Jayne Kissling Tannenbaum Personal Representative of the Estate of Fred Kissling, Jr. v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Division of Planning Commission

CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedAugust 27, 2020
Docket2019 CA 000650
StatusUnknown

This text of Jayne Kissling Tannenbaum Personal Representative of the Estate of Fred Kissling, Jr. v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Division of Planning Commission (Jayne Kissling Tannenbaum Personal Representative of the Estate of Fred Kissling, Jr. v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Division of Planning Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Jayne Kissling Tannenbaum Personal Representative of the Estate of Fred Kissling, Jr. v. Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Division of Planning Commission, (Ky. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

RENDERED: AUGUST 28, 2020; 10:00 A.M. NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

Commonwealth of Kentucky Court of Appeals

NO. 2019-CA-000650-MR

JAYNE KISSLING TANNENBAUM, PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE ESTATE OF FRED KISSLING, JR. APPELLANT

APPEAL FROM FAYETTE CIRCUIT COURT v. HONORABLE KIMBERLY N. BUNNELL, JUDGE ACTION NO. 18-CI-02885

LEXINGTON-FAYETTE URBAN COUNTY GOVERNMENT, DIVISION OF PLANNING COMMISSION; MICHAEL OWENS; MIKE CRAVENS; PATRICK BREWER; WILLIAM WILSON; FRANK PENN; WILL BERKLEY; KAREN MUNDY; CAROLYN PLUMLEE; LARRY FORESTER; CAROLYN RICHARDSON; HEADLEY BELL; THE RITA J. SATTERLY TRUST 3-27-18; THE ESTATE OF ROBERT LESLIE ROSENBAUM, DECEASED, BY HIS PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE, IF ANY; LINDA GOSNELL; AND THE NORTHSIDE NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION, INC. APPELLEES OPINION AFFIRMING

** ** ** ** **

BEFORE: CLAYTON, CHIEF JUDGE; ACREE AND LAMBERT, JUDGES.

CLAYTON, CHIEF JUDGE: Jayne Kissling Tannenbaum (“Tannenbaum”), as

the personal representative of the Estate of Fred Kissling, Jr. (the “Estate”), appeals

the Fayette Circuit Court’s affirmation of the decision of the Lexington-Fayette

Urban County Planning Commission (the “Planning Commission”) to revoke a

recorded plat which subdivided a portion of the Estate’s real property into two

separate parcels. Tannenbaum also appeals from the circuit court’s dismissal of

the Estate’s petition for declaratory judgment.

Upon close review of the record and applicable law, we affirm.

BACKGROUND

Over forty years ago, at a January 1979 meeting, the Planning

Commission approved a plat which subdivided a lot - known as 444 West Third

Street and owned by Mary Jayne Gallaher - into two tracts (the “1979 Plat”). The

1979 Plat provided for an access easement over an adjoining tract of land owned

by another party.

On February 15, 1979, the Northside Neighborhood Association (the

“NNA”) filed a complaint, appeal, and petition for declaration of rights in the

Fayette Circuit Court against Gallaher, the Planning Commission, and the Planning

-2- Commission’s then-current members (the “1979 Appeal”). In the 1979 Appeal, the

NNA argued that the Planning Commission’s approval of the 1979 Plat was

erroneous because it did not have the authority to grant a variance from the

requirements of certain zoning ordinances in effect at that time.

For unknown reasons, both Gallaher and the Planning Commission

signed the relevant certifications on the 1979 Plat in February and March of 1979

and caused the 1979 Plat to be recorded with the Fayette County Clerk on March

23, 1979, all while being party-defendants to, and during the pendency of, the 1979

Appeal. None of the litigants filed a lis pendens as permitted by Kentucky

Revised Statutes (KRS) 382.440.

In January of 1983, the Fayette Circuit Court entered an opinion in the

appeal (the “1983 Opinion”) holding that “[t]he action of the [Planning]

Commission in subdividing the property is reversed.” In so reversing, the court

found that the Planning Commission did not have the power to grant a variance to

its own regulations where such action effectively disregarded or amended a zoning

ordinance. The court further noted that “the granting of an exception in this case

would ultimately reduce open spaces and increase congestion” and that “[t]here

was testimony which indicated that the granting of this variance would harm the

historical character of the neighborhood and constitute piece-meal development.”

Therefore, the court concluded that, even if the Planning Commission had the

-3- authority to grant the variance, its decision to do so was not backed by substantial

evidence.

While the 1983 Opinion reversed “the action of the Planning

Commission in subdividing the property,” the 1983 Opinion did not specifically

reference the 1979 Plat or direct that the 1979 Plat be revoked. The 1983 Opinion

was not appealed by any of the parties. Further, again for reasons not revealed by

the record, neither the 1983 Opinion nor any other evidence of the circuit court’s

reversal of the Planning Commission’s action in subdividing the property was ever

noted by or reflected in the records of the Fayette County Clerk.

Gallaher passed away in May of 1999 and left the subject property to

her husband, Fred Kissling, in trust, with the property eventually being deeded to

Transylvania University. Sometime after Kissling’s death, the Estate sued

Transylvania University and, as part of a settlement agreement, the Estate

purchased the property from Transylvania University for $325,000.00.

In 2018, Tannenbaum, as the personal representative of the Estate,

attempted to sell the property as two separate tracts pursuant to the 1979 Plat.

After a public hearing in July of 2018, the Planning Commission voted to revoke

the 1979 Plat based on the 1983 Opinion’s reversal of the Planning Commission’s

actions in subdividing the property. The Planning Commission’s statements at the

hearing reflected that, based on the recommendations of its legal team, the

-4- Planning Commission felt that it had no alternative but to comply with the 1983

Opinion as a valid court order that disallowed the subdivision of the property in the

manner reflected in the 1979 Plat. The Planning Commission’s revocation of the

1979 Plat was ultimately noted and recorded in the records of the Fayette County

Clerk.

Tannenbaum subsequently filed an appeal in August of 2018 pursuant

to KRS 100.347, a statute which provides for appeals from the actions of certain

administrative agencies (the “2018 Appeal”). The 2018 Appeal requested that the

Planning Commission’s revocation of the 1979 Plat be reversed. Tannenbaum’s

primary arguments in favor of reversing the Planning Commission’s revocation of

the 1979 Plat included that the Planning Commission did not have the authority or

jurisdiction to revoke the 1979 Plat, that the Planning Commission followed

incorrect procedures at the July 2018 hearing, and that the 1983 Opinion could not

be used as a basis for the Planning Commission’s actions, as it was no longer an

enforceable or valid opinion.

In the same document, Tannenbaum filed an original action under

KRS 418.040 styled as a “Declaration of Rights” action (the “2018 Petition”).

Tannenbaum primarily requested in the 2018 Petition that the circuit court declare

that the Planning Commission lacked jurisdiction to revoke the 1979 Plat, that the

Estate did not receive proper notice or hearing of the Planning Commission’s

-5- decision, that the 1983 Opinion was unenforceable, and that the 1983 Opinion had

been waived or was estopped from being enforced due to the passage of time.

The circuit court held a hearing on the 2018 Appeal and the 2018

Petition in January 2019, with all parties represented by counsel. Thereafter, by

written order entered on February 26, 2019, the circuit court found that, under

Kentucky case law, when a specific statute provides an exclusive remedy, then

declaratory relief is not appropriate. Therefore, the court found that, because the

2018 Appeal and the 2018 Petition requested the same relief, the 2018 Petition was

unnecessary and should be dismissed.

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