Copeland v. City of Chattanooga ex rel. Board of Commissioners

866 S.W.2d 565, 1993 Tenn. App. LEXIS 444
CourtCourt of Appeals of Tennessee
DecidedJune 30, 1993
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 866 S.W.2d 565 (Copeland v. City of Chattanooga ex rel. Board of Commissioners) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Tennessee primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Copeland v. City of Chattanooga ex rel. Board of Commissioners, 866 S.W.2d 565, 1993 Tenn. App. LEXIS 444 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1993).

Opinion

FARMER, Judge.

This appeal is from a chancery decree holding the conditional zoning of Appellants’ property by Appellee valid and a proper exercise of governmental power.

The Board of Commissioners of the City of Chattanooga, Appellee, passed an ordinance which rezoned 18 acres of Appellants’ property to C-5 (Neighborhood Commercial District) and R-3 (Residential Zone), rather than C-2 as requested by Appellants. Appellants filed suit seeking to have the ordinance declared invalid. The Chancellor found the denial of the C-2 zoning request arbitrary and ordered Appellants’ application remanded to the governing body of the City of Chattanooga for appropriate action consistent with its ruling that Appellants were entitled to have their property zoned C-2 [566]*566“with appropriate and suitable conditions.”1 Thereafter, Appellee amended its prior ordinance to rezone Appellants’ property C-2, subject to certain conditions including the following: “Dedication by the owner of said tract of 12 feet of right-of-way2 along East Brainerd Road for future road expansion.”

Appellants filed a motion to reopen proof and to require specific performance, asserting that the requirement of dedication was not an “appropriate and suitable” condition as contemplated by the Chancellor’s order. Appellants sought declaration that this particular condition was void or, in the alternative, an order requiring Appellee to amend the ordinance deleting the requirement of dedication.

After a hearing, the Chancellor denied Appellants’ motion and upheld the validity of the condition of dedication imposed in the grant of C-2 zoning as a “reasonable and proper exercise of governmental power.” The Chancellor stated:

The Court was concerned that this might be simply a taking of Mr. Copeland’s property. There appeared some question as to whether or not the City was simply making it a condition of the rezoning for Mr. Copeland to give up 12 feet of his property so that if there was future road expansion out there then they would already have his property, but they would avoid the cost of buying it in the future.
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But the proof before the Court was to the effect that Mr. Marcellis, the traffic engineer, testified it may well be necessary to build acceleration or deceleration lanes if this property is built to its capacity.
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... the quote of [the Court in Unlimited v. Kitsap County, 750 P.2d 651 (Wash.App.1988) ] is relevant. They say a property interest can be extracted without compensation only upon a proper exercise of government police power. Such power is properly exercised in zoning conditions where a problem could be remedied by the extraction which arises from a development under consideration, and the extraction is reasonable and for a legitimate public purpose. Unless these requirements are met, extraction is an unconstitutional taking.
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... the Court is of the opinion that if this requirement of dedication was for the purposes of an acceleration or deceleration lane, which would be necessary for this particular property, it would be a proper exercise of a governmental power and that it would be proper.
If, on the other hand, it was an attempt to simply go ahead and get the property in advance for a widening of East Brainerd Road, then it would be void and an unconstitutional taking.
However, with the presumption to be afforded the action of a governmental body, the Court finds the intent was consistent with the testimony of Mr. Marcel-lis.

Appellants filed a motion for new trial and, as amended, asserted that the requirement of dedication constitutes a “taking” without just compensation; that the requirement is discriminatory and unreasonable; and that the court erroneously approved a dedication of property not owned by Appellants, The trial court denied the motion but amended its order to specify that Appellants were not required to dedicate any portion of property not under their control and previously condemned by the State of Tennessee.

We perceive the issue in the instant appeal as whether the requirement that Appellants dedicate 12 feet of righi>of-way for future road expansion, as a condition of C-2 zoning, is a proper exercise of governmental power.

[567]*567T.C.A. § 13-7-201(b)3 authorizes the City of Chattanooga to engage in conditional zoning4 which has been determined consistent with Tennessee law. Benton v. City of Chattanooga, No. 808, 1988 WL 74608 (Tenn.App. filed July 20, 1988). Our scope of review of Appellee’s decision to conditionally zone Appellants’ property is “quite restricted.” Fallin v. Knox County Bd. of Comm’rs, 656 S.W.2d 338, 342 (Tenn.1983). Our supreme court in Fallin held:

The restricted role of the courts in reviewing the validity of a zoning ordinance or regulation has been aptly stated as follows:
“Zoning is a legislative matter, and, as a general proposition, the exercise of the zoning power should not be subjected to judicial interference unless clearly necessary. In enacting or amending zoning legislation, the local authorities are vested with broad discretion and, in cases where the validity of a zoning ordinance is fairly debatable, the court cannot substitute its judgment for that of the legislative authority. If there is a rational or justifiable basis for the enactment and it does not violate any state statute or positive constitutional guaranty, the wisdom of the zoning regulation is a matter exclusively for legislative determination. “In accordance with these principles, it has been stated that the courts should not interfere with the exercise of the zoning power and hold a zoning enactment invalid, unless the enactment, in whole or in relation to any particular property, is shown to be clearly arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable, having no substantial relation to the public health, safety, or welfare, or is plainly contrary to the zoning laws.” 82 Am.Jr.2d Zoning and Planning § 338 (1976) at 913-14.

Fallin, 656 S.W.2d at 342-43. (Emphasis added.) Simply stated, a legislative body’s decision regarding zoning matters “must be affirmed if it is ‘fairly debatable.’ ” Ray v. Dattel, No. 24 (Tenn.App. filed August 2, 1985). The fairly debatable standard requires “considerable deference to the decision of the governmental authority.” McCallen v. City of Memphis, 786 S.W.2d 633, 640 (Tenn.1990). Its decision is “fairly debatable” if it is supported by substantial evidence on the record taken as a whole. Ray, slip op. at 10 (quoting Sedney v. Lloyd, 44 Md.App. 633, 410 A.2d 616, 619 n. 6 (1980)).

As emphasized in Fallin,

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866 S.W.2d 565, 1993 Tenn. App. LEXIS 444, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/copeland-v-city-of-chattanooga-ex-rel-board-of-commissioners-tennctapp-1993.