Lawson v. City of Pasco

181 P.3d 896
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedApril 24, 2008
Docket25967-6-III
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 181 P.3d 896 (Lawson v. City of Pasco) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington 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, 181 P.3d 896 (Wash. Ct. App. 2008).

Opinion

181 P.3d 896 (2008)

Paul LAWSON, Respondent,
v.
CITY OF PASCO, Appellant.

No. 25967-6-III.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 3.

April 24, 2008.

*897 Leland Barrett Kerr, Kerr Law Group, Kennewick, WA, Vicki L. Higby, Paine Hamblen LLP, Spokane, WA, for Appellant.

George Fearing, Attorney at Law, Kennewick, WA, for Respondent.

STEPHENS, J.[*]

¶ 1 The City of Pasco appeals a Franklin County Superior Court order reversing a Code Enforcement Board determination that Paul Lawson violated a valid city ordinance by allowing placement of recreational vehicles in his residential mobile home park. The City contends the court erred in holding that the Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act, ch. 59.20 RCW, preempts the city ordinance and thus renders it invalid. We agree with the City and reverse the superior court's order.

¶ 2 The facts are undisputed. Pasco Municipal Code (PMC) § 25.40.060 states, "No recreational vehicle sites for occupancy purposes shall be permitted within any residential park." Paul Lawson owns a residential park, i.e., a mobile home park, in Pasco in which at least one tenant (Tye Gimmell) lives in a recreational vehicle as his permanent residence. On January 23, 2006, the City issued Mr. Lawson a correction notice stating he was in violation of PMC § 25.40.060 by allowing recreational vehicles used as permanent residences to be placed within a residential park. The notice directed him to remove all recreational vehicles from the park.

¶ 3 Mr. Lawson admitted to being in violation of PMC § 25.40.060, but maintained to the City that state law—the Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act, ch. 59.20 RCW (the Act)—preempts the ordinance because it authorizes, if not requires, recreational vehicles used as a primary residence to be allowed in mobile home parks.

¶ 4 The matter proceeded to a hearing before the Code Enforcement Board on May 4, 2006. Mr. Lawson appeared only through counsel. Mr. Gimmell testified that his recreational vehicle (a 35-foot fifth wheel) situated in Mr. Lawson's mobile home park is his permanent residence. He said he has a one-year written lease agreement that is renewable unless Mr. Lawson has good cause to terminate it.

¶ 5 The Code Enforcement Board upheld the notice of violation and issued a written order directing Mr. Lawson to remove any recreational vehicles used as permanent residences from his mobile home park within 90 days, or face monetary penalties. Mr. Lawson then timely filed a Land Use Petition Act (LUPA) appeal to the superior court.

¶ 6 On February 23, 2007, the court entered an order reversing the Code Enforcement Board's order and vacating the notice of violation. The court reasoned:

The City of Pasco may not, by ordinance, preclude the use of a mobile home park space by a recreational vehicle, as long as the recreational vehicle is used as the permanent residence of the occupant. RCW 59.20 preempts any ordinance that bars the placement of a recreational vehicle on a mobile home park, as long as the recreational vehicle is used as the permanent residence of the occupant.

Clerk's Papers at 8-9. The City appeals.

REVIEW STANDARDS

¶ 7 Judicial relief from a land use decision may be granted when one of the following standards set forth in LUPA are met:

(b) The land use decision is an erroneous interpretation of the law, after allowing for such deference as is due the construction of a law by a local jurisdiction with expertise;
. . . .
(d) The land use decision is a clearly erroneous application of the law to the facts;
. . . .
*898 (f) The land use decision violates the constitutional rights of the party seeking relief.

RCW 36.70C.130(1).

¶ 8 When reviewing a superior court's decision in a LUPA appeal, we stand in the same position as the superior court. See HJS Dev., Inc. v. Pierce County, 148 Wash.2d 451, 468, 61 P.3d 1141 (2003). We review administrative decisions on the record before the tribunal—here the Code Enforcement Board. Id. Questions of law are reviewed de novo to determine whether the Board's decision was supported by fact and law. Id.

¶ 9 The sole issue in this appeal is a legal one—whether chapter 59.20 RCW preempts the ordinance so as to render it an invalid exercise of local police power.[1]

ANALYSIS

¶ 10 Article XI, section 11 of the state constitution provides that "[a]ny . . . city . . . may make and enforce within its limits all such local police, sanitary and other regulations as are not in conflict with general laws." A municipality may thus enact an ordinance concerning the same subject matter as a state law provided that the state enactment is not intended to be exclusive and the ordinance does not conflict with the general law of the state. King County v. Taxpayers, 133 Wash.2d 584, 611, 949 P.2d 1260 (1997), cert. denied, 523 U.S. 1076, 118 S.Ct. 1519, 140 L.Ed.2d 672 (1998); City of Tacoma v. Luvene, 118 Wash.2d 826, 833, 827 P.2d 1374 (1992). An ordinance is unconstitutional only if the statute on the same subject preempts the field, leaving no room for concurrent jurisdiction; or, if a conflict exists between the two that cannot be harmonized. Taxpayers, 133 Wash.2d at 612, 949 P.2d 1260; Brown v. City of Yakima, 116 Wash.2d 556, 559, 807 P.2d 353 (1991). Municipal ordinances are presumed constitutional and a challenger bears a heavy burden of showing otherwise. Brown, 116 Wash.2d at 559, 807 P.2d 353; Hous. Auth. v. City of Pasco, 120 Wash.App. 839, 86 P.3d 1217 (2004).

"Field" Preemption

¶ 11 Here, the superior court's ruling does not differentiate between "field" preemption and a "conflict" between the ordinance and the Act. Nor do the parties explicitly draw that distinction. In any case, preemption may be found when there is express legislative intent to preempt the field or such intent appears by necessary implication. Brown, 116 Wash.2d at 560, 807 P.2d 353. A statute will not be construed as taking away a municipality's power to legislate unless that intent is clearly and expressly stated. State ex rel. Schillberg v. Everett Dist. Justice Court, 92 Wash.2d 106, 108, 594 P.2d 448 (1979).

¶ 12 Examining the scheme of chapter 59.20 RCW, it is clear that, while the legislature intends to act in the field of regulating mobile home park landlord-tenant relationships, it has not wholly preempted local action in this field.

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Related

Lawson v. City of Pasco
168 Wash. 2d 675 (Washington Supreme Court, 2010)

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Bluebook (online)
181 P.3d 896, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/lawson-v-city-of-pasco-washctapp-2008.