Turning Point, Inc. v. City of Caldwell

• Decision Date: 24 January 1996
• Docket Number: Nos. 95-35223,95-35237,s. 95-35223
• Citation: 74 F.3d 941
• Parties: 96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 492, 96 Daily Journal D.A.R. 808 TURNING POINT, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF CALDWELL; Caldwell Planning and Zoning Department, Defendants-Appellees. TURNING POINT, INC., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CITY OF CALDWELL; Caldwell Planning and Zoning Department, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 941

74 F.3d 941

96 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 492, 96 Daily Journal

D.A.R. 808

TURNING POINT, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF CALDWELL; Caldwell Planning and Zoning Department,

Defendants-Appellees.

TURNING POINT, INC., Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CITY OF CALDWELL; Caldwell Planning and Zoning Department,

Defendants-Appellants.

Nos. 95-35223, 95-35237.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Argued and Submitted Dec. 5, 1995.

Decided Jan. 24, 1996.

John H. Bradbury, Lewiston, Idaho, for Plaintiff-Appellee.

Kirtlan G. Naylor, Hamlin & Sasser, Boise, Idaho, for Defendants-Appellants.

Appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho.

Before: D.W. NELSON and JOHN T. NOONAN, Circuit Judges, and TANNER ^*, District Judge.

NOONAN, Circuit Judge:

Turning Point, Inc., a nonprofit Idaho corporation, brought suit against the City of Caldwell, Idaho, and the Caldwell Planning and Zoning Department (collectively, Caldwell). Turning Point alleged that the zoning ordinance of Caldwell was unconstitutionally vague and that its enforcement against Turning Point was a violation of the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 3601, et seq. The district court made findings in favor of Turning Point on certain issues and in favor of Caldwell on other issues and gave limited relief to Turning Point. Turning Point's appeal is on the issues decided against it and the extent of relief granted. Caldwell cross-appeals the damages awarded. We expand the relief, reduce the damages, and remand to the district court.

FACTS

The City of Caldwell is located about 25 miles west of Boise. According to the 1990 census, it has a population of 32,441. The further following facts are taken from the findings of fact made by the magistrate judge. They are undisputed on appeal:

In 1991 Caldwell lost its only existing homeless shelter, Maranantha House. Turning Point then began its search for property to use for a homeless shelter. It was operated by Phillip J. Bush and his wife Gayle Bush, whose mother Elaine Chapin had been involved with Maranantha House. The Bushes believed that Maranantha House's demise was due to its inability to obtain a Special Use Permit (SUP) from the Planning and Zoning Department. To avoid repetition of that experience, the Bushes sought to resolve zoning problems before buying any property for Turning Point.

During 1991 Turning Point was offered the single-family residence of Ed Perry at 703 Belmont, a two-story home with 3,700 square feet of interior space. The Bushes contacted the Planning and Zoning Department and talked to staff who gave them the impression that they would not need a SUP for a shelter at 703 Belmont. Following the meeting Turning Point bought the property and a duplex next door at 709 Belmont. In March 1992 Turning Point opened both houses as 24-hour emergency shelters for the homeless, offering shelter, food, and counseling with social workers. Residents are assigned chores, assisted in looking for employment and referred to possibilities for permanent housing. The majority of residents are adult women with minor children; there are also some families with fathers and a few single men without children. Seventy-five percent of the residents have a serious physical or mental impairment that affects a major life activity. These disabilities prevent these persons from maintaining employment, obtaining education or securing permanent housing. At least one member of nearly every family at Turning Point suffers from such impairments.

When the shelter opened in March 1992, Turning Point planned to serve 16 homeless people at 703 Belmont and then to increase the number after renovations were made. It learned from the building inspector that it would need to install a fire alarm system wired through the house; install an emergency light system; and build an upstairs fire exit. These renovations were made. Turning Point increased its residents at the property to 39 occupants by June 1, 1993.

In July 1993 a small fire started in a mattress on the second floor. In the course of putting out the fire, the fire department found overcrowded conditions and heard that there had been up to 45 people residing in the facility at one time. On the night of the fire there were 28 persons. The building inspector did a follow-up report and wrote Turning Point on July 31, 1993, informing it that, under the Uniform Building Code, 703 Belmont could house more than ten people only if it moved the ceilings on the second floor up to 7 feet, 6 inches; gave bedrooms on the second floor a minimum area of 70 square feet and minimum width of 7 feet; provided two legal exits for the upstairs; gave all bedrooms exit windows and made improvements in the smoke detectors and fire alarms. With these changes, the inspector wrote, 703 Belmont would qualify for R-1 Occupancy, so that Turning Point could operate as a "congregate" residence housing more than 10 persons. ("Congregate" is an On receiving this letter Turning Point contacted Dennis Crooks, Director of the Planning and Zoning Department, who replied on September 27, 1993 that 703 Belmont was in a commercial zone, C-2. Crooks characterized 703 Belmont as "a boardinghouse," the maximum occupancy of which was limited to 12 persons by the city's zoning ordinance. If Turning Point wanted to house more than 12, the residence would have to be reclassified as "public/semi-public housing"; to have such a use in a C-2 commercial zone would require a SUP. Until the SUP was completed, occupancy must be limited to 12.

adjectival neologism, now aptly used to describe the housing of communal groups.)

In response, Turning Point filed for a SUP stating that it wanted to operate a congregate residence to serve homeless persons and that in the past it had accommodated an average of 33 homeless individuals. It asked to be permitted to accommodate up to 40 residents at 703 Belmont and to expand 709 Belmont from a duplex to a triplex. Meanwhile it observed the restriction of housing an average of 12 residents at 703 Belmont.

According to the zoning ordinance, a C-2 zone is to "fulfill shopping retail needs including central business area preferences." The zoning permits mobile homes on single family lots in the area; it also permits a car wash, a service station and a tire shop without any requirement of a SUP. Public and semi-public uses, which are identified as including schools, churches, cemeteries, and hospitals, may be located in a C-2 zone only by grant of a SUP.

The staff of the Planning and Zoning Commission ("the Commission") recommended approval of the application for the triplex at 709 Belmont and of the SUP for 703 Belmont with conditions, of which the most important was a limitation of 703 Belmont's occupancy to 18 residents. At the first meeting of the Commission on the application, on November 18, 1993, Turning Point contended that the occupancy limitations discriminated against the handicapped in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

The Commission also received a report by Building Inspector Rolf that stated that the Uniform Housing Code would permit 17 persons to occupy the first floor and 8 persons to occupy the second floor of 703 Belmont, with an accommodation in the requirements to permit bedroom ceilings of less than 7 feet, 6 inches. The police chief of Caldwell reported that the number of calls for police services were excessive for what was "a residential district"; the police chief did not acknowledge that, in fact, the district was zoned for commercial uses.

On December 16, 1993 the Commission granted a SUP, turning 709 Belmont into a triplex with conditions, and granted a SUP for 703 Belmont with a maximum occupancy limited to 25 individuals including one resident staff member; a requirement of .33 parking spaces per person; a requirement of a new sidewalk and landscaping; and a requirement of annual review of the SUP.

Turning Point appealed to the City Council on the ground that the occupancy limit was too low. A resident appealed on the ground that the occupancy limit was too high. On February 21, 1994 and March 10, 1994 hearings on these appeals were held before the City Council. Turning Point repeated its claim that there was discrimination against the handicapped. Three neighbors complained of problems of garbage, parking and fighting connected with the shelter. City Councilman Garrett Nancolas asked the fire chief what he thought was "the real number of people that should occupy that place and be safe." The chief said: "I am comfortable with the 25." At the March 10, 1994 meeting Councilman Nancolas emphasized "the incidents of disruption, traffic problems with the possible overall clamor" that disturbed "some residents that have been there for 40 and 45 and 50 years." To preserve "the integrity of the neighborhood" he said that people should not be crowded into the residence. He then said: "The letter of the law dictates that 25 is an acceptable figure. However, the spirit of the law, to me, dictates that a far less number than that should be allowed." He proposed 15 as "the tolerable...