Ybarra v. Town of Los Altos Hills

• Decision Date: 06 September 1974
• Docket Number: No. 73-2070,73-2070
• Parties: 4 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,743 Jack YBARRA, also known as Isaias M. Ybarra, Individually and as a member of the Confederacion de la Raza Unida, et al., Appellants, v. The CITY OF the TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS, a municipal corporation, et al., Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Page 250

503 F.2d 250

4 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,743

Jack YBARRA, also known as Isaias M. Ybarra, Individually

and as a member of the Confederacion de la Raza

Unida, et al., Appellants, v. The CITY OF the TOWN OF LOS ALTOS HILLS, a municipal

corporation, et al., Appellees.

No. 73-2070.

United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Sept. 6, 1974.

Grace M. Kubota (argued), of Community Legal Services, San Jose, Cal., for appellants.

Robert T. Anderson (argued), of Sturgis, Den-Dulk, Douglass & Anderson, Oakland, Cal., for appellees.

Before KILKENNY and WALLACE, Circuit Judges, and SOLOMON, ^* district judge.

OPINION

SOLOMON, District Judge:

Appellants challenge the constitutionality of a large-lot zoning ordinance of the City of the Town of Los Altos Hills ('Los Altos' or 'the town'), a California suburban community. The trial court held that the zoning ordinance was constitutional and dismissed the action. We affirm.

Appellants are two Mexican-Americans and the Confederacion de la Raza Unida, an unincorporated association of Mexican-American organizations. Neither of the named individual appellants are residents of Los Altos, but both qualify for federally assisted low-income housing. They brought this action on their own behalf and on behalf of all other persons of Mexican descent whose incomes qualify them for federally assisted housing.

In December, 1970, appellants obtained an option to buy certain lots in Los Altos. They paid a nominal amount for the option but agreed to pay $14,000 per acre if the option were exercised. The option could only be exercised if the land were rezoned for multifamily dwellings and if the Federal Housing Administration approved a low-income housing project for that land.

The zoning ordinance provides that a housing lot shall contain not less than one acre and that no lot shall be occupied by more than one primary dwelling unit. Appellants have not applied for a zoning variance to allow construction of their proposed multifamily project.

Appellants brought this action against the town, its city manager, and the members of the town council. Appellants allege that the zoning ordinance prevents them from constructing a housing project and assert that the ordinance violates the supremacy, due process, and equal protection clauses of the United States Constitution. They seek declaratory and injunctive relief.

Appellants allege jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1331 and 1343(3). ¹ Section 1343 gives federal courts jurisdiction over actions arising under federal civil rights statutes. Here jurisdiction under Section 1343 depends on whether an action may be maintained under 42 U.S.C. 1983. The Supreme Court recently held that a city is not a 'person' within the meaning of Section 1983 even when only equitable relief is requested. City of Kenosha v. Bruno, 412 U.S. 507, 93 S.Ct. 2222, 37 L.Ed.2d 109 (1973). There is no jurisdiction over Los Altos under Section 1343.

Los Altos also contends that Section 1343 does not confer jurisdiction over the individual appellees since they are sued in their official capacity as officers of the town. We disagree. State and municipal officials whose actions violate constitutional rights are not protected by the state's sovereign immunity or the Eleventh Amendment.

If the act which the state (official) seeks to enforce be a violation of the Federal Constitution, the officer in proceeding under such enactment comes into conflict with the superior authority of that Constitution, and he is in that case stripped of his official or representative character and is subjected in his person to the consequences of his individual conduct. Ex parte Young, 209 U.S. 123, 159, 160, 28 S.Ct. 441, 454, 52 L.Ed. 714 (1908). We hold that a city official is a 'person' within the meaning of Section 1983 and that the district court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1343 in an action to enjoin him from enforcing an unconstitutional statute. Cf. Harkless v. Sweeny Independent School District, 427 F.2d 319, 323 (5th Cir. 1970). See also Scheuer v. Rhodes, 416 U.S. 232, 94 S.Ct. 1683, 40 L.Ed.2d 90 (1974).

Appellants allege jurisdiction over the town under Section 1331. That section requires that the amount in controversy, exclusive of interest and costs, exceeds $10,000. Appellants did not allege the amount in controversy in their complaint and did not move to amend their complaint to include such an allegation. They did not adequately show the existence of the jurisdictional amount at trial. We hold that the court does not have jurisdiction over the town under Section 1331. Canadian Indemnity Co. v. Republic Indemnity Co., 222 F.2d 601 (9th Cir. 1955).

We conclude that the court has jurisdiction over the individual defendants only.

Appellants' principal contention is that the Los Altos zoning ordinance denies them equal protection of the laws. They assert that the ordinance discriminates against Mexican-Americans and the poor and that the town must show a compelling state interest to justify discrimination against 'suspect classifications' based on ethnic background and wealth.

Appellants' evidence at trial showed that in Santa Clara , county, in which Los Altos is located, there is a high statistical correlation between being Mexican-American and being poor. Mexican-Americans form only 2.1% Of the town's population but comprise 17.59% Of the county's population.

The trial court found that the ordinance prevented poor people from living in Los Altos. He also found that if Mexican-Americans did not live there, it was because of the poverty and not because of their race. Appellants concede that the ordinance does not bar wealthy Mexican-Americans from living in Los Altos. We agree that discrimination against the poor does not become discrimination against an ethnic minority merely because there is a statistical correlation between poverty and ethnic background.

Appellants also assert that they need not show racial discrimination to void the ordinance and that it is sufficient to show that the ordinance discriminates against the poor. They argue that the town must show a compelling interest to justify the ordinance because wealth is a suspect classification. See Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 383 U.S. 663, 86 S.Ct. 1079, 16 L.Ed.2d 169 (1966); Griffin v. Illinois, 351 U.S. 12, 76 S.Ct. 585, 100 L.Ed. 891 (1956).

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