Capital Region Airport Authority v. DeWitt Charter Township

601 N.W.2d 141, 236 Mich. App. 576
CourtMichigan Court of Appeals
DecidedOctober 22, 1999
DocketDocket 201181
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 601 N.W.2d 141 (Capital Region Airport Authority v. DeWitt Charter Township) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Michigan Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Capital Region Airport Authority v. DeWitt Charter Township, 601 N.W.2d 141, 236 Mich. App. 576 (Mich. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

*578 Saad, P.J.

Plaintiff Capital Region Airport Authority (craa), a state agency charged with operating Capital City Airport, brought this suit against the Charter Township of DeWitt claiming exemption from DeWitt’s zoning ordinance so that it could develop a business park on airport grounds. The trial court held that DeWitt was not authorized to regulate airport land use and that the CRAA was not subject to DeWitt’s land-use ordinances. DeWitt now appeals from the trial court’s order granting summary disposition in favor of the craa pursuant to MCR 2.116(C)(10). We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

i

PACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

The CRAA is the airport authority charged with operating Capital City Airport pursuant to the airport authorities act, 1970 PA 73, as amended, MCL 259.801 et seq.-, MSA 10.380(1) et seq. Airport authorities, including the craa, were statutorily created in 1970 to assume the powers and responsibilities set forth in the Aeronautics Code, MCL 259.1 et seq.] MSA 10.101 et seq. Before the enactment of 1970 PA 73, these powers and responsibilities were held by the Michigan Aeronautics Commission. MCL 259.809; MSA 10.380(9). Capital City Airport occupies land in three counties (Ingham, Clinton, and Eaton) and four municipalities (defendant DeWitt Township, Delta Township, the city of Lansing, and Watertown Township). The Aeronautics Code allows the CRAA to lease airport lands for nonaeronauticai purposes, and the CRAA has apparently done so in the past without pro *579 test or interference by DeWitt. MCL 259.105; MSA 10.205.

This conflict arose when the craa articulated its plan to develop airport lands in DeWitt contrary to DeWitt’s zoning ordinance. The CRAA decided to subdivide a portion of Capital City Airport into a development to be known as the “Capital City Airport Business Park.” 1 At least some of these lots were slated for lease to nonaviation-related businesses. The CRAA also negotiated plans with an existing tenant to construct a tortilla processing plant on airport grounds. These proposed developments were contrary to the zoning ordinance DeWitt promulgated pursuant to its authority under the Township Zoning Act (tza), MCL 125.271 et seq.\ MSA 5.2963(1) et seq. 2 Some of the anticipated tenants for the business park balked because they were unable to obtain DeWitt’s zoning approval to operate on the airport grounds. The CRAA also made an unsuccessful attempt to obtain rezoning for the tortilla plant. DeWitt maintained that the tza allowed DeWitt to enforce its zoning ordinance with respect to the craa’s land use. DeWitt also argued that the craa was obligated to submit to DeWitt a “development plan” and to comply with the requirements in the Land Division Act (formerly the Subdivision Con *580 trol Act of 1967), MCL 560.101 et seq.; MSA 26.430(101) et seq., in order to subdivide the land in question. The craa denied that DeWitt had the authority to regulate the CRAA’s land use: it argued that the aeronautical statutes conferred on the CRAA the exclusive jurisdiction over airport property and operations. The craa sued DeWitt for declaratory relief to establish the CRAA’s right of exclusive jurisdiction over airport land use.

Both parties moved for summary disposition. The CRAA asserted that the Capital City Airport property was exempt from DeWitt’s zoning regulations and the Land Division Act because the Legislature intended for the CRAA to have sole jurisdiction over the airport. DeWitt gainsaid the CRAA’s assertion, contending that none of the relevant statutes exempted the craa from local regulation. The trial court ruled for the craa and held that the Airport Authorities Act, MCL 259.801 et seq.; MSA 10.380(1) et seq., conferred on the craa exclusive jurisdiction over all airport operations, including land use, and therefore exempted the craa from both the zoning regulations and the Land Division Act. This appeal ensued.

We heard oral argument on August 12, 1998, one month after our Supreme Court granted leave to appeal in Burt Twp v Dep’t of Natural Resources, 227 Mich App 252; 576 NW2d 170 (1998), lv gtd 458 Mich App 865 (1998), aff’d 459 Mich 659; 593 NW2d 534 (1999). Because Burt Twp also involved the issue of a state agency’s alleged immunity from local land-use control, we anticipated that the Supreme Court’s ruling would be dispositive of the controlling issue here. Therefore, we held this matter in abeyance pending *581 our Supreme Court’s opinion. The Supreme Court issued its opinion on June 2, 1999.

n

analysis

The CRAA and DeWitt assert competing rights and interests under the aeronautical statutes and the land-use regulation enabling statutes, respectively. 3 This presents a question of law, which we review de novo on appeal. Faircloth v Family Independence Agency, 232 Mich App 391, 401; 591 NW2d 314 (1998).

A

STATE AGENCIES’ OBLIGATION TO COMPLY WITH LOCAL LAND-USE ORDINANCES

In our analysis of DeWitt’s authority to regulate airport property, we begin with our Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Dearden v Detroit, 403 Mich 257; 269 NW2d 139 (1978). Dearden involved a conflict between the city of Detroit’s zoning regulations and the Department of Corrections’ plans to operate a halfway house on leased property in a neighborhood zoned for two-family residential use. The city of Detroit refused to issue a variance permit for this use. Id., 260. The Department of Corrections challenged *582 this decision, contending that because it was a state agency, it was exempt from local zoning regulations.

Our Supreme Court rejected the proposition that all state agencies are inherently immune from local zoning regulations, and ruled instead that the question was one of legislative intent. Id., 264-265. The Court noted that the Legislature, in establishing the department’s jurisdiction, “expressly provided” that “[sjubject to constitutional powers vested in the executive and judicial departments of the state, the department shall have exclusive jurisdiction over . . . penal institutions.” Id., 265; MCL 791.204; MSA 28.2274. The Court read this language as a “clear expression of the Legislature’s intent to vest the department with complete jurisdiction over the state’s penal institutions, subject only to the constitutional powers, of the executive and judiciary, and not subject in any way to any other legislative act, such as the zoning enabling act.” Dearden, supra, 265. The Court further noted that the statute allotted to the Michigan Corrections Commission the power to “determine all matters relating to the unified development of the penal institutions.”

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Bluebook (online)
601 N.W.2d 141, 236 Mich. App. 576, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/capital-region-airport-authority-v-dewitt-charter-township-michctapp-1999.