AZALEA LAKES P'SHIP. v. Parish of St. Tammany

859 So. 2d 57, 2003 WL 21513389
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 2, 2003
Docket2002 CA 0050
StatusPublished

This text of 859 So. 2d 57 (AZALEA LAKES P'SHIP. v. Parish of St. Tammany) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
AZALEA LAKES P'SHIP. v. Parish of St. Tammany, 859 So. 2d 57, 2003 WL 21513389 (La. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

859 So.2d 57 (2003)

AZALEA LAKES PARTNERSHIP and Oak Harbor Investment Properties, L.L.C.
v.
PARISH OF ST. TAMMANY.

No. 2002 CA 0050.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

July 2, 2003.
Writ Denied November 14, 2003.

William J. Jones, Jr., Jones Fussell, L.L.P., Covington, for Plaintiffs-Appellees Azalea Lakes Partnership and Oak Harbor Investment Properties, L.L.C.

Walter P. Reed, Neil C. Hall, III, Office of District Attorney, Covington, for Defendant-Appellee Parish of St. Tammany.

*58 Clement F. Perschall, Jr., Metairie, for Intervenor-Appellant Eden Isles Home-owners Association, Inc.

Before: PARRO, McDONALD, and JAMES,[1] JJ.

PARRO, J.

An intervenor, Eden Isles Homeowners Association, Inc. (Eden), appeals a trial court judgment that sustained exceptions raising the objection of no cause of action and granted motions for summary judgment filed by the parties to the main demand, resulting in the dismissal of its intervention.[2] For the following reasons, the judgment is affirmed.

Factual Background and Procedural History

Azalea Lakes Partnership (Azalea Lakes) and Oak Harbor Investment Properties, L.L.C. (Oak Harbor) sued the Parish of St. Tammany (St. Tammany Parish), alleging breach of a development agreement (the agreement) entered into by the three parties on September 21, 1995. The purpose of the agreement was to develop certain property within a planned unit development (PUD), the Oak Harbor PUD, that had been created in 1988, pursuant to the authority of Ordinance 523, passed by St. Tammany Parish in 1971. In their petition, Azalea Lakes and Oak Harbor sought to have the agreement declared null and void and asked for damages and the refund of impact fees paid under the agreement. St. Tammany Parish answered, denying that the agreement was a nullity. In an amended and restated petition, Azalea Lakes and Oak Harbor sought specific performance of the agreement, a declaratory judgment concerning their rights under the agreement, and an injunction to prevent any violation of those rights.[3] Azalea Lakes and Oak Harbor also requested damages for prior breaches of the agreement by St. Tammany Parish in connection with the approval or permit process, as well as attorney fees.[4]

Eden intervened in the lawsuit,[5] challenging the validity of the agreement. Eden alleged that the creation of the Oak Harbor PUD was ultimately based on zoning authority granted to St. Tammany Parish by 1954 La. Acts, No. 518 (Act 518), which Eden argued was unconstitutional. Eden filed a motion for summary judgment and an exception raising the objection of no cause of action, which were opposed by the parties to the main demand. Subsequently, Azalea Lakes, Oak Harbor, and St. Tammany Parish filed exceptions raising the objection of no *59 cause of action and motions for summary judgment relative to Eden's intervention. Azalea Lakes', Oak Harbor's, and St. Tammany Parish's exceptions were sustained and their motions for summary judgment were granted, resulting in the dismissal of Eden's intervention.[6] Eden appeals.

Constitutionality of Ordinance 523

Eden assigns as error the trial court's finding that Ordinance 523 was constitutional. Eden contends Ordinance 523 was dependent on Act 518,[7] which it claims was unconstitutional, because it was a local and special law that was not advertised as required by Article XIV, Section 29 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1921.

In 1971, St. Tammany Parish sought to zone the territory within its borders with the passage of Ordinance 523.[8] This ordinance divided the parish into six types of land use districts in a comprehensive plan designed to lessen congestion in the streets, prevent overcrowding of the land, secure safety from fire, and ensure that adequate public services were available to the population. Along with its amendments, Ordinance 523 is the zoning ordinance under which the Oak Harbor PUD was created. The Oak Harbor PUD, consisting of 1,219.69 acres, was created on May 19, 1988, as an amendment to the then-existing Eden Isles PUD. There are 27 specifically numbered or lettered parcels of land in the Oak Harbor PUD. Each has a designated land use, such as residential—single family or multi-family; commercial; multi-use—church, school, elderly housing, medical clinic, hospital, fire station, recreation, or other institutional uses; or open space—golf course, tennis, swimming, parkway, or water. Each residential parcel has a specific density (number of dwelling units per acre) that cannot be exceeded.

*60 As noted by the trial court, the constitutionality of Ordinance 523 was addressed and answered by the supreme court in Folsom Road Civic Ass'n v. St. Tammany Parish, 407 So.2d 1219, 1222 (La.1981).[9] After reviewing the applicable constitutional provisions, the supreme court concluded that Ordinance 523 was a reasonable exercise of the police power and was not unconstitutional. Folsom, 407 So.2d at 1222. In particular, the court addressed whether Ordinance 523 was contrary to the grant of authority relative to zoning contained in the Louisiana Constitution of 1974, as well as the prior constitution of 1921, as amended in 1962.

Under the 1974 constitution, the constitutional requirements relative to zoning within the state are in Article VI, § 17, which provides:

Subject to uniform procedures established by law, a local governmental subdivision may (1) adopt regulations for land use, zoning, and historic preservation, which authority is declared to be a public purpose; (2) create commissions and districts to implement those regulations; (3) review decisions of any such commission; and (4) adopt standards for use, construction, demolition, and modification of areas and structures. Existing constitutional authority for historic preservation commissions is retained.

The court in Folsom determined that Ordinance 523 was not in conflict with Article VI, § 17 of the 1974 constitution, in that the constitutional provision authorizes local governmental subdivisions to enact zoning laws. Folsom, 407 So.2d at 1223. The court then addressed whether Ordinance 523, which was enacted in 1971, had survived the adoption of the 1974 constitution. For this to occur, St. Tammany Parish must have been acting within its constitutionally afforded authority at the time of the enactment of Ordinance 523.[10]See LSA-Const. art. XIV, § 18(A);[11]Folsom, 407 So.2d at 1223.

Prior to the adoption of the 1974 constitution, zoning ordinances were governed by Article XIV, § 29 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1921, which, in pertinent part, provided: "All municipalities are authorized to zone their territory; to create residential, commercial and industrial districts, and to prohibit the establishment of places of business in residential districts." The supreme court in Plebst v. Barnwell Drilling Co., 243 La. 874, 148 So.2d 584 (1963), concluded that neither this constitutional provision nor subsequent special constitutional amendments operated as a tacit restriction or limitation on the legislative power to delegate zoning authority to other public subdivisions. Plebst, 148 So.2d at 591.

Of more significance for our case, and as emphasized by the trial court, the legislature authorized an amendment to Article XIV, § 29 in 1962 to add a paragraph stating it was within the police power of *61 St.

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Related

Wilson v. Wilson
714 So. 2d 35 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)
Folsom Rd. Civic Ass'n v. Par. of St. Tammany
407 So. 2d 1219 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1981)
City of Baton Rouge v. Williams
661 So. 2d 445 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1995)
Dennis v. the Finish Line, Inc.
781 So. 2d 12 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2000)
Tichenor v. Roman Catholic Church
665 So. 2d 1307 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1995)
Glover v. Medical Center of Baton Rouge
713 So. 2d 1261 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1998)
Plebst v. Barnwell Drilling Company
148 So. 2d 584 (Supreme Court of Louisiana, 1963)

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Bluebook (online)
859 So. 2d 57, 2003 WL 21513389, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/azalea-lakes-pship-v-parish-of-st-tammany-lactapp-2003.