37-102 (LexisNexis 2001). The Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act, being remedial in nature, is to be liberally construed to eliminate uncertainty and to settle controversies. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 1-37-114 (LexisNexis 2001); Brimmer v. Thomson, 521 P.2d 574, 577 (Wyo.1974). The Act is an appropriate vehicle, not for prejudging issues that should be decided by an administrative agency, but for interpreting the statute or ordinance upon which the administrative action is based. Rocky Mountain Oil and Gas Ass'n v. State, 645 P.2d 1163, 1168-69 (Wyo.1982).

PLANNING AND ZONING

[¶ 7] Since the concept of a "non-conforming use" must be understood within the context of planning and zoning law, it may be helpful first to define those general terms:

Planning may range in scope from a study of the parking needs of a community, followed by a proposed solution, to a comprehensive plan for the development of an entire municipality, or even a region which includes several municipalities. It is a generic term, and not a word of art unless its dimensions are marked out by a statute or ordinance.

1 Kenneth H. Young, Anderson's American Law of Zoning § 1.03 at 7 (4th ed.1996). Municipal planning in Wyoming has as its goal the development of a "master plan for the physical development of the municipality." Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-1-503(a) (Lexis-Nexis 2001). "The plan shall be made for the general purpose of guiding and accomplishing a coordinated, adjusted and harmonious development of the municipality which will best promote the general welfare as well as efficiency and economy in the process of development." Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-1-504 (LexisNexis 2001). "Planning, therefore, is more than a suggested pattern of land use; it involves the planning of all the usual public improvements and services which go into making up the community." Ford v. Board of County Com'rs of Converse County, 924 P.2d 91, 95 (Wyo.1996).

[¶ 8] Zoning is a planning tool that must be used in accordance with a comprehensive plan. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-1-601(d)(i) (LexisNexis 2001); 1 Young, supra, § 1.13 at 19.

Comprehensive zoning consists of the division of the whole territory of a municipality into districts, and the imposition of restrictions upon the use of land in such districts. * * * [Zoning regulations] permit a municipality to apply constant and consistent pressure upon landowners to the end that land use will be guided by the community plan and the public interest.

1 Young, supra, § 1.13 at 20 (footnote omitted). Municipal zoning in Wyoming contemplates the division of a town into districts, with uniform regulations within each district. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 15-1-601(b) and (c).¹ We have described zoning as "the process that a community employs to legally control the use which may be made of property and the physical configuration of development upon the tracts of land located within its jurisdiction." Ford, 924 P.2d at 94. Zoning ordinances may regulate both the nature of the land usage and the physical dimension of uses, including height, setbacks, and minimum areas. Cheyenne Airport Bd. v. Rogers, 707 P.2d 717, 726 (Wyo.1985), appeal dismissed, 476 U.S. 1110, 106 S.Ct. 1961, 90 L.Ed.2d 647 (1986). The comprehensive plan is the policy statement; the zoning ordinances are what have the force and effect of law. Ford, 924 P.2d at 95.

[¶ 9] When a zoning ordinance goes into effect, almost invariably there will be existing buildings or uses that do not meet the new regulations for the zoning district in which they are located. Such buildings or uses are called "non-conforming uses."

"A non-conforming use is a use which, although it does not conform with existing zoning regulations, existed lawfully prior to the enactment of the zoning regulations. These uses are permitted to continue, although technically in violation of the current zoning regulations, until they are

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