Bonta, LLC v. City of Marysville

CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Washington
DecidedNovember 14, 2019
Docket2:18-cv-01544
StatusUnknown

This text of Bonta, LLC v. City of Marysville (Bonta, LLC v. City of Marysville) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bonta, LLC v. City of Marysville, (W.D. Wash. 2019).

Opinion

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE 3 WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 4 ) 5 || BONTA, LLC, ) ) CASE NO. 2:18-cv-01544-BJR 6 Plaintiff, ) ) ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S 7 V. ) MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT ) AND DENYING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION 8 || CITY OF MARYSVILLE, a municipal ) FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT corporation, ) ? ) Defendant. 11 12 13 I. INTRODUCTION 14 This matter involves a dispute between Plaintiff Bonta, LLC (“Bonta”) and the City of 15 Marysville, Washington (the “City”) over local zoning codes and their application to commercial 16 . property owned by Bonta. The case was removed to this Court because, in addition to its state law 17 claims, Bonta alleges violations of the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth 18 19 Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Before the Court are both the City’s and Bonta’s Motions 99 || for Summary Judgment. Dkt. No. 22 and 25. Having reviewed the motions, oppositions thereto, 21 record of the case, and the relevant legal authorities, the Court will grant the City’s motion as 22 the federal law claims and deny Bonta’s motion as to those same claims. Having done so, the Court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state law claims and 24 dismisses them without prejudice. The reasoning for the Court’s decision follows. 25

Il. BACKGROUND

At issue is property located at 1217 1% Street, Marysville, WA 98270 (the “Property”). 3, || Bonta owns the Property and leases it to Kodiak Industrial Solutions, LLC (“Kodiak”), which runs 4 ||aspray-on coating business. Dkt. No. 22 at 3-4; Dkt. No. 25 at 4. Bonta has owned the Property 5 || since 2012 and, after running a business there for some time, sold the business and began leasing 6 out the Property instead. Kodiak executed a lease with Bonta on September 11, 2017. ’ The Property is located in Marysville’s Downtown Commercial zone. On November 27, 2017, Kodiak applied to the City for a business license, describing its business as “specialty coating

10 applicator and industrial cleaning contractor.” Dkt. No. 22 at 4. At the time, Kodiak described its

11 of the Property to the City as a “base for employees where material and equipment would be 12 ||stored.” Jd. at 14 (quoting Dkt. No. 28-10 at 2). From there, Kodiak explained, “an employee 13 || arrives at the beginning of their shift to get whatever materials are needed for the specific jobs they have for that day, load the materials into the company vehicle, and depart.” Jd. Based on this description, the City determined that storage was the only thing the property would be used for and classified the business as “Contractor’s Office and Storage Yard.” Jd. at 4, 14.

18 Pursuant to that classification, Kodiak was required to comply with local Marysville 19 || Municipal Code (“MMC”) § 22C.020.070(30), which provides: 20 Outdoor storage of materials or vehicles must be accessory to the primary building area and located to the rear of buildings. Outdoor storage is subject to an approved 21 landscape plan that provides for effective screening of storage, so that it is not 2 visible from public right-of-way or neighboring properties. 23 MMC § 22C.020.070(30) (“Outdoor Storage Provision”). 24 According to the City, both Kodiak and Bonta are currently in violation of the Outdoor 25 Storage Provision because “[t]here is substantial outdoor storage (of several trucks and other

supplies). It is not in the rear of the building. There is no approved landscape plan. And this is

2 visible from virtually every direction.” Dkt. No. 22 at 2. Bonta, for its part, does not dispute that

3 is noncomplying storage at the Property. See Dkt. No, 25 at 4. Instead, it claims that the 4 should be permitted as a “historical non-conforming use” of the Property) and further 5 alleges that the City treats its property different from two nearby properties, which similarly store vehicles and storage outside without shielding them from the public right-of-way. Jd. at 4—S. The City first attempted to work with Kodiak to bring its business into compliance. Dkt.

9 No. 22 at 5. The City issued Kodiak a temporary permit to allow it to operate through May 1,

10 || 2018, and later extended the permit to July 1, 2018 when Kodiak requested additional time to 11 || relocate its business. Id. Bonta, however, in an effort to assist its tenant, filed an appeal of the Marysville Director 13 of Community Development’s April 4, 2018 administrative ruling that Kodiak could continue its 4 business only if it complied with the Outdoor Storage Provision. Dkt. No. 22 at 5. On August 29, 2018, an administrative hearing was held before a Hearing Examiner, who issued a Decision

7 against Bonta on September 20, 2018. Dkt. No. 1-2 at 3; Dkt. No. 22 at 8. Bonta appealed this

1g || decision to the Superior Court for the State of Washington under Washington’s Land Use Petition 19 || Action (““LUPA”), RCW Ch. 36.70C. Dkt. No. 22 at 8. 20 Additionally, around this time, Bonta submitted numerous record requests to the City for ai information related to the Property, with which it maintains the City has still not fully complied. 2 Dkt. No. 25 at 5-6. Along with its Land Use Petition, Bonta filed a complaint alleging four causes of action: (1) Void For Vagueness under the United States Constitution and Washington State

25 Constitution; (2) Violation of the Equal Protection Clause under the United States Constitution

and Washington State Constitution; (3) Violation of Washington Public Records Act, RCW 42.56,

7 and (4) Intentional Interference with Busitess Expectancy. Dkt. No. 1-2 at 9-12. 3 The matter was removed from Superior Court citing Bonta’s invocation of 42 U.S.C. § 4 ||1983. Dkt. No. 1-1. On October 4, 2019 both parties moved for Summary Judgment. Dkt. Nos. > ||22 and 25. ° Ill. LEGAL STANDARD Summary Judgment is appropriate where “‘there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” FED. R. Civ. P. 56. “A fact is

10 ‘material’ if it might affect the outcome of the case.” California Expanded Metal Prod. Co. v.

11 || Klein, 396 F. Supp. 3d 956, 967 (W.D. Wash. 2019) (citing Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 12 || U.S. 242, 248 (1986)). A dispute is “‘ genuine’ only if there is sufficient evidence for a reasonable 13 || fact finder to find for the non-moving party.” Far Out Prods., Inc. v. Oskar, 247 F.3d 986, 992 (9th Cir. 2001); see also Anderson, 477 U.S. at 248 (“a material fact is ‘genuine,’ . . . if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.”). Finally, a movant is entitled to judgment “as a matter of law” where the nonmoving party “has failed to make a

18 sufficient showing on an essential element of her case with respect to which she has the burden of 19 || proof.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323 (1986). 20 The movant bears the initial burden of showing there is no genuine issue of material fact 21 || and that they are entitled to prevail as a matter of law. See Massachusetts Bay Ins. Co. v. Walflor 22 Indus., Inc., 383 F. Supp. 3d 1148, 1156 (W.D. Wash. 2019) (citing Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323). “fW]hen simultaneous cross-motions for summary judgment on the same claim are before the

95 court, the court must consider the appropriate evidentiary material identified and submitted in

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