Emmett McLoughlin Realty, Inc. v. Pima County

CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedFebruary 17, 2006
Docket2 CA-CV 2005-0073
StatusPublished

This text of Emmett McLoughlin Realty, Inc. v. Pima County (Emmett McLoughlin Realty, Inc. v. Pima County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Emmett McLoughlin Realty, Inc. v. Pima County, (Ark. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

FILED BY CLERK FEB 17 2006 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS COURT OF APPEALS STATE OF ARIZONA DIVISION TWO DIVISION TWO

EMMETT McLOUGHLIN REALTY, ) 2 CA-CV 2005-0073 INC.; QUIK-MART STORES, INC.; ) DEPARTMENT A DOUGLAS S. HOLSCLAW, JR.; ANNE ) T. HOLSCLAW; TOOPS FAMILY ) OPINION LIMITED PARTNERSHIP; RIGGS ) FAMILY TRUST; LYNN GREER ) TRUST; and JULIE GREER TRUST, ) ) Plaintiffs/Appellants, ) ) v. ) ) PIMA COUNTY, ARIZONA; and ) MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ) SUPERVISORS OF PIMA COUNTY, ) ARIZONA, ) ) Defendants/Appellees. ) )

APPEAL FROM THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PIMA COUNTY

Cause No. C20003514

Honorable Carmine Cornelio, Judge

AFFIRMED

Law Office of Jeffrey M. Neff By Jeffrey M. Neff and Gabrielle A. Shinohara Tucson Attorneys for Plaintiffs/Appellants

Barbara LaWall, Pima County Attorney By Paul A. Loucks Tucson Attorneys for Defendants/Appellees H O W A R D, Presiding Judge.

¶1 In this challenge to appellee Pima County’s zoning actions concerning certain

real property, appellants Emmett McLoughlin Realty, Inc., and others1 (collectively,

McLoughlin) appeal from summary judgment granted in favor of Pima County. McLoughlin

argues the trial court erred by rejecting its claims that Pima County had violated its

constitutional due process rights, violated the notice and hearing provisions in A.R.S. § 11-

829(C) and Pima County Code (P.C.C.) § 18.91.060(B)(1), and acted without jurisdiction

in violation of § 11-829 and P.C.C. § 18.91.030(A)(2). Finding the trial court did not err

in granting Pima County judgment on McLoughlin’s claims, we affirm.

¶2 We review a grant of summary judgment de novo. Strojnik v. Gen. Ins. Co.

of Am., 201 Ariz. 430, ¶ 10, 36 P.3d 1200, 1203 (App. 2001). A motion for summary

judgment should be granted if “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and . . . the

moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Ariz. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(1), 16

A.R.S., Pt. 2; see also Orme Sch. v. Reeves, 166 Ariz. 301, 309, 802 P.2d 1000, 1008

(1990). We view the facts in the light most favorable to the party against whom summary

judgment was entered. Link v. Pima County, 193 Ariz. 336, ¶ 12, 972 P.2d 669, 673 (App.

1998).

1 Appellants include Emmett McLoughlin Realty, Inc.; Quik-Mart Stores, Inc.; Douglas S. Holsclaw, Jr.; Anne T. Holsclaw; Toops Family Limited Partnership; Riggs Family Trust; Lynn Greer Trust; and Julie Greer Trust.

2 ¶3 This appeal concerns three parcels of real estate, totaling approximately thirty-

two acres, each of which is owned by separate individuals or entities. Prior to actions that

led to this litigation, Parcels A and C were zoned suburban ranch, and Parcel B was zoned

local business. In 1999, parties interested in purchasing Parcel A applied to the County for

a conditional use permit to construct and operate a charter school on that parcel. A hearing

administrator approved the application, but several neighboring property owners appealed

this decision to the Pima County Board of Supervisors. The appeal on Parcel A was

scheduled to be heard by the Board at a public meeting on July 13, 1999. Around the same

time as the conditional use permit for Parcel A was being processed, the owner of Parcel C

filed an application requesting the parcel be rezoned from suburban ranch to major resort

for use as a resort and conference center.

¶4 Before the hearing on the appeal concerning Parcel A occurred, a

neighborhood action group submitted a report to Pima County Supervisor Raul Grijalva,

proposing downzoning Parcel B from local business to suburban ranch and objecting to any

commercial development on Parcels A and C. Grijalva subsequently caused an agenda item

to be added to the Board’s regular meeting on July 6, 1999, to allow the action group to

present its report to the Board. At the meeting, the action group presented the contents of

its report, and the Board directed County staff to initiate the process of downzoning Parcel

B from local business to suburban ranch. Although Grijalva made that motion and the

Board unanimously passed it, he also noted the matter would first have to go through

3 planning and zoning procedures and during that process various legal issues would have to

be addressed.

¶5 One week later, the Board held the public hearing on the appeal concerning

the conditional use permit for Parcel A. This hearing was preceded by publication in a

newspaper of general circulation in the county seat and personal notice to the appellants

who own the property. At that hearing, several speakers referred to the events that had

occurred at the July 6 Board meeting. The Board voted to deny the application for the

conditional use permit for Parcel A by a vote of three to two.

¶6 On March 29, 2000, the Pima County Planning and Zoning Commission held

separate public hearings on whether to downzone Parcel B and to rezone Parcel C. Both

hearings were preceded by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county

seat, posting notice on the subject properties along the public right of way, and personal

notice to the appellants who own the property. The Commission subsequently voted to

recommend that the Board not downzone Parcel B to a combination of suburban ranch and

single residence. The Commission also issued a report recommending that the Board deny

the owner’s application to rezone Parcel C from suburban ranch to major resort.

¶7 In April, the Board held a public hearing concerning the rezoning of Parcel B

and, despite the Commission’s recommendation, voted to downzone that parcel. Two

months later, the Board held a public hearing on the application to rezone Parcel C from

suburban ranch to major resort and, in accordance with the Commission’s recommendation,

voted to deny the rezoning request. Each of these public hearings was preceded by

4 publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county seat and personal notice to

the appellants who own the property.

¶8 McLoughlin sued Pima County and its Board of Supervisors, arguing the

County had violated the due process rights of the owners of each of the three parcels

because of the lack of notice of the Board’s July 6 meeting and the bias of a Commission

member. McLoughlin also argued the county had violated certain statutory notice

provisions relating to the July 6 meeting and the Board had exceeded its authority when it

initiated the rezoning of Parcel B. McLoughlin further alleged the Board’s actions on Parcel

B violated a statute in effect at that time, A.R.S. § 11-829(F), which required the express

written consent of a property owner before a property could be downzoned.

¶9 The trial court entered partial summary judgment in favor of Pima County,

declaring the statute’s requirement of owner consent unconstitutional, and we affirmed that

decision on appeal. Emmett McLoughlin Realty, Inc. v. Pima County, 203 Ariz. 557, 58

P.3d 39 (App. 2002). On remand, McLoughlin moved for summary judgment on the

remaining issues, and Pima County cross-moved for summary judgment. The trial court

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