Ellison v. Conner

153 F.3d 247, 29 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20240, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 22577
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
DecidedSeptember 11, 1998
Docket97-30359, 98-30203
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 153 F.3d 247 (Ellison v. Conner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ellison v. Conner, 153 F.3d 247, 29 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20240, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 22577 (5th Cir. 1998).

Opinion

VANCE, District Judge:

Before the Court are the consolidated appeals of Kathryn and David Ellison (“Elli-sons”) and Jimmy D. Laviolette (“Laviol-ette”). The appellants appeal two adverse district court decisions involving the U.S. Corps of Engineers’ (“Corps”) refusal to issue permits allowing them to build camp-homes on their property in the Atchafalaya floodway. We agree with the district court that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to review the Corps’ permitting decision under the Administrative Procedure Act. We find that the district court erred in finding that the Ellisons lacked standing to assert constitutional due process claims, but we agree with the district court’s reasoning that such claims are meritless. Finally, we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment upholding the Corps’ right to require Laviol-ette to remove his camp from the floodway.

I. Factual Background

In 1985, the Ellisons acquired 1206 acres of land from Texaco, Inc. in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana. The property fronts the Whiskey Bay Pilot Channel, a waterway that connects the Atchafalaya River and the Mississippi River. The Ellisons’ land lies within the Whiskey Bay Pilot Channel Project, which was developed by the Corps as part of the Atchafalaya Basin Floodway System. The Project was authorized by Congress in legislation providing for flood control on the Mississippi .River and its tributaries. See Mississippi River Flood Control Act, 49 Stat. 1508 (June 15,1936).

The Ellisons purchased their tract subject to a “perpetual flowage, channel and disposal” easement that was granted to the United States from the Texas Company on August 4, 1941. The easement grants the United States broad, perpetual rights to enter, excavate, and flood the property, as well as to construct levees, embankments, bridges, highways, and utilities thereon, pursuant to its management of flooding and navigation on the Mississippi River and its tributaries.

The 1941 deed reserves to Texas Company and its assigns, in addition to certain rights related to mineral development, all rights and privileges that do not interfere with the easement. However, the deed contains a *250 building restriction which requires the permission of the Corps to build any structures that “may in any way interfere” with navigation in any channel that “may be excavated” or with “the construction, maintenance or repair of any channels, or any levees or other works to be built” on the land.

In the early 1990s, Ellison sold two small tracts to third parties, and the United States acquired by condemnation the remainder of the 1206 acres. However, on June 21, 1993 the United States revested in the Ellisons the 110.9 acres at issue in this case.

In reaching the agreement to revest the land, the Ellisons allege that the Corps orally agreed to grant permits for the development of recreational campsites on the property. The only evidence of the alleged agreement was a June 30, 1993 letter from Thad J. Brown, Chief of the Real Estate Division of the Department of the Army. The letter provided in part:

In connection with your request for an outline of our permit application process
Upon receipt of your [permit] request, we will ... review for such things as present or future Corps activities in the area (future plans to widen, deepen, or move the channel, plans to dredge the channel), the historical, environmental and cultural resources of the planned site (Indian mounds or artifacts, eagle nest, etc.), and either approve the request, deny the request for specific reasons, or require modification to the request that we now negotiate with you.

The Ellisons proceeded to subdivide a portion of their property into 55 one acre lots, known as the Whiskey Bay Acres Subdivision. By October 8, 1995, the Ellisons had sold 38 lots, including one to appellant La-violette. Laviolette’s deed reflected the existence of the easement and recited the need to acquire a permit from the Corps before construction of any improvements.

Despite the language in his deed, Laviol-ette moved onto his lot a wooden camp-house in December 1994. On April 13, 1995, the Corps advised Laviolette of the requirement to obtain a permit for the structure. Laviol-ette responded by returning the letter with a handwritten note stating, “Please issue me a permit. Thank you, Jimmy D. Laviolette.” In addition to Laviolette, other lot owners submitted permit requests to the Corps. The Ellisons did not submit a request for permit.

On October 10, 1995, the Corps notified Laviolette, Ellison and the other lot owners that, after consideration of its present and future requirements, that appellee “found it to be in the best interest of the United States to prohibit the construction or placement of any structures on th[e] land.” The letter further requested that any existing structures be removed. The Corps agreed, however, to allow the placement of easily removable items such as tents and wheeled trailers less than 40 feet long upon obtaining a real estate permit. It noted, however, that regulatory permits under the Clean Water Act would also be required if the property were determined to be wetlands.

On October 11, 1995, the Ellisons wrote to ■Colonel Clow, District Engineer of the Corps, outlining their understanding of the history of the problem and requesting a meeting. Clow met with the Ellisons and responded by letter on November 17, 1995, affirming the Corps’ decision of October 10.

Clow noted that the Corps’ letter of June 30,1993 was based on the understanding that the Ellisons intended to apply for a single camp permit for their property. He stated that the Ellisons had not indicated their intent to subdivide the property, which would have met with a different response. Clow stated, “While it is true that we currently have no plans to modify the Whiskey Bay Pilot Channel, the dynamic nature of the Atchafalaya Basin may require such action in the future.”

II. Proceedings Below

In response to the Corps’ action, the Elli-sons filed suit for declaratory relief and a stay of further action by the Corps. The Ellisons challenged the Corps’ decision as arbitrary, capricious and made in violation of applicable permitting procedures. They asserted that their due process rights were violated and that the Court should declare *251 that they have the right to build the contested structures. On September 1, 1997, the district court dismissed the action, holding that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to review the Corps’ decision under the Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”), 5 U.S.C. § 701, et seq., as it was an action “committed to agency discretion by law” under § 701(a)(2) of the APA. The district court also found that the Ellisons lacked standing to assert a constitutional due process claim and that such constitutional claims were mer-itless in any event.

Meanwhile, on February 18, 1997, the United States sued Laviolette to force him to remove his camp from the property covered by the easement.

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153 F.3d 247, 29 Envtl. L. Rep. (Envtl. Law Inst.) 20240, 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 22577, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ellison-v-conner-ca5-1998.