City of Green Ridge v. Kreisel

25 S.W.3d 559, 30 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20529, 2000 Mo. App. LEXIS 615, 2000 WL 517749
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 2, 2000
DocketNo. WD 56936
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 25 S.W.3d 559 (City of Green Ridge v. Kreisel) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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City of Green Ridge v. Kreisel, 25 S.W.3d 559, 30 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20529, 2000 Mo. App. LEXIS 615, 2000 WL 517749 (Mo. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

LAURA DENVIR STITH, Presiding Judge.

Plaintiff-Appellant the City of Green Ridge, Missouri (City), appeals from the decision of the trial court sustaining a motion for summary judgment filed by Defendant-Respondent Johnnie L. Kreisel, on an action the City brought against Mr. Kreisel for violation of City Ordinance 477. The trial court found Ordinance 477 was an invalid zoning ordinance because the City failed to enact the ordinance in accordance with the notice and hearing requirements for zoning ordinances as set forth in Section 89.050.1 Because we find that Ordinance'477 is not a zoning ordinance, but an ordinance directed toward regulation of health and safety by avoidance of the maintenance of nuisances, the City was not required to comply with the notice and hearing requirements of Section 89.050, and the court below erred in holding otherwise. Accordingly, we reverse and remand for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In 1996, the City of Green Ridge filed an action against Johnnie Kreisel for failing to cut the weeds and grass surrounding his junk yard, for permitting the protrusion of junk onto the public street, and for failing to properly store junk, all in violation of Ordinance 413, an ordinance relating to junkyards and their operation. The trial court found the ordinance was a zoning ordinance and dismissed the City’s action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction because the City failed to comply with the notice and hearing requirements for enactment of zoning ordinances set forth in Section 89.050. The City appealed the judgment to this Court, but, in June 1998, the appeal was dismissed because the trial court’s order was not denominated a final judgment, and thus was unreviewable.

No final judgment, was ever entered in the suit over Ordinance 413. Instead, the [561]*561City filed a separate municipal action against Mr. Kreisel alleging similar violations of Ordinance 477, enacted in March 1996 as a successor to Ordinance 413. Many of its provisions are identical to those of Ordinance 413, but Ordinance 477 adds certain additional definitions and adds provisions relating to the licensure of junk yards and their record-keeping practices.

On July 27, 1998, Mr. Kreisel filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting that Ordinance 477 was a zoning ordinance and, as such, could not be enacted without compliance with the notice and hearing requirements of Section 89.050. The City agreed that the notice and hearing requirements of Section 89.450 were not complied with when Ordinance 477 was enacted, but argued that those requirements were inapplicable because Ordinance 477 is not a zoning ordinance. The trial court found that Ordinance 477 is a zoning ordinance, and accordingly granted Mr. Kreisel’s motion for summary judgment. The City appeals.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Summary judgment is appropriate when the pleadings, discovery, and affidavits reveal no genuine issue of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Rule 74.04(c); ITT Commercial Fin. Corp. v. Mid-Am. Marine, 854 S.W.2d 371, 380 (Mo. banc 1993). Once the movant has demonstrated that no genuine issue of material fact exists, the burden shifts to the non-movant to show that there is a genuine dispute as to the material facts supporting the movant’s right to summary judgment. Id. at 381-82. A genuine issue of material fact exists if there is a dispute that is real, not merely argumentative, imaginary or frivolous. Id. at 382. Mere speculation and conjecture are not enough to create a genuine issue of material fact. Id. at 378.

“The propriety of summary judgment is purely an issue of law which we review de novo on the record submitted and the law.” Bonds v. Missouri Dep’t of Mental Health, 887 S.W.2d 418, 421 (Mo.App. W.D.1994). We review the record in the fight most favorable to the party against whom summary judgment was entered, and will affirm if the judgment is sustainable as a matter of law under any legal theory. ITT Commercial Fin. Corp., 854 S.W.2d at 376.

III. LEGAL ANALYSIS

In his motion for summary judgment, Mr. Kreisel asserted Ordinance 477 was invalid because it was a zoning ordinance, yet was not enacted in compliance with the notice and hearing requirements set forth in Section 89.050, which states:

The legislative body of such municipality shall provide for the manner in which such [zoning] regulations and restrictions and the boundaries of such districts shall be determined, established, and enforced, and from time to time amended, supplemented, or changed. However, no such regulation, restriction, or boundary shall become effective until after a public hearing in relation thereto, at which parties in interest and citizens shall have an opportunity to be heard. At least fifteen days’ notice of the time and place of such hearing shall be published in an official paper or a paper of general circulation in such municipality.

Sec. 89.050 (emphasis added).

In order to determine whether the City violated Section 89.050 in enacting Ordinance 477, we must examine its terms and determine whether it fits -within the definition of a zoning ordinance. If so, then it is invalid, for it is well-settled that the failure to provide the notice set forth in Section 89.050 invalidates a zoning ordinance. City of Louisiana v. Branham, 969 S.W.2d 332 (Mo.App. E.D.1998); Casey’s General Stores, Inc. v. City of Louisiana, 734 S.W.2d 890 (Mo.App. E.D.1987).

Section 1 of Ordinance 477 defines the meaning of junk, junkyard and junkyard [562]*562operator and owner. These definitions are not in issue here. Sections 2 and 3 set forth requirements for junkyard operation, and provide that failure to comply with these requirements constitutes a public nuisance, as follows:

Section 2. General operating requirements. The following general operating requirements shall apply to all junkyard operators and junkyard owners operating within the City of Green Ridge, Missouri:
a. The junkyard, together with things kept therein, shall at all times be maintained in a sanitary condition.
b. No water shall be allowed to stand in any place on the premises in such matter as to afford a breeding place for mosquitoes.
c. Weeds and vegetation on the premises, other than trees, shall be kept at a height of not more than four inches.
d. No garbage or other waste liable to give off a foul order or attract vermin shall be kept on the premises; nor shall any refuse of any kind be kept on the premises.
e.

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25 S.W.3d 559, 30 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20529, 2000 Mo. App. LEXIS 615, 2000 WL 517749, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-green-ridge-v-kreisel-moctapp-2000.