Breland v. City of Fairhope

229 So. 3d 1078
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedSeptember 30, 2016
Docket1131057; 1131210
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 229 So. 3d 1078 (Breland v. City of Fairhope) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Breland v. City of Fairhope, 229 So. 3d 1078 (Ala. 2016).

Opinion

MURDOCK, Justice.

Charles K. Breland, Jr., and Breland Corporation (hereinafter refereed to collectively as “Breland”) appeal from a summary judgment entered against them and in favor of the City of Fairhope (“Fair-hope”) by the Baldwin Circuit Court in Breland’s action séeking declaratory relief and damages based' on alleged negligent conduct by Fairhope in relation to real property owned by Breland. We reverse the summary judgment.

I. Facts and Procedural History

In 1999, Breland purchased 65 acres of real property in Baldwin County for $510,364.50 (“the property”). Over 50 percent of the property consists. of wetlands. The property is located outside the corporate limits of Fairhope but within its police jurisdiction.

In 2000, Breland filed applications for permits and certifications from the United States Army Corps of Engineers (“the Corps”) and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (“ADEM”) in order to fill approximately 10,5 acres of wetlands on.the property (“the fill project”). When Breland filed his application for the Corps permit, Fairhope’s mayor, on behalf of the Fairhope City Council, filed a “formal protest” with the Corps concerning the fill project.

On October 22,2002, ADEM notified the Corps in a letter that it had completed its review of the fill project. The letter stated that ADEM was providing Breland with a water-quality certification pursuant to § 401(a)(1) of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), codified at 33 U.S.C. § 1341, for the fill project. The certification isshed by ADEM was valid for'five years.

On November 20, 2002, the Corps issued a permit to Breland approving the fill project; the permit would expire in November 2005 (“the Corps permit”). The Corps permit noted that it was issued pursuant to § 404 of the CWA, codified at 33 U.S.C. § 1344, and it set certain conditions on Breland in order to carry out the wetlands-fill project, including purchasing mitigation credits and setting aside a certain portion of the property for use by Weeks Bay Watershed Protective Association, Inc.

In July 2003, Breland purchased the mitigation credits required by the Corps permit for $143,144.' Breland also hired engineers and consultants.for the fill project sometime during this period before he began actual filling activity. In October 2005, the Corps extended Breland’s permit to November 2008. Breland also obtained an extension on his water-quality certification from ADEM.

At the time Breland applied for and obtained the Corps permit in 2002, Fair-hope had in place Ordinance 1000, which provided that “[n]o person, firm or corpo[1080]*1080ration shall engage in any -land disturbing activity within the City until the land owner shall have obtained a permit therefor from the City of Fairhope.” The parties agree that Ordinance 1000 was inapplicable to= Breland’s fill project because the property was located outside Fairhope’s city limits.

On August 28, 2006, Fairhope adopted Ordinance 1313. Ordinance 1313 provided, in pertinent part:

“Section A: Purpose
“The purpose of this ordinances is to protect the water quality and environmental integrity for the area watersheds, streams, rivers, lakes, tributaries, and wetlands. The purpose is to be accomplished specifically by, limiting the use of clays and red soils which may harm aquatic plants or marine life from being used in Flood zones, potential floodways, coastal frontages, and water-' ways.
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“Section C:
“1. No person, firm or corporation shall commence to filling activity within the City Permitting Jurisdiction[1] until the 'land owner or contractor has obtained a land disturbing permit from the City of Fairhope. Where a building permit application is received prior to commencement of land disturbing activities, the required land disturbance permit may be incorporated therein as a special condition of such building permit.
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“2. Commencement of Work: No person, firm, or corporation shall bring into the Watershed areas any fill máterial that has more than 10% red or clay.
“3. Maintenance of Control Measures: It shall be the responsibility of the permit-tee to ensure compliance.
“Failure or refusal to comply shall be cause for the City, through its enforcement officers, to issue orders suspending-all work. :<•
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“6. Penalties: Any person violating the provision of this ordinance shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined a sum of not less than $100 nor more than $500 and, in addition thereto, may be sentenced to the City Jail for a term of not more than 6 months.”

The parties agree that Ordinance 1313 applied to properties located within the police jurisdiction of Fairhope. Ordinance 1313 was repealed and replaced by Ordinance 1423 on May 24, 2010. Ordinance 1423 is more detailed than Ordinance 1313, but it contains the same basic requirements and prohibitions.

In December 2007, Breland deeded approximately 39 acres of the property to Weeks Bay Watershed Protective Association, Inc., fulfilling another condition of the Corps permit. In March 2008, Charles Breland began preparations on the property for the fill project. He started by using heavy machinery to clear an entrance to the interior of the property. In an affidavit Charles Breland executed for the present action on April 24, 2014, he testified that, “[a]t the time filling on the Property was initiated in March of 2008,1 intended to fill the Property with material which would have been in compliance with Ordinance 1313.” •

On March 27, 2008, the “Building Official Zoning Enforcement Officer” for Fair-hope issued a “stop-work” order on the [1081]*1081property. The stop-work order advised that Breland was required to obtain a “land-disturbance permit” for “anything beyond bush hogging.” The stop-work order did not state what municipal ordinance Breland had allegedly violated. Pursuant to the stop-work order, Breland ceased his filling activity.

On April 15, 2008, Breland applied to Fairhope for a land-disturbance permit to “fill mitigated'land.” The permit application did not specify what kind of fill material Breland planned to use for his filling activity.

On June 9, 2008, Fairhope adopted Ordinance 1363. That ordinance ■ instituted a moratorium on the “issuance of land disturbance permits by the City” until October 15, 2008. Ordinance 1363 stated that the purpose of the moratorium was “the preservation of wetlands.” It. also stated that “a moratorium of limited duration and limited scope would be in the public interest and promote orderly growth and development.”

Because Breland’s Corps permit was due to expire in November 2008,. Breland filed an action in the Baldwin Circuit Court on August 8, 2008, against Fairhope seeking a judgment declaring that the permit application he filed in April 2008 should'be granted and‘seeking injunctive relief against the effect of Ordinance 1363.

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229 So. 3d 1078, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/breland-v-city-of-fairhope-ala-2016.