Caton v. City of Thorsby

855 So. 2d 1057, 2003 Ala. LEXIS 61, 2003 WL 379978
CourtSupreme Court of Alabama
DecidedFebruary 21, 2003
Docket1020216
StatusPublished

This text of 855 So. 2d 1057 (Caton v. City of Thorsby) 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
Caton v. City of Thorsby, 855 So. 2d 1057, 2003 Ala. LEXIS 61, 2003 WL 379978 (Ala. 2003).

Opinion

MADDOX, Retired Justice.

The question presented in this zoning case is whether the plaintiff, Ronnie Earl Catón, has standing to bring an action against the City of Thorsby and the City’s zoning commission challenging an alleged zoning decision affecting property he owned when he made a rezoning request but had sold before the formal meeting of the zoning commission at which his request was to be considered.

The circuit court granted the motion for a summary judgment filed by the City and the City of Thorsby Zoning Commission1 (“the zoning commission”) on the grounds that Catón was not the real party in interest and that he lacked standing, because he never received a formal adverse ruling from the zoning commission. We agree, and we affirm the summary judgment.

Facts

Ronnie Earl Catón owned two adjacent lots of real property on Rebel Street in Thorsby, Alabama.2 He acquired the first lot in 1988, and for several years, Catón operated a T-shirt and sweatshirt screen-printing business from the house and lot at 12 Rebel Street. In 1992, Catón acquired the house and lot next door, 10 Rebel Street, and he and his mother used that house as a residence. Before Catón purchased the property at 10 Rebel Street, the house located on that lot had been used as an insurance office. He continued, for a time, to operate his business in the house located at 12 Rebel Street. Catón subsequently ceased his business operations in the house located at 12 Rebel Street, and during his mother’s illness, Catón rented the house for residential use.

In December 1997, Catón attended a meeting in connection with a proposed zoning ordinance for the City of Thorsby. The proposed ordinance was the City’s first attempt at zoning property; it classified Caton’s property as residential. Ca-tón testified at trial that at that meeting he spoke to a member of the zoning commission and to a consultant from Birmingham who was helping the City of Thorsby draft the zoning ordinance. According to Catón, he told both individuals that although he was using both lots as residential property, he wanted both lots zoned for commercial use. Catón testified that he was told to leave both lots as they were in the proposed ordinance (zoned residential) for the time being. Catón testified further that he was told that when he was ready to have the properties zoned for commercial use, just to come by and let “them” know.

Catón stated that he listed both properties for sale in April 1999 and that a Mr. [1059]*1059Lloyd Geeslin offered $75,000 for both lots, but backed out of the sale because, according to Catón, Geeslin was told by Zane Martin, the mayor of the City of Thorsby, that the properties were zoned for residential use and would not be rezoned for commercial use. The facts tend to show that Catón then telephoned the mayor, who, according to Catón, told Catón to submit a written request to rezone the property. Catón subsequently delivered a letter to Martin on September 20, 1999, requesting that both lots be rezoned for commercial use. Catón testified that Martin then telephoned him and told him that the zoning commission was meeting on “that Thursday night.” He testified, however, that the zoning commission did not meet. Catón stated that Martin then told him to talk to Kay Shropshire, the chairperson of the zoning commission, and the day after the scheduled meeting of the zoning commission, Catón went to Shropshire’s house. According to Catón, Shropshire stated that she had telephoned the members of the zoning commission and that they had decided not to rezone the properties.

Catón attended a subsequent meeting of the zoning commission and voiced his displeasure over the fact that he had been told that a decision not to rezone his properties had been made before the zoning commission held its meeting. On October 7,1999, Catón sold the two properties for a total of $15,000.3

On November 8, 2000, Catón sued the City and the zoning commission. In count one of the complaint, Catón alleged that the City and the zoning commission had refused to rezone his property and that their refusal “deprived him of due process of law under the Constitution and laws for the State of Alabama for which he is due to be fully compensated in damages.”4

On December 21, 2001, the City and the zoning commission filed a motion for a summary judgment, contending that Catón never filed a formal rezoning request and that the “[z]oning [commission] never made an official determination regarding [Caton’s] desire to have his land rezoned.” In his brief in opposition to the motion for a summary judgment, Catón argued that “[h]e did make a request for a zoning change, and the [z]oning [commission] Members voted on the telephone not to allow it; [that] he was denied any public hearing, and [that] the Town Council never entertained his request at all.”

On April 5, 2002, the trial court entered a summary judgment. In its summary-judgment order, the trial court stated:

“The Alabama Code provides a statutory right to a ‘party aggrieved’ to appeal an adverse decision of a board of zoning adjustment. Ala.Code [1975,] § 11-52-81. The Court of Civil Appeals has also recognized that in order to have standing to appeal a decision of a board of adjustment the party must be ‘aggrieved’ or have suffered some detriment. Crowder v. Zoning Board of Adjustment, 406 So.2d 917 (Ala.Civ.App.1981). In Board of Adjustment v. Matranga, Hess & Sullivan, [51 Ala.App. 154, 283 So.2d 607 (1973)], the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals held that an applicant for a zoning variance must prove [1060]*1060that they have legal or equitable ownership of the property in order to maintain an action before the circuit court or board of adjustment. Hudson v. Mobile County, 439 So.2d 1304, 1306 ([Ala.Civ. App.] 1983)(citing 51 Ala.App. 154, 283 So.2d 607 (1973)). In Matranga, the application was made by the holder of an option to purchase the property, which the court found insufficient. Id.
“The statute and cases supra address standing to appeal from boards of adjustment, which is a somewhat different situation from this case where the appeal is based on the decision, or lack thereof, of a [zoning] commission. Despite the differences in the roles of the two entities, both require that the person making the request have a recognized interest in the property they seek to have rezoned. There is no dispute that Mr. Catón owned the properties at 10 and 12 Rebel Street when he made his request to the [zoning] [c]ommission by letter on September 29, 1999. His ownership of those properties gave him the requisite property interest to make his request for rezoning.
“However, when Catón sold those properties, approximately two weeks later, and before a public hearing could be set, he could no longer make the rezoning request because they were no longer his properties. The delay between the first meeting, where Catón addressed the [zoning] [Commission, and the scheduling of the next meeting for a vote on the request, was the result of the [zoning] [Commission’s complying with the notice requirement of § 11-52-77 of the Alabama Code 1975. That provision requires notice in a newspaper of general circulation for at least 15 days before the passage of a new ordinance. Id.

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Related

Crowder v. Zoning Bd. of Adjustment
406 So. 2d 917 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 1981)
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492 So. 2d 312 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1986)
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Potter v. First Real Estate Co., Inc.
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629 So. 2d 647 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1993)
American Liberty Insurance Co. v. Amsouth Bank
825 So. 2d 786 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2002)
Builders Dev. Co. v. City of Opelika
360 So. 2d 962 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1978)
Board of Adjustment v. Matranga, Hess & Sullivan
283 So. 2d 607 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 1973)
Hudson v. Mobile County
439 So. 2d 1304 (Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama, 1983)
H.H.B., L.L.C. v. D & F, L.L.C.
843 So. 2d 116 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2002)

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Bluebook (online)
855 So. 2d 1057, 2003 Ala. LEXIS 61, 2003 WL 379978, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/caton-v-city-of-thorsby-ala-2003.