Texas Dept. of Transp. v. Sunset Valley

Decision Date16 December 1999
Citation8 S.W.3d 727
Parties(Tex.App.-Austin 1999) Texas Department of Transportation, et al., Appellants <A HREF="#fr1-1" name="fn1-1">1 v. City of Sunset Valley, Appellee NO. 03-98-00660-CV
CourtTexas Court of Appeals

FROM THE DISTRICT COURT OF TRAVIS COUNTY, 353RD JUDICIAL DISTRICT NO. 98-05052, HONORABLE PETER M. LOWRY, JUDGE PRESIDING

Before Chief Justice Aboussie, Justices Kidd and Yeakel

Mack Kidd, Justice

The Texas Department of Transportation ("TxDOT") brings this interlocutory appeal from a district court decision overruling its plea to the jurisdiction and rendering a partial summary judgment for the City of Sunset Valley ("Sunset Valley") in a suit for inverse condemnation. In three issues, TxDOT complains that the district court erred in denying its plea to the jurisdiction because (1) Sunset Valley lacks standing to sue for the physical taking of its streets, (2) Sunset Valley lacks standing to sue for any injuries that may result from the increased circuity of travel and noise and light pollution caused by the highway's expansion, and (3) TxDOT is immune from suit by virtue of the doctrine of sovereign immunity. We will affirm the district court's ruling.

BACKGROUND

Sunset Valley is a small general-law municipality that is bifurcated by U.S. Highway 290 and virtually surrounded by the City of Austin. This dispute arose when TxDOT expanded U.S. Highway 290 from a small ground-level highway into a multi-level, limited-access divided highway. As a result of TxDOT's decision to make Highway 290 a controlled-access highway along the length of Sunset Valley, several streets that had previously crossed or run alongside the old ground-level highway were affected. Jones Road, an important municipal artery, was one of the streets affected, and a substantial portion of it had to be closed. This street had served as a vital transportation link that the residents of Sunset Valley, as well as its police officers and other emergency personnel, had used to commute between the central and southwestern portions of the city. After the closure, travel between the two portions was possible only by traveling along Highway 290's access road to a point outside the city, crossing under, and then doubling back along the opposite side of Highway 290.

Sunset Valley has since found it necessary to construct a substitute street in order to regain the transportation connection it lost as a result of the expansion. The question of who should pay for this substitute street, along with a multitude of other issues involved in the construction and completion of Highway 290, was presented to the district court. Sunset Valley also raised issues of noise and light pollution, charging that TxDOT had failed to perform state and federally mandated noise-abatement procedures and studies. Sunset Valley moved for partial, interlocutory summary judgment, and TxDOT responded by filing a plea to the jurisdiction along with several special exceptions to Sunset Valley's pleadings. The district court denied TxDOT's plea and special exceptions and granted Sunset Valley's motion for partial, interlocutory summary judgment on November 9, 1998. The court found that Sunset Valley proved all the elements of inverse condemnation as a matter of law and that the substitute facilities doctrine was the proper method of determining the amount of damages incurred by Sunset Valley. The trial court also found that Sunset Valley was entitled to declaratory relief with respect to its noise pollution claims, but that it was not entitled to relief in the form of an injunction or mandamus. TxDOT now challenges the district court's denial of its plea to the jurisdiction in this interlocutory appeal, arguing (1) that Sunset Valley lacks standing to sue for inverse condemnation, (2) that Sunset Valley lacks standing to bring its claims for damages resulting from increased circuity of travel and noise and light pollution, and (3) that TxDOT is immune from suit for declaratory relief by virtue of the doctrine of sovereign immunity.

DISCUSSION
Interlocutory Appeal

In bringing this appeal, TxDOT must of necessity rely solely on section 51.014(a)(8) of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code, which provides that "[a] person may appeal from an interlocutory order of a district court that grants or denies a plea to the jurisdiction by a governmental unit as that term is defined in Section 101.001."2 Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. 51.014(a)(8) (West Supp. 1999). A plea to the jurisdiction contests the trial court's authority to adjudicate the subject matter of the cause of action. See Dolenz v. Texas State Bd. of Med. Exam., 899 S.W.2d 809, 811 (Tex. App.-Austin 1995, no writ); Schulz v. Schulz, 726 S.W.2d 256, 257 (Tex. App.-Austin 1987, no writ). In a proper plea to the jurisdiction, a defendant contends that, even if all the allegations in a plaintiff's pleadings are taken as true, there is an incurable jurisdictional defect apparent from the face of the pleadings. See Firemen's Ins. Co. v. Board of Regents of Univ. of Tex. Sys., 909 S.W.2d 540, 541 (Tex.App.-Austin 1995, writ denied) (citing Bybee v. Fireman's Fund Ins. Co., 331 S.W.2d 910, 917 (Tex. 1960)); Washington v. Fort Bend Indep. Sch. Dist., 892 S.W.2d 156, 159 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1994, no writ). In reviewing the grant or denial of a plea to the jurisdiction, we do not look at the merits of the case. See Firemen's Ins. Co., 909 S.W.2d at 541. This Court recently held that a governmental unit is free to appeal a trial court's denial of its plea to the jurisdiction under section 51.014(a)(8), regardless of the basis on which it asserts a lack of jurisdiction. See City of Austin v. L.S. Ranch, Ltd., 970 S.W.2d 750, 752 (Tex. App.-Austin 1998, no pet.). Thus, a government unit's plea to the jurisdiction need not be based upon a claim of sovereign immunity in order for it to bring an interlocutory appeal under section 51.014(a)(8). See id. Nevertheless, because the statute authorizing interlocutory appeals is a narrow exception to the general rule that only final judgments and orders are appealable, we must give it a strict construction. See id. at 753; America Online, Inc. v. Williams, 958 S.W.2d 268, 271 (Tex. App.-Houston [14th Dist.] 1997, no pet.); Tober v. Turner of Texas, Inc., 668 S.W.2d 831, 835 (Tex. App.-Austin 1984, no writ). Thus, we will limit our discussion to the narrow issue that is before us, the question of whether the trial court erred in denying TxDOT's plea to the jurisdiction.

Standing

We first address TxDOT's argument that the district court erred in overruling its plea to the jurisdiction because Sunset Valley lacks standing to sue TxDOT for the appropriation of Jones Road. In order for a court to have subject matter jurisdiction, the party bringing suit must have standing. See Texas Ass'n of Bus. v. Texas Air Control Bd., 852 S.W.2d 440, 443-46 (Tex. 1993). To establish standing, a party must show that (1) a real controversy exists between the parties and (2) the controversy will actually be determined by the judicial relief sought. See id. at 446.

TxDOT argues that because a city's interest in its streets is subordinate to the interests of the State, and since the legislature has provided TxDOT statutory authority to appropriate city streets for the construction of controlled-access highways, Sunset Valley cannot successfully bring an action against the State for TxDOT's appropriation of its streets. See City of Mission v. Poppywell, 294 S.W.2d 712, 715 (Tex. 1956) (holding that legal title to city streets belongs to State and that cities' authority and control limited to extent delegated by legislature or state constitution); Tex. Transp. Code Ann. 203.003 (West Supp. 1999) (authorizing transportation commission to exercise powers to lay out, construct, maintain, and operate a state highway in a county or municipality without consent of county or municipality). TxDOT contends that because Sunset Valley cannot successfully bring an action for the taking of its streets, it has no claim and ultimately lacks standing to bring suit. We disagree with this analysis.

Although TxDOT characterizes this as an issue of standing, in reality TxDOT is seeking a determination of this case on the merits. TxDOT confuses the jurisdictional question of whether Sunset Valley has standing to bring a cause of action for the State's appropriation of city streets with the substantive issue of whether Sunset Valley should prevail on the merits of its case. TxDOT is attempting to meld its appeal of the denial of its plea to the jurisdiction with an appeal of the partial summary judgment rendered against it by the trial court.3 As we have stated previously this Court is not authorized to review the merits of Sunset Valley's claims in this interlocutory appeal. We decline to permit TxDOT to use this interlocutory appeal as a vehicle to circumvent the bounds set by the statute in order to obtain judicial review of the merits of Sunset Valley's case before the district court has rendered a final judgment.4

Certainly, a city has standing to bring suit against the State for appropriation of that city's streets, regardless of whether its action is ultimately unsuccessful. TxDOT cites no case law in support of its contention that municipalities lack standing to sue the State for the physical appropriation of city streets. Likewise, we are unable to find any authority supporting this argument. Here, Sunset Valley has pleaded that it has a justiciable interest in the street that was taken and that as a city, it has an interest in maintaining its streets for its residents. Cities have always had standing to litigate issues involving their entitlement to public property in suits against other state governmental entities.5

In asserting a claim to the streets that run within its boundaries, Sunset Valley has shown that a controversy exists as to the nature and extent of its interest in...

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