Boudreaux v. Larpenter

110 So. 3d 159, 2011 La.App. 1 Cir. 0410, 2012 WL 1964098, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 785
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 1, 2012
DocketNo. 2011 CA 0410
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 110 So. 3d 159 (Boudreaux v. Larpenter) 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
Boudreaux v. Larpenter, 110 So. 3d 159, 2011 La.App. 1 Cir. 0410, 2012 WL 1964098, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 785 (La. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

PARRO, J.

|2The plaintiffs, Robert Boudreaux, Jessica Boudreaux, and Tradewinds Offshore Services, Inc. d/b/a RB Enterprises (Tradewinds), appeal the judgment of the trial court, which dismissed all claims against the Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government (TPCG), with prejudice.1 For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Robert and Jessica Boudreaux are married and live at 4673 Bayouside Drive in Chauvin, Louisiana, which is also the location of Tradewinds, the family-owned business at issue in this matter. The Bou-dreauxs purchased the initial tract of land in 1977, and by around 1995, they owned approximately eighty-five to ninety acres of land on Bayouside Drive.2

In 1990 or 1991, the Boudreauxs and Tradewinds engaged in what has been described as “dump truck work,” which was associated with the construction business. Tradewinds hauled and sold river sand and limestone, which it would also stockpile at the Bayouside Drive property for later sale. In addition, a portion of the Bayou-side Drive property was set aside so that it could be excavated for dirt, after which the dirt would be hauled and sold as part of the business. In order for Tradewinds to conduct this work, it was necessary for [163]*163large, heavy, commercial trucks to traverse Bayouside Drive to conduct business at the Boudreauxs’ property.

The record establishes that Bayouside Drive was initially constructed as a farm-to-market road that was overlaid with asphalt and concrete in the late 1960s. The roadway is substandard by current standards in that it is rather narrow and does not have much of a shoulder. At some point in the early 1980s, the Terrebonne Parish Police Jury, the pre-cursor to the TPCG, instructed its staff to place | ¡¡signage establishing a five-ton limit on the road to prevent large truck traffic.3 Thereafter, the TPCG received a petition from residents in the area to enact a five-ton weight limit restriction on the road. In response, the TPCG hired Wave Tech, Inc., an engineering firm, to perform nondestructive testing of Bayouside Drive to establish the condition and capacity of the roadway. The TPCG relied on the findings of the Wave Tech report to support the establishment of a fifteen-ton weight limit restriction.

In October 1996, the TPCG enacted Ordinance 5685, which, among other things, established a fifteen-ton weight limit restriction on the entirety of Bayouside Drive. The ordinance amended the Terre-bonne Parish Code dealing with motor vehicles and traffic and provided, in pertinent part, as follows:

The entire length of Bayouside Drive is hereby designated as a 15-ton weight limit zone, and appropriate “15 Ton Weight Limit” signs shall be erected and maintained along the said roadway to create and maintain said zone. Any vehicle traveling on Bayouside Drive shall respect the signs erected and maintained under the provisions of this section.

Mr. Boudreaux testified that he was aware that signs regarding the fifteen-ton weight limit were posted along Bayouside Drive in 1996 or 1997. Nevertheless, despite the adoption of this ordinance and the presence of the signs, Tradewinds continued to operate its business at the Bayouside Drive location without regard for the weight restrictions.

Furthermore, Tradewinds continued to expand, so that by 1999 or 2000, it owned twelve to fourteen tandem dump trucks, a fleet of eighteen-wheel trailer trucks, three bulldozers, and two excavators.4 According to Mr. Boudreaux, each of the tandem dump trucks weighed approximately ten or eleven tons empty and up to twenty-five tons when fully loaded. He further testified that each eighteen-wheeler weighed approximately sixteen tons empty and up to forty-four tons when fully loaded. Tradewinds used these vehicles to transport dirt, river sand, limestone, and other 14materials to and from the Bayouside Drive location in clear violation of Ordinance 5685.

Nevertheless, Mr. Boudreaux testified that law enforcement officials did not begin to enforce the ordinance until 1999, at which time various citations were given to drivers employed by Tradewinds. Law enforcement officials continued to issue citations to the drivers in 2000, and Mr. [164]*164Boudreaux testified that his drivers regularly violated the ordinance, because many of the trucks used in the business weighed more than fifteen tons even when empty.

On May 9, 2000, David Norman, who was the attorney for the Boudreauxs and Tradewinds at the time, wrote a letter to the TPCG, complaining that the weight limit would effectively prohibit some or all of Tradewinds’ trucks from traveling on Bayouside Drive. The letter asserts that the weight limit “presents obvious issues of unconstitutional regulatory takings since Mr. Boudreaux was operating long before this ordinance was passed.” According to the letter, Mr. Boudreaux could not continue to operate his business in light of the enforcement of the weight limit ordinance, and he had no economically viable alternative to operating at his current location. The letter further requested alternative relief from the parish, possibly in the form of a permit, for which the ordinance did not provide a procedure.

In December 2000, the TPCG adopted Ordinance 6362, which, among other things, repealed the weight limit restrictions established in Ordinance 5685, and enacted section 18-30 of the Terrebonne Parish Code dealing with motor vehicles and traffic. This section re-enacted the fifteen-ton weight limit on Bayouside Drive5 and allowed for a person to obtain a permit to operate vehicles in excess of the weight limit.6 Specifically, section 18-30 provides:

(a)No person shall drive or operate a vehicle having a total weight in excess of fifteen (15) tons, without obtaining a permit from the director of public works, or his designee, in accordance with section 18-32 of this [ 5Code, on the following named streets or portions of streets:
Bayouside Drive
(b) The council from time to time may designate other specific streets or portions of streets on which the maximum weight limit set forth in this section applies.
(c) Any person who violated the weight restrictions imposed herein shall, in addition to the general penalties set forth for violation of a parish ordinance be liable to the parish government for any damages incurred as a result of the driving or operation of a vehicle in excess of fifteen (15) tons on any of the designated roads or streets set forth herein.
Section 18-32 provides for the following with regard to permit applications:
(a) Applications for permits to drive or operate a vehicle having a total weight in excess of the weight limits established by this Article shall be made to the director of public works, or his designee, on forms available at the department of public works. The department of public works shall notify the council member for the district for which an application is submitted. The permit application in addition to stating the name of the persons or business making the application, specify what type of vehicles the applicant is requesting for permit and the [applicant’s] anticipated duration of roadway usage.

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110 So. 3d 159, 2011 La.App. 1 Cir. 0410, 2012 WL 1964098, 2012 La. App. LEXIS 785, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/boudreaux-v-larpenter-lactapp-2012.