Get Back Up, Inc. v. City of Detroit

878 F. Supp. 2d 794, 2012 WL 2884690, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97333
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedJuly 13, 2012
DocketCivil Action No. 2:11-cv-13909
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 878 F. Supp. 2d 794 (Get Back Up, Inc. v. City of Detroit) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Get Back Up, Inc. v. City of Detroit, 878 F. Supp. 2d 794, 2012 WL 2884690, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97333 (E.D. Mich. 2012).

Opinion

[796]*796 OPINION AND ORDER RESOLVING PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION [10]

LAURIE J. MICHELSON, United States Magistrate Judge.

Plaintiff Get Back Up, Inc. operates a residential substance abuse facility in a historic district of Detroit, Michigan. Under the City’s zoning ordinances, Get Back Up has to obtain a conditional use permit to operate that type of facility in that district. Get Back Up initially received the required permit from the City’s Building and Safety Engineering Department, but the neighborhood homeowner’s association appealed the permit award to the City’s Board of Zoning Appeals, and the Board reversed the grant. The Board’s decision was upheld by the Michigan courts. Plaintiff then brought this federal lawsuit against Defendants City of Detroit and its Board of Zoning Appeals alleging that the City’s zoning ordinance on its face, and the Board of Zoning Appeals’ permit decision in this instance, violated federal laws, including the Fair Housing Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Rehabilitation Act. (Dkt. 1, Compl. ¶¶ 46-54.)

. A contractor with Get Back Up, the Michigan Department of Corrections, recently indicated its intention to terminate its agreement with Get Back Up at least in part because Plaintiff lacks a conditional use permit. (Dkt. 10, PL’s Mot. for Prelim. Inj., Exs. Q, EE.) Accordingly, Get Back Up has now moved for immediate relief, asking this Court to preliminarily enjoin the City from enforcing its ordinance pending final resolution of this suit. (PL’s Mot. for Prelim. Inj. at 5.) Get Back Up’s Motion for Preliminary Injunction, by way of referral and waiver of the right to object by the parties, is presently before the Court for disposition. (Dkts. 11, 13.) The Court set an expedited briefing schedule and heard oral argument on the motion on July 11, 2012. (See Dkt. 12.)

For the reasons set forth below, the Court finds that Get Back Up is not precluded from bringing this suit under the doctrine of res judicata because the state court only adjudicated an administrative appeal on the merits, which, under Michigan Supreme Court authority, is not the type of adjudication that precludes a subsequent civil suit. Further, by a stipulation of the parties entered contemporaneously with this opinion and order, the Court resolves Plaintiffs Motion for Preliminary Injunction as follows: IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants City of Detroit and the Board of Zoning Appeals shall not, pursuant to Mich. Comp. Laws § 125.3407, seek to shut down Get Back Up’s substance abuse facility as a nuisance per se until either further order from this Court or this Court enters final judgment.1

I. BACKGROUND

A. Get Back Up’s Facility

The life story of Dr. William L. Taylor, Jr., President and CEO of Plaintiff Get Back Up, Inc., illustrates the organization’s aim: Dr. Taylor was an All-American football player at the University of Michigan, battled with alcoholism, and then spent time on the streets of Detroit and in prison before recovering from his addiction, earning a doctorate, and founding Get Back Up, Inc. (PL’s Mot. for Prelim. Inj. at 6, ¶ 7.) Get Back Up is a nonprofit that operates a 160-bed residential substance abuse treatment facility in Detroit, Michigan. (Id. at 6, ¶ 1.) Plaintiff [797]*797currently has contracts to serve adult males who are homeless, unemployed, uninsured, or mandated to enter the program by a court. (Id. at 8, ¶ 10.) In addition to substance abuse treatment, Get Back Up offers adult education and job training. (Id. at 8, ¶ 11.)

Get Back Up’s treatment facility is a secured, remodeled school building located in a “B4” zoning district in Detroit, Michigan. (Id. ¶¶ 4-6, 13, 49, 58.) The Detroit Zoning Ordinance (“Ordinance”) provides that certain uses in a B4 district are permitted “by-right.” (Pl.’s Mot. Prelim. Inj., Ex. E, at ECF Pg ID 475-76 (Ordinance, Article IX, §§ 61-9-75, 61-9-76).) These include, for example, a nursing home, a nonprofit neighborhood center, and a medical clinic. (Id.) The Ordinance, however, classifies other uses, such as “substance abuse service facilities,” as “conditional uses.” (Id., Ex. E at ECF Pg ID 477 (Ordinance, Article IX, § 61-9-80(6)).) Thus, for Get Back Up to operate its substance abuse facility, the Ordinance requires Get Back Up to obtain a conditional use permit, which, in turn, involves a review by the City’s Building and Safety Engineering Department (“B & SE”) and a public hearing. (Id., Ex. E at ECF Pg ID 467-68, (Ordinance, Article III, §§ 61-3-213, 214).) Further, the Ordinance prohibits the B & SE and Detroit’s Board of Zoning Appeals from approving a conditional use unless fifteen criteria are satisfied. (Id., Ex. E at ECF Pg ID 470-71, (Ordinance, Article III, § 61-3-231).) As examples, the conditional use must “not be injurious to the use and enjoyment of other property in the immediate vicinity for the purposes permitted” and the use must “not substantially diminish or impair property values within the neighborhood.” (Id., Ex. E at ECF Pg ID 470-71, (Ordinance, Article III, § 61-3-231).)

B. Detroit’s Building and Safety Engineering Department Grants Get Back Up a Conditional Use Permit

Get Back Up applied for a conditional use permit and a public hearing was held on November 7, 2007. (Id. at 9, ¶¶ 18-19.) The City’s Planning and Development Department initially recommended that the B & SE deny Get Back Up’s application; but, on December 21, 2007, the B & SE responded to the Planning and Development Department’s concerns and conditionally approved the application. (Id. at 9, ¶¶ 20-21, Ex. F.) The Planning and Development Department then approved Get Back Up’s site plan and use on January 9, 2008. (Id. at 9, ¶¶ 22.)

C. Detroit’s Board of Zoning Appeals Reverses the Building and Safety Engineering Department

On January 18, 2008, a homeowners’ association for the neighborhood where the facility is located, the Russell Woods Sullivan Area Association (the “Association”), appealed the B & SE’s decision to Detroit’s Board of Zoning Appeals (“BZA”). (Id. at 11, ¶ 32.) On February 19, 2008 the BZA held a hearing and, according to Get Back Up, the Association proffered “myths and stereotypes regarding recovering substance abusers.” (Id. at 11, ¶¶ 33, 39.) On February 27, 2008, the BZA reversed the B & SE’s decision. (Id. at 11, ¶ 40, Ex. L.)

D. Get Back Up Appeals to the Wayne County Circuit Court

On or around March 21, 2008, Get Back Up appealed the BZA’s decision to Wayne County Circuit Court (Case No. 08-107348-AA). (Dkt. 16, Joint Supp., Ex. 10. )2 The challenge set forth two counts: [798]*798Count I was an appeal of the BZA’s decision pursuant to Mich. Compl. Laws § 125.3606, which permits a party aggrieved by a zoning board of appeals’ decision to file an administrative appeal in state circuit court, but also argued violations of federal law. (Id., Ex. 10 at ECF Pg ID 951-52.) Count II asserted that one or more of the fifteen criteria in Article III, § 61-3-231 of the Ordinance (as well as criteria set forth in § 61-3-232) were unconstitutional. (Id., Ex. 10 at ECF Pg ID 952.)

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Bluebook (online)
878 F. Supp. 2d 794, 2012 WL 2884690, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97333, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/get-back-up-inc-v-city-of-detroit-mied-2012.