Lawson v. City of Pasco

168 Wash. 2d 675
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedApril 15, 2010
DocketNo. 81636-1
StatusPublished
Cited by18 cases

This text of 168 Wash. 2d 675 (Lawson v. City of Pasco) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Lawson v. City of Pasco, 168 Wash. 2d 675 (Wash. 2010).

Opinions

C. Johnson, J.

¶1 This case involves a challenge to a Pasco ordinance, former Pasco Municipal Code (PMC) 25.40.060 (2005), which prohibits the placement of recreational vehicles within mobile home parks, on the ground that the ordinance is preempted by the Manufactured/ Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act (MHLTA), chapter 59.20 RCW. The superior court concluded that the ordinance is preempted by the MHLTA, and the Court of Appeals reversed. Lawson v. City of Pasco, 144 Wn. App. 203, 181 P.3d 896 (2008). We affirm the Court of Appeals.1

Facts

¶2 Petitioner Paul Lawson owns and operates a mobile home park in Pasco. One of his tenants, Tye Gimmell, permanently resided in a recreational vehicle (RV) on a lot in the park. On January 23, 2006, the city of Pasco issued a “correction notice” informing Lawson that he was in violation of former PMC 25.40.060, which states, “No recreational vehicle sites for occupancy purposes shall be permitted within any residential park.” Clerk’s Papers at 98. [678]*678The notice directed Lawson to remove the RV from the park. Though Lawson acknowledged that he was in violation of the ordinance, he did not comply, arguing that the ordinance was preempted by the MHLTA.

¶3 On May 4, 2006, Pasco’s Code Enforcement Board conducted a compliance hearing, ultimately upholding the correction notice and directing Lawson to evict from his park any tenants occupying RVs as primary residences. Pursuant to the Land Use Petition Act, chapter 36.70C RCW, Lawson appealed to the Franklin County Superior Court, which ruled that Pasco’s ordinance is unconstitutional under article XI, section 11 of the Washington Constitution because it conflicts with the MHLTA. The Court of Appeals, Division Three, reversed the superior court and reinstated the Code Enforcement Board’s ruling on the correction notice. Lawson now asks us to reverse the Court of Appeals’ decision.

Issue

¶4 Is Pasco’s ordinance, former PMC 25.40.060, preempted by the MHLTA, either because the legislature intended to preempt the field of mobile home regulation or because the ordinance directly and irreconcilably conflicts with the MHLTA?

Analysis

A. Standard of Review

¶5 The question before us is the preemptive effect of the MHLTA. The interpretation of a statute is a question of law subject to review de novo. Parkland Light & Water Co. v. Tacoma-Pierce County Bd. of Health, 151 Wn.2d 428, 433, 90 P.3d 37 (2004). When interpreting a statute, we must ascertain and fulfill legislative intent from the words of the statute. The statute at issue here is the MHLTA, chapter 59.20 RCW, and its preemptive effect on local government’s authority to regulate mobile/manufactured home landlord-tenant relationships.

[679]*679 B. Preemption

¶6 Article XI, section 11 of the Washington Constitution provides that a city “may make and enforce within its limits all such local police, sanitary and other regulations as are not in conflict with general laws.” The rule applicable to resolve a preemption issue provides that a state statute preempts an ordinance on the same subject if the statute occupies the field, leaving no room for concurrent jurisdiction, or if a conflict exists such that the statute and the ordinance may not be harmonized. Brown v. City of Yakima, 116 Wn.2d 556, 559, 807 P.2d 353 (1991).

1. Field Preemption

¶7 A statute preempts the field and invalidates a local ordinance if there is express legislative intent to preempt the field or if such intent is necessarily implied. Brown, 116 Wn.2d at 560. In the absence of express intent, we may infer field preemption from the purpose of the statute and the facts and circumstances under which it was intended to operate. HJS Dev., Inc. v. Pierce County, 148 Wn.2d 451, 477, 61 P.3d 1141 (2003). Lawson does not claim that the MHLTA expressly preempts Pasco’s ordinance, but rather that the legislature’s intent to preempt the field is necessarily implied by the breadth of state involvement in mobile home regulation. The Court of Appeals, after examining the language of the MHLTA, concluded that Pasco’s ordinance was not preempted because the legislature explicitly conferred on local governments concurrent jurisdiction over mobile home regulation. The Pasco ordinance, the court found, fell within this legislatively recognized concurrent jurisdiction.

¶8 Lawson argues that the Court of Appeals erred by confining its analysis to the MHLTA; he points to the State’s wide “range of state activity in connection with mobile homes.” Pet. for Review at 8. Among other things, he argues that the State maintains an office of manufactured housing (RCW 59.22.050); requires mobile home communi[680]*680ties to register with the State (RCW 59.30.050); maintains a database of all mobile home parks (RCW 59.30.060); and prohibits discrimination in the placement of manufactured/ mobile homes (RCW 35.21.684; RCW 35A.21.312; RCW 36.01.225). In addition, the State generally regulates mobile home tenancies. Ch. 59.20 RCW. From this broad regulation, Lawson contends we should infer that the legislature intended to preempt the field of manufactured/ mobile home regulation. He argues that the State’s comprehensive regulation of the landlord-tenant relationship leaves no room for local regulation.

¶9 Such an inference, however, is inappropriate in this case. Though the State’s range of regulatory activities would be instructive in the absence of other statutory provisions, the Court of Appeals correctly observed that certain provisions of the MHLTA expressly contemplate some local regulation of manufactured/mobile home tenancies. For example, RCW 59.20.080 and RCW 59.20.130 expressly reference local ordinances to which landlord and tenants may be subject in the context of mobile home parks.2

¶10 Lawson acknowledges that these statutes confer concurrent jurisdiction, but he argues that this local power extends only to matters concerning tenant misconduct and landlord compliance with public health and safety ordinances. Lawson reads these statutes too narrowly; the ordinances to which these statutes refer could be any local

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Valley Cities Counseling & Consultation, V. Ezra L. Eddines
553 P.3d 693 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2024)
Skycorp, Ltd., V. King County
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2024
Melissa C. Williams v. City Of Seattle
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2021
Fort Discovery Corp. v. Jefferson County
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2020
Anti-smoking Alliance v. TPCHD
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2020
Jefferson County v. Michael Anderson
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2019
Emerald Enterprises And John Larson v. Clark County
413 P.3d 92 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2018)
Kitsap County v. Kitsap Rifle And Revolver Club
Court of Appeals of Washington, 2017
Watson v. City of Seattle
Washington Supreme Court, 2017
Cannabis Action Coalition v. City of Kent
351 P.3d 151 (Washington Supreme Court, 2015)
Cannabis Action Council v. City of Kent
Washington Supreme Court, 2015
Diaz v. State
285 P.3d 873 (Washington Supreme Court, 2012)
Chan v. City of Seattle
164 Wash. App. 549 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
168 Wash. 2d 675, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lawson-v-city-of-pasco-wash-2010.