Hunter's Grove Homeowners Ass'n v. Calcasieu Parish Police Jury

422 So. 2d 673, 1982 La. App. LEXIS 8384
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 12, 1982
Docket82-293
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 422 So. 2d 673 (Hunter's Grove Homeowners Ass'n v. Calcasieu Parish Police Jury) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hunter's Grove Homeowners Ass'n v. Calcasieu Parish Police Jury, 422 So. 2d 673, 1982 La. App. LEXIS 8384 (La. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinion

422 So.2d 673 (1982)

HUNTER'S GROVE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants,
v.
CALCASIEU PARISH POLICE JURY, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 82-293.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit.

November 12, 1982.

*674 Rester & Van Norman, John L. Van Norman, III, Lake Charles, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Mike Bercier, Lake Charles, for defendants-appellees.

McHale, Bufkin & Dees, Michael K. Dees, Lake Charles, for intervenor-appellee.

Before FORET, CUTRER and STOKER, JJ.

FORET, Judge.

Hunter's Grove Homeowners Association and Acadian Acres Homeowners Association (plaintiffs)[1] brought this action for a declaratory judgment against defendants, Calcasieu Parish Zoning Commission (Zoning Commission) and Calcasieu Parish Police Jury (Police Jury), seeking to have two ordinances adopted by the Police Jury declared to be invalid, null and void. These ordinances changed the zoning classifications on two tracts of land located in Calcasieu Parish. John L. Gayle (intervenor), one of the owners of these tracts of land, filed a petition of intervention, aligning himself with defendants.

The trial court, after trial on the merits, rendered judgment in favor of defendants and intervenor, and against plaintiffs, dismissing plaintiffs' action with prejudice.

*675 Plaintiffs appeal and present the following issues:

(1) Whether the trial court erred in finding that defendants had used the proper procedures, mandated by law, in adopting the rezoning ordinances;
(2) Whether defendants' actions in rezoning the tracts of land constituted illegal "spot zoning", and
(3) Whether the trial court erred in finding that no evidence was presented to indicate that the Police Jury had acted in an arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable manner in rezoning the tracts of land.

FACTS

Plaintiffs brought this action in response to the adoption, by the Police Jury, of ordinances # 2097 and # 2112. These ordinances were adopted on the basis of recommendations made to the Police Jury by the Zoning Commission. Ordinance # 2097 was adopted by the Police Jury on January 22, 1981, and provided:

"... that Calcasieu Parish Zoning Ordinance No. 1927 and the Comprehensive Zoning District Map of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, be and they are hereby amended insofar as said ordinance and map pertain to the following property in Ward Three of this parish: from `R-1' Single Family Residential to `R-2' Mixed Residential property described as Prien Prairie Subdivision Part 1 as per plat recorded in Plat Book 29, Page 32 of Calcasieu Parish, Zoning Case W3-05-81 ..." (Tract Number 1).

Ordinance # 2112 was adopted by the Police Jury on February 19, 1981, and provided:

"... that Calcasieu Parish Zoning Ordinance No. 1927 and the Comprehensive Zoning District Map of Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, be and they are hereby amended insofar as said ordinance and map pertain to the following property in Ward Three of this parish: from `R-1' Single Family Residential to `R-2' Mixed Residential property described as: The south half of the Southwest Quarter of Section 35 less Prien Prairie Subdivision, Part 1, Ward Three, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. Zoning Case W3-07-81 ..." (Tract Number 2).

The main distinction to be noted for our purposes is that the R-1 Single Family Residential zoning regulation permits the construction of single family dwellings, excluding mobile homes, while the R-2 Mixed Residential zoning regulation permits the construction of single family dwellings, including single unit mobile homes (1 per lot).

Plaintiffs are composed of a majority of the individual landowners in Hunter's Grove Subdivision (Hunter's Grove) and Acadian Acres Subdivision (Acadian Acres). Both subdivisions are located near the rezoned land, and both are still zoned R-1. Intervenor is in the process of developing the rezoned land, and mobile homes have been placed on some of the lots therein. Plaintiffs brought this action mainly because of the concern of their members that property values in the subdivision would be adversely affected by the presence of mobile homes. In addition to seeking a judgment declaring the above mentioned ordinances to be invalid, plaintiffs also sought to have the trial court issue a writ of mandamus directed to defendants

"... to show cause ... why they should not perform their ministerial duties by giving proper notice as to hearings which concern rezoning TRACT NUMBER 1 and TRACT NUMBER 2 and by conducting public hearings in accordance with applicable law".

Finally, plaintiffs requested that the trial court issue a stay order, staying the effect of the Police Jury's decision to rezone the land, pending further orders of the court.

In response, defendants filed dilatory exceptions of vagueness and unauthorized use of summary proceedings. The trial court, after conducting a hearing on defendants' exceptions, rendered judgment, sustaining the exception of unauthorized use of summary proceedings, and denying plaintiffs' *676 request for the issuance of a writ of mandamus.[2]

Intervenor then filed an "EXCEPTION OF PRESCRIPTION OR PREEMPTION OR MOTION TO DISMISS FOR FAILURE TO TIMELY FILE SUIT." Immediately prior to the trial on the merits, the trial court conducted a hearing on intervenor's exception. After the hearing, the trial court stated that it, "... finds that the exception is well founded as to the first ordinance, which was 2097. It's not well founded as to the second one." The minutes of court for February 4, 1982, recite that:

"... the Court maintains the exception as to Ordinance Number 2097 and overrules the exception as to Ordinance Number 2112".

However, a review of the record shows that no formal judgment sustaining intervenor's exception was signed by the trial court. Plaintiff was allowed to introduce evidence with respect to Ordinance Number 2097 under a proffer of proof, and we will consider plaintiffs' arguments on the merits as to both ordinances.

DEFENDANTS' ALLEGED PROCEDURAL ERRORS

Plaintiffs contend that the trial court committed error in finding that defendants had complied with the requirements of law setting forth the procedure to be followed in enacting zoning ordinances. Plaintiffs argue that defendants violated certain provisions of Acts 1960, Number 196 (the enabling act), which authorizes the Police Jury to adopt comprehensive zoning plans, and to make changes in those plans. Specifically, plaintiffs point to Section 4 of the above mentioned act, which provides:

"Section 4. The police jury of the Parish shall provide for the manner in which the regulations and restrictions and the boundaries of the districts shall be determined, established and enforced, and from time to time, amended. No regulations or restrictions shall become effective until after a public hearing at which parties in interest have an opportunity to be heard. A public hearing in relation to the regulations may be held by the governing authority of the parish. In such case, notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be published once a week in three different weeks in the official journal of the parish, or, if there be none, in a paper of general circulation therein. At least fifteen days shall elapse between the first publication and the date of the hearing."
(Emphasis ours)

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Bluebook (online)
422 So. 2d 673, 1982 La. App. LEXIS 8384, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hunters-grove-homeowners-assn-v-calcasieu-parish-police-jury-lactapp-1982.