Waste Management of Ohio, Inc. v. City of Dayton, 96-3977

• Decision Date: 23 December 1997
• Docket Number: No. 96-3977,96-3977
• Citation: 132 F.3d 1142
• Parties: 28 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,459 WASTE MANAGEMENT OF OHIO, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF DAYTON, Defendant-Appellee.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Sixth Circuit

Page 1142

132 F.3d 1142

28 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,459

WASTE MANAGEMENT OF OHIO, INC., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF DAYTON, Defendant-Appellee.

No. 96-3977.

United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit.

Argued Sept. 9, 1997.

Decided Dec. 23, 1997.

Gail C. Ford (briefed), Vorys, Sater, Seymour & Pease, Columbus, OH, John Winship Read (argued and briefed), Vorys, Sater Seymour & Pease, Cleveland, OH, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

J. Anthony Sawyer, Office of the City Attorney, Neil F. Freund (briefed), Shawn M. Blatt (argued), Freund, Freeze & Arnold, Dayton, OH, for Defendant-Appellee.

Before: JONES, SUHRHEINRICH, and MOORE, Circuit Judges.

MOORE, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which SUHRHEINRICH, J., joined. JONES, J. (pp. 1146-47), delivered a separate opinion concurring in the result.

MOORE, Circuit Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellant Waste Management of Ohio, Inc. ("WMO") appeals the district court's order that found a lack of jurisdiction to address its dispute with Defendant-Appellee City of Dayton (the "City"). The underlying dispute concerns whether the City, by virtue of its post-settlement actions, is estopped from refusing to approve WMO's construction of buildings on the south side of a landfill property, instead of the west side as originally designated in a consent decree between the parties. For the following reasons, we conclude that the district court does have subject matter jurisdiction over this dispute and, therefore, reverse.

I. BACKGROUND

In February 1991 federal litigation ensued between WMO and the City regarding the latter's denial of WMO's request to rezone a large tract of land on the west side of Dayton (from single-family residential to industrial) in order for a sanitary landfill (the "Stony Hollow Landfill") to be operated thereon. Joint Appendix (J.A.) at 18 (Compl., filed Feb. 22, 1991). WMO and the City entered into a settlement agreement on April 15, 1992 (the "Settlement Agreement"), which resolved the lawsuit, provided for construction of the Stony Hollow Landfill, and incorporated the Planned Development for Stony Hollow ("revised PD-69" or "PD-69"). J.A. at 88, 105 (Def.'s Ex. B with Attach. A). This Settlement Agreement was, in turn, incorporated into a consent decree entered and approved by the district judge on April 16, 1992 (the "Consent Decree"). J.A. at 84 (Agreed Consent Decree and Order, filed Apr. 16, 1992).

Two years after the judicial entry of the Consent Decree and the City's subsequent approval of the rezoning, as part of the process of obtaining final permits required for the construction of the Stony Hollow Landfill, WMO submitted an Overall Site Plan containing specific design and construction requirements to the Ohio EPA with a copy to the City. In a letter dated March 15, 1994 from Paul Woodie, Director of Planning for the City, to WMO, the City pointed to four areas ¹ in which there existed a discrepancy between the Overall Site Plan and PD-69, the fourth being the relocation of buildings and support facilities from the west side to the south side. J.A. at 359-60 (Pl.'s Ex. 7 at 1-2). The letter further stated, however, with respect to the fourth item only, "it appears that the new arrangement does meet the intent and provisions of PD-69" and that "[t]he change in access drives, building locations and support facilities as shown ... is in substantial compliance with PD-69." J.A. at 360 (Pl.'s Ex. 7 at 2). WMO and the City differ as to the meaning and legal significance of this statement as it relates to the relocation issue. This difference in perception became apparent when WMO sought permission to fill a ravine in order to bring the southern area up to grade in preparation for the building construction and to alter slightly the buildings' location on the south side, and the City responded that it had never approved the relocation in the first place. J.A. at 364 (Pl.'s Ex. 8 at 2). WMO then proceeded under the Dayton Zoning Code § 150.289 to seek approval for the relocation. J.A. at 215 (Def.'s Ex. B). Woodie and Michael Cromartie, the Superintendent of Building Inspection for Dayton, were proposing to approve the change, unless a majority of the City Commission were to direct them to do otherwise. J.A. at 365 (Def.'s Ex. D). Yet, on April 27, 1995 WMO's Division President, Robert Downing, Jr., was notified that Woodie and Cromartie had decided to reject the requested relocation. J.A. at 211 (Downing Aff. at 3 with Ex. E).

When the City filed a motion for an order releasing certain funds that had been placed in escrow pending resolution of other disputes ² between WMO and the City, WMO objected, claiming that the City had breached the Settlement Agreement and Consent Decree by changing its position regarding the location of the Stony Hollow Landfill buildings when it was estopped from doing so. J.A. at 203 (Pl.'s Mem. in Opp'n to Mot. to Release Escrowed Funds, filed May 2, 1995). On July 26, 1996 the district court ordered the release of the escrowed funds upon deciding that it only had subject matter jurisdiction to determine "whether [the] Settlement Agreement and the Consent Decree permit WM[O] to locate the buildings on the south side" and could not address the impact of any state law claims in answering this question. J.A. at 41 (District Ct. Op. at 10). The scope of the district court's subject matter jurisdiction over this dispute is the narrow issue now on appeal before this court.

The district court had jurisdiction over the action that ended with entry of the Consent Decree pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (federal question). This court has appellate jurisdiction, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1), over the district court's July 26, 1996 interlocutory order refusing to modify a consent decree which is injunctive in nature. See Carson v. American Brands, Inc., 450 U.S. 79, 86-87, 101 S.Ct. 993, 997-98, 67 L.Ed.2d 59 (1981); Lorain NAACP v. Lorain Bd. of Educ., 979 F.2d 1141, 1147 (6th Cir.1992), cert. denied, 509 U.S. 905, 113 S.Ct. 2998, 125 L.Ed.2d 691 (1993).

II. ANALYSIS

This court should review de novo the district court's jurisdictional ruling. See In re Dow Corning Corp., 86 F.3d 482, 488 (6th Cir.1996), cert. denied, Official Comm. of Tort Claimants v. Dow Corning Corp., --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 718, 136 L.Ed.2d 636 (1997), and cert. denied, Breast Implant Tort Claimants v. Dow Corning Corp., --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 718, 136 L.Ed.2d 636 (1997); accord Greater Detroit Resource Recovery Auth. v. United States EPA, 916 F.2d 317, 319 (6th Cir.1990). Furthermore, while factual findings must be accepted unless clearly erroneous, any application of legal principles to these subsidiary factual determinations will also be reviewed de novo. See Waxman v. Luna, 881 F.2d 237, 240 (6th Cir.1989); accord Alaska v. Babbitt, 75 F.3d 449, 451 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 117 S.Ct. 70, 136 L.Ed.2d 30 (1996).

WMO claims that the district court does possess subject matter jurisdiction over the buildings relocation issue even as it may implicate post-settlement actions by the City, the equitable principle of estoppel, and WMO's inability to obtain approval for the relocation through a procedure provided for under the city zoning code. Both jurisdictional bases asserted by WMO hinge on the district court's continued jurisdiction over the terms and conditions of the Settlement Agreement and Consent Decree. Under either theory, we conclude that jurisdiction exists.

A. Expressly Retained Subject Matter Jurisdiction

WMO first points out that, under the Consent Decree, the district court "retains jurisdiction over this cause for all purposes" and that either party may "move [the district court] for clarification of th[e] Decree and for supplemental or corrective relief in addition to and/or in lieu of any and all remedies provided for in the aforementioned Settlement Agreement." J.A. at 86-87 (Consent Decree at 3-4). While this provision clearly provides the district court with continued ancillary jurisdiction over the terms and conditions of the Settlement Agreement and Consent Decree, see Kokkonen v. Guardian Life Ins. Co. of Am., 511 U.S. 375, 381, 114 S.Ct. 1673, 1677, 128 L.Ed.2d 391 (1994), the real question before this court is whether a claim that estoppel has altered a party's obligations and duties under a consent decree should be considered an issue concerning the terms and conditions of the Settlement Agreement and Consent Decree.

WMO came before the district court in essence to assert the following: WMO believes constructing the buildings on the south side of the property will be in substantial compliance with PD-69 as incorporated into the Consent Decree (and the City at one point agreed with this); however, if the court does not agree, WMO believes its obligations under the Consent Decree should be modified in light of certain equitable considerations, and, quite frankly, WMO believes it needs clarification of its obligations given the City's recent denial under the zoning code of its request for the relocation. This was the basic crux of WMO's plea, and this falls squarely within the district court's explicitly retained jurisdiction under the Consent Decree. That WMO's claim invokes equitable principles does not change this observation. Equitable considerations are clearly factors a district court can address when they are related to a court's power and duty to modify, interpret, and oversee a consent decree. In fact, a closer look at WMO's second argument below reveals that equitable considerations are an inherent part of this power and duty. Confronted with a jurisdiction retention clause similar to the one at issue before this court, the Seventh Circuit rejected the argument that pursuant to a provision in the consent decree which required parties to execute any documents reasonably necessary to effectuate the purposes thereof, the reasonableness of the terms of such documents was a state law issue not within...