Town of Hollywood v. Floyd

• Decision Date: 12 July 2013
• Docket Number: Nos. 27252.,s. 27252.
• Citation: 403 S.C. 466,744 S.E.2d 161
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: The TOWN OF HOLLYWOOD, Appellant/Respondent, v. William FLOYD, a/k/a Jeff Floyd, Troy Readen and Edward McCracken, a/k/a Eddie McCracken, Respondents/Appellants. Appellate Case No. 2010–174946.

403 S.C. 466

744 S.E.2d 161

The TOWN OF HOLLYWOOD, Appellant/Respondent,

v. William FLOYD, a/k/a Jeff Floyd, Troy Readen and Edward McCracken, a/k/a Eddie McCracken, Respondents/Appellants.Appellate Case No. 2010–174946.

Nos. 27252.

Supreme Court of South Carolina.

Heard Feb. 5, 2013.

Decided May 15, 2013.

Rehearing Denied July 12, 2013.

Andrew F. Lindemann, of Davidson and Lindemann, P.A., of Columbia, Hugh Willcox Buyck, of Buyck and Sanders, L.L.C., of Mount Pleasant and Kathleen Fowler Monoc, of Pratt–Thomas Walker, of Charleston, for Appellant/Respondent.

Thomas R. Goldstein, of Belk Cobb Infinger and Goldstein, P.A., of Charleston, for Respondents/Appellants.

Chief Justice TOAL.

The Town of Hollywood (the Town) filed this action against William Floyd, Troy Readen, and Edward McCracken (collectively, the developers) seeking a declaration that the developers may not subdivide their property without approval from the Town's Planning Commission and an injunction prohibiting subdivision of the property until such approval is obtained. The developers filed counterclaims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (2006), alleging equal protection and due process violations as well as various state law claims. The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of the Town on its claims for equitable and declaratory relief, and also granted the Town's motion for a directed verdict on the developers' state law claims. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Town on the developers' due process claim, but awarded the developers $450,000 in actual damages on their equal protection claim. Both parties appealed. The Town argues the circuit court erred in denying its motions for a directed verdict and judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) on the developers' equal protection claim, and in granting the developers' motion for attorney's fees and costs. The developers argue the circuit court erred in granting summary judgment in favor of the Town on its claims for equitable and declaratory relief. This Court certified this case for review pursuant to Rule 204(b), SCACR. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

Factual/Procedural History

In February 2007, the developers entered into a contract to purchase a thirteen-acre tract located on Bryan Road in the Town of Hollywood. Thereafter, the developers filed an application with the Town's Planning Commission to rezone the property for residential use. The Planning Commission heard the matter on June 14, 2007, at which time the developers presented a “preliminary lot sketch” and indicated their intent to subdivide and develop the property into seventeen residential lots. Commissioner Matthew Wolf informed the developers their plans did not require rezoning; instead, Wolf instructed the developers to file for approval with the Planning Commission to subdivide their property. Wolf further stated that before the Planning Commission could hear a subdivision application, the developers needed to give notice to all landowners within a 300–foot radius of their property and gather information about roadways, drainage, and timber removal. Another Commissioner stated,

Hopefully you can get all this information together and maybe present it at a later date, possibly, and we can act upon it. But as of tonight, based on what has been presented to this Commission, we would not be doing our job as Commissioners if we were to consider it.

The developers asked for clarification as to whether they needed to present the matter to the Planning Commission, and Commissioner Wolf restated that the developers should appear before the Commission again and present “a plat for approval.” The Planning Commission ultimately tabled the issue based on “inadequate information and the fact that none of the ordinances of the Town [had] been followed.”

The Planning Commission then opened the floor for public comments. Councilwoman Annette Sausser stated she did not support the developers' subdivision.¹ Sausser stated Bryan Road was too narrow to handle any additional traffic without improvement and noted the developers' property was located near a dangerous curve where multiple accidents had occurred.² Sausser also cited drainage and environmental concerns associated with a nearby marshland and stated the Town's constituents did not support the developers' subdivision.

Other constituents also expressed concern about drainage issues and Bryan Road's ability to withstand additional traffic. One constituentstated, “Bryan Road[ ] is a one-car road. You cannot get two large vehicles past each other. And the idea that there might be another 30 cars coming down through there is just so difficult to imagine.” Another constituent stated ingress and egress for residents along Bryan Road would not be satisfactory with additional traffic, and also expressed concern about the ability of emergency vehicles to access the road.

Subsequent to the meeting, the developers met with Kenneth Edwards, the Town's zoning administrator, who indicated he would approve the subdivision himself if the developers applied for it in two phases. Edwards ultimately signed the developers' proposed plats, purporting to approve them, in two stages—half of the lots on June 22, 2007, and the remaining lots on June 27, 2007. Thereafter, the developers closed on the property and recorded the plats in the Charleston County RMC office.

When the developers began working on the subdivision, the Town issued a stop-work order. After the developers indicated they would not comply with the stop-work order, the Town filed this action seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. Specifically, the Town sought a declaration that the developers could not subdivide their property without approval from the Town's Planning Commission and an injunction prohibiting subdivision of the property until such approval was obtained. The developers filed equal protection, due process, and state law counterclaims. Thereafter, the parties struck the case with leave to restore in an effort to resolve the matter through another Planning Commission hearing.

On August 14, 2008, the developers appeared before the Planning Commission a second time to discuss the “preliminary subdivision” of their property. During the meeting, the Planning Commission informed the developers of multiple issues they needed to address before the Commission could approve the subdivision, including an acceptable septic system, a wetlands certification letter, and a traffic study of Bryan Road. Again, constituents expressed concern about Bryan Road's ability to handle a heightened level of traffic and the effect it would have on the dangerous curve adjacent to the developers' property.

In reference to the traffic study, Commissioner Wolf stated, “[N]o one's denying access to the [developers'] lot. No one has ever suggested that there be no access to that lot.” Instead, Wolf stated, it is a matter of “commonsense and safety for the Town of Hollywood.” Wolf stated Bryan Road is “one of the most dangerous roads in Hollywood” with a high density of traffic. Consequently, Wolf explained, the Planning Commission requested a traffic study to ensure Bryan Road could withstand a heightened level of traffic and that it would not hinder emergency vehicles' access to the properties along Bryan Road. The Planning Commission ultimately tabled the subdivision request until the developers addressed all necessary issues.

On March 29, 2010, the parties restored their case in the circuit court. Thereafter, the Town moved for summary judgment on its claims for declaratory and injunctive relief as well as the developers' counterclaims. In response, the developers submitted an affidavit by William Floyd. Floyd stated that during their first meeting, the Planning Commission instructed the developers they were in the wrong place and directed them to Edwards, the Town's zoning administrator, who subsequently approved their plats. Floyd claimed the Town then took the position that Edwards did not have authority under the Town's ordinances to approve the subdivision, but could not cite to a specific ordinance or produce the ordinances for review. Floyd claimed he made multiple demands for the ordinances, but the Town claimed it could not produce them because it “was in the process of ‘recodifying’ them and the [o]rdinances were not in any one place where they could be retrieved.” Floyd stated, “The Town has never adopted a consistent policy with us. Rather, it evolves as is necessary to stop us.” Floyd further stated, “It is shocking that the Town now cites [o]rdinances which did not exist when this controversy began, and if the [o]rdinances did exist, which I doubt, the Town was unable to produce them.”

The circuit court granted the Town's motion for summary judgment as to its claims for equitable and declaratory relief, but denied the motion as to the developers' counterclaims. The circuit court found the Town's ordinances did not vest Edwards with the “authority to approve a final subdivision plat of this kind” or to waive compliance with the subdivision-approval process set forth in the Town's ordinances; rather, because the developers intended to subdivide their property into more than three lots, the circuit court found the Planning Commission must approve the subdivision plats. The circuit court further found that although the Town's ordinances were in the process of recodification during the developers' application process, they were effective during this time because the Town adopted them in 1998 and preserved the original language in the recodified version. Accordingly, the circuit court ruled the developers may not subdivide their property without the Planning Commission's approval, and that the plats Edwards signed were “null, void and of no effect.”

At trial, Edward Horton, the Town's current zoning administrator, testified he informed the developers, by way of letter and orally before the Planning Commission, of the...