Broadwater Farms Joint Venture v. United States

35 Fed. Cl. 232, 42 ERC (BNA) 1831, 1996 U.S. Claims LEXIS 46, 1996 WL 139760
CourtUnited States Court of Federal Claims
DecidedMarch 27, 1996
DocketNo. 94-1041 L
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 35 Fed. Cl. 232 (Broadwater Farms Joint Venture v. United States) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Court of Federal Claims primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Broadwater Farms Joint Venture v. United States, 35 Fed. Cl. 232, 42 ERC (BNA) 1831, 1996 U.S. Claims LEXIS 46, 1996 WL 139760 (uscfc 1996).

Opinion

OPINION

HODGES, Judge.

This Fifth Amendment takings case is before the court after trial on liability. Plaintiff asserts that it is entitled to compensation because actions by the United States Army Corps of Engineers resulted in plaintiffs inability to use its property. We address two threshold questions in this opinion: 1) Whether the Corps of Engineers’ cease and desist order and settlement agreement in this case constitute final agency action; and 2) Whether the property interest affected by the Corps’ action is of such magnitude in comparison with the entire parcel to constitute a compensable regulatory taking.

FACTS

Broadwater Farms purchased property known as Spyglass by foreclosure sale in the fall of 1987, and closed on the property in March 1988. The Spyglass property is located in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, in the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area. It was subdivided, platted, and approved for residential development by the County in 1978. Broad-water Farms viewed this as a benefit because it would not have to pursue further zoning efforts. It could use the plans in the original plat with only a few changes.

The 51-lot property comprised 24 lots in Phase II and 27 lots in Phase III. Phase II was substantially developed at the time of purchase; Phase III was unimproved.

Broadwater Farms is a general partnership that buys unimproved land and prepares it for residential developers by contracting out to develop infrastructure for residential development, including roads, electricity, storm drains, and sewage removal systems. Broadwater Farms sold all of its lots in Phase II to a residential developer in August 1988, and later contracted with the same developer to deliver finished lots in Phase III. A finished lot is one that allows the builder to obtain the necessary permits from the county to begin construction. The utilities are in place and the grading and paving are complete.

Broadwater Farms hired an engineering consulting firm shortly after purchase to upgrade the 1978 plat and to ensure that it would meet county requirements for public works agreements, utility agreements, and grading permits. The consultants redesigned some grading plans that the county considered to be outdated. Most of the plans were approved in 1988, and the redesigned grading plan was approved in the late spring of 1989.

The plans for Phase III contained three roads. Gunner Run Road connected Phases II and III, and served as the access road for all of the waterfront lots and some of the uplands lots. Calico Court and Buccaneer Court provided the only access to 10 lots above Gunner Run Road.

Plaintiff began improvements to the property after receiving the grading plan approval. The land was cleared and the roads were brought up to grade by using fill. Buccaneer Court and Calico Court required installation of filter cloth and grid systems for structural purposes because they were built in low areas of the property. The sewer lines, storm drainage system, and ditches were completed. By the middle of August, the work on Phase III necessary to deliver finished lots was 85% complete. Plaintiff would have finished its work by the end of August.

Near the beginning of August, Broadwater Farms became aware of the Corps’ interest in the property. A representative from the Corps’ enforcement section, Mr. Frank Ple-wa, came to the property to survey the area. Mr. Plewa indicated upon arrival that Phase II had been built in a wetland, and that much of the work in Phase III was also in violation [235]*235of the Clean Water Act. The next day, Mr. Plewa returned with representatives from the Corps’ permit division, and he told plaintiff that a stop-work order would be issued. Broadwater Farms received a cease and desist order from the Corps on August 18.

Plaintiff’s representatives contacted the Corps regarding the order, but they were not satisfied with the response. Mr. Plewa implied in one conversation that no houses could be built in the area believed to be wetlands. Broadwater Farms called upon its Congressman to schedule a meeting with the Corps.

Broadwater Farms and the Corps met on September 28. Representatives from the Corps’ enforcement and permit divisions attended. Broadwater asserted at the meeting that it had acted consistently with the permits and plans approved by the county. The Corps directed that work could continue work on Gunner Run Road, but all work on Buccaneer and Calico Courts would have to stop.

Plaintiffs president and its engineer spoke to Mr. Plewa after that meeting on several occasions in attempts to preserve the development or to offer compromises, but it was not encouraged by Mr. Plewa’s responses. In one instance, Mr. Plewa stated that the Corps had no reason to work something out because of the developer’s “attitude.”

On November 20, Broadwater Farms received a letter from the Chief of the Enforcement Section outlining an agreement “reached pertaining to the areas authorized by this office for development in the Phase III subdivision.” Broadwater Farms was ordered to restore 11 lots “to the maximum extent possible,” and to keep pristine portions therein undisturbed. The agreement allowed Gunner Run Road to remain, although it ran through the wetlands at the entrance to Phase III. Plaintiff would have to provide mitigation elsewhere. The Corps decided that Buccaneer Court and Calico Court must be removed. Calico Court was in the wetlands along with most of Buccaneer Court. Lots at the end of Calico Court which were not within wetlands were approved for development, but access to them through wetlands was prohibited.

The Corps’ letter stated, “Your cooperation in performing the restoration will be considered in the final determination of action on this matter____ If we do not receive your response within [15 days], we will assume you do not intend to perform the restorative work and we will proceed to resolve the violation through alternate enforcement procedures.” The letter did not suggest that Broadwater Farms could apply for a permit in the future.

Plaintiff reconfigured the lots based on the Corps’ wetlands delineation, but it could not devise a way to use lots at the end of Calico Court where development was allowed because of the access restriction. Those lots were surrounded by other homeowner lots and wetlands. Before the Corps entered the property, Broadwater Farms had filed a request with the county to rezone some land on the property from open space to residential. That application was delayed because of the Corps’ action.

DISCUSSION

I. Exhaustion of Remedies— Futility of Permit

A compensable regulatory takings occurs when the regulation goes “too far.” Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U.S. 393, 415, 43 S.Ct. 158, 160, 67 L.Ed. 322 (1922), quoted in Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U.S. 1003, 1014, 112 S.Ct. 2886, 2892, 120 L.Ed.2d 798 (1992). A court must determine the precise extent of the regulation’s interference with the claimant’s property interest. When a regulatory scheme provides for a permitting process, a Fifth Amendment takings claim normally is not cognizable until the permit has been applied for and denied. See Conant v. United States, 12 Cl.Ct. 689, 691 (1987) (citing United States v.

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Bluebook (online)
35 Fed. Cl. 232, 42 ERC (BNA) 1831, 1996 U.S. Claims LEXIS 46, 1996 WL 139760, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/broadwater-farms-joint-venture-v-united-states-uscfc-1996.