Bonito Partners, LLC v. City of Flagstaff

270 P.3d 902, 229 Ariz. 75, 628 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 33, 2012 Ariz. App. LEXIS 19
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedFebruary 21, 2012
Docket1 CA-CV 10-0819
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 270 P.3d 902 (Bonito Partners, LLC v. City of Flagstaff) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bonito Partners, LLC v. City of Flagstaff, 270 P.3d 902, 229 Ariz. 75, 628 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 33, 2012 Ariz. App. LEXIS 19 (Ark. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION

HALL, Judge.

¶ 1 Bonito Partners, LLC (Bonito) appeals from the trial court’s summary judgment in favor of the City of Flagstaff (the City). Bonito contends that the City’s ordinance requiring that owners of property adjoining sidewalks keep them in repair and imposing a lien against the property for the costs of repair if performed by the City is unconstitutional because, among other reasons, it “takes” private property for public use without just compensation in violation of the Fifth Amendment. Finding that the ordinance is a valid exercise of the City’s police powers, the trial court rejected Bonito’s Tak *78 ings Clause claim. Even though we agree that the ordinance constitutes a lawful exercise of the City’s police powers, such a determination does not resolve the Takings Clause challenge, which is an analytically distinct issue. Therefore, we affirm in part and vacate and remand in part.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

¶ 2 The facts relevant to the issues on appeal are undisputed. Bonito owns a parcel of land in Flagstaff that is adjacent to a City sidewalk. At some point, through no fault of Bonito, the sidewalk fell into disrepair. In a letter dated May 18, 2009, the City notified Bonito that, pursuant to City ordinance Section 8-01-001-0003, Bonito was responsible for repairing the sidewalk within ten days. The letter further explained that the City would repair the sidewalk and bill Bonito for the work if Bonito failed to complete the repairs within the designated time period. If Bonito then failed to timely pay the City for the repair work, the City would place a lien on Bonito’s property.

¶ 3 On June 25, 2009, Bonito received a second notice from the City stating that Bonito was responsible for the cost of repairing the sidewalk. On June 29, 2009, Bonito responded to the City’s second notice, stating: “Please proceed with the repairs. Do not wait for Bonito Partners, LLC to do the work.”

¶ 4 The City performed the work to repair the sidewalk. On July 23, 2009, the City sent Bonito a letter explaining that it had performed the repairs and included an itemized statement of the repair costs. Bonito failed to pay the City for the repairs and the City recorded a lien on Bonito’s property.

¶ 5 On March 23, 2010, Bonito filed a complaint in the trial court, arguing that the City’s ordinance requiring private property owners to repair public sidewalks violates the federal and state constitutional prohibitions against the taking of private property for public use without just compensation. In a subsequent amended complaint, Bonito also alleged that the ordinance constitutes an unlawful tax and exceeds the authority permitted by Arizona statute and the City’s charter.

¶ 6 Bonito and the City filed cross-motions for summary judgment. After holding oral argument on the motions, the trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the City.

¶ 7 Bonito timely appealed. We have jurisdiction pursuant to Arizona Revised Statutes (AR.S.) section 12-2101(B) (2003).

DISCUSSION

¶ 8 Summary judgment shall be granted when “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and ... the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(e). We review de novo the trial court’s application of the law. State Comp. Fund v. Yellow Cab Co., 197 Ariz. 120, 122, ¶ 5, 3 P.3d 1040, 1042 (App.1999).

¶ 9 On appeal, Bonito contends that the trial court erred by granting summary judgment in favor of the City. Specifically, Bonito argues that the City’s ordinance requiring property owners to pay for repairs to public sidewalks (1) violates the federal and state constitutional takings clauses, (2) constitutes an unlawful tax, and (3) exceeds the authority extended to the City by statute and by its charter. We address each of these arguments in turn.

I. Unconstitutional Taking

¶ 10 Bonito asserts that the City’s ordinance requiring private property owners to repair public sidewalks violates the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution: “[N]or shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” 1 In the trial court and on *79 appeal, both parties frame them arguments in terms of whether the City’s ordinance requiring property owners to repair defective sidewalks is a valid exercise of the City’s police powers. 2 In its minute entry ruling dismissing the complaint, the trial court agreed with the City’s argument that the ordinance was a valid exercise of that power and therefore was not an unconstitutional taking. As we discuss below, the parties’ arguments, and the court’s ruling, conflate the analytically separate — albeit interrelated-issues regarding whether the ordinance is valid under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and, if so, whether it nonetheless violates the Takings Clause.

¶ 11 As clarified by the United States Supreme Court in Lingle v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., 544 U.S. 528, 125 S.Ct. 2074, 161 L.Ed.2d 876 (2005), a Takings Clause analysis presupposes a valid exercise of police power. Id. at 543, 125 S.Ct. 2074 (“[T]he Takings Clause presupposes that the government has acted in pursuit of a valid public purpose.”). 3 Thus, the question whether the City’s ordinance is a valid exercise of police power, which is properly analyzed under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, is preliminary to the Takings Clause claim. Lingle, 544 U.S. at 539, 125 S.Ct. 2074; see also First Evangelical Lutheran Church of Glendale v. County of Los Angeles, 482 U.S. 304, 315, 107 S.Ct. 2378, 96 L.Ed.2d 250 (1987) (explaining that the Takings Clause “is designed not to limit the governmental interference with property rights per se, but rather to secure compensation in the event of otherwise proper interference amounting to a taking”) (emphasis in the original); see also Ranch 57 v. City of Yuma, 152 Ariz. 218, 225, 731 P.2d 113, 120 (App.1986) (“Although a zoning ordinance may be a proper exercise of the police power, it nevertheless may result in an unconstitutional taking of property.”). Accordingly, we need not consider whether the ordinance violates the Fifth Amendment unless we first determine that the ordinance is a valid exercise of the City’s police powers.

¶ 12 A municipality “has the right to define nuisances.” Moton v. City of Phoenix, 100 Ariz. 23, 26, 410 P.2d 93, 95 (1966). Using its police powers, “a municipality may abate a nuisance without compensating the owner of the property.” City of Tempe v. Fleming, 168 Ariz. 454, 458,

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Bluebook (online)
270 P.3d 902, 229 Ariz. 75, 628 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 33, 2012 Ariz. App. LEXIS 19, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bonito-partners-llc-v-city-of-flagstaff-arizctapp-2012.