Mannino's P & M Texaco Service Center, Inc. v. City of New Orleans

173 So. 3d 1186, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0109, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1618, 2015 WL 4965885
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 19, 2015
DocketNo. 2015-CA-0109
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 173 So. 3d 1186 (Mannino's P & M Texaco Service Center, Inc. v. City of New Orleans) 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
Mannino's P & M Texaco Service Center, Inc. v. City of New Orleans, 173 So. 3d 1186, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0109, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1618, 2015 WL 4965885 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

JAMES F. MCKAY III, Chief Judge.

_JjThis appeal arises out of a zoning dispute. Mannino’s P & M Texaco Service Center, Inc. (“plaintiff’) seeks review of the October 24, 2014 trial court judgment, affirming the Board of Zoning Adjustments’ (“BZA”) decision to deny plaintiffs request to sell high alcohol content beverages. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.

STATEMENT OF FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiff operates a gas station and convenience store at 1139 N. Rampart Street in New Orleans, which is located in the Historic Marigny/Treme’ Commercial District (“HMC-2”). For many years, plaintiff has sold low alcohol content beverages, i.e., beer, pursuant to a non-conforming use status.1 In order to expand sales to include high alcohol content beverages, plaintiff was referred to the Department of Safety and Permits (“Department”) for a determination as to whether the business was properly zoned for such sales.

On March 4, 2013, the Department issued a verification letter stating that pursuant to Sections 9.4.4 and 9.4.5 of the City of New Orleans Comprehensive | ¡.Zoning Ordinance (“CZO”), a business such as plaintiffs, located in HMC-2, is required to have at least 5,000 square feet of floor area in order to sell package liquor, i.e., high alcohol content beverages. Plaintiffs business has less than 2,000 square feet of floor area. The Department determined that plaintiff “enjoys legal, non-conforming status as to low-content alcohol sales and that this nonconforming [status] cannot be expanded to include high-content alcohol. It has been a long-standing position of this Department to differentiate the types of alcohol license for which a location can be considered legally non-conforming.” The Department concluded that “[t]o approve of such a use would allow the intensification of a non-conformity in direct conflict with the clear language of the CZO.”

Plaintiff appealed the Department’s decision to the BZA. Following a public [1188]*1188hearing, the BZA denied the appeal and upheld the decision of the Department. Thereafter, a petition for judicial review was filed in the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans.

On October 24, 2014, the trial court rendered judgment affirming the decision of the BZA. The trial court concluded that the sale of high alcohol content beverages is neither a permitted use nor an accessory-use for a retail store located in HMC-2 having less than 5,000 square feet of floor area. It was further determined that plaintiffs sale of low alcohol content beverages is a non-conforming use, and that the CZO does not allow for an intensification of the non-conforming use to permit the sale of high alcohol content beverages. The trial court rejected plaintiffs argument that the law does not distinguish between the sale of low alcohol content beverages and high alcohol content beverages. In |aconclusion, the trial court held that plaintiff failed to rebut the presumption of validity, which is afforded to decisions of the BZA.

On appeal to this Court, plaintiff asserts the following assignments of error on the part of the trial court:

1. considering there to be a distinction in the CZO between the sale of low alcohol content and high alcohol content beverages;
2. considering a provision of the CZO regarding an accessory use to be read independently from the corresponding permitted uses in a zoning classification;
3. interpreting CZO § 9.4.4 to require retail stores to have a minimum of 5,000 square feet of floor area in order to sell package liquor;
4. considering the alleged intensification of a non-conforming use to be an illegal expansion of a non-conforming use;
5. making a finding of fact that is unsupported by the record, that the character of the neighborhood would change if plaintiff was permitted to sell high alcohol content beverages; and
6. concluding that plaintiff was required to file a “change of use” application with the City.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The standard of review in zoning disputes was set forth in Toups v. City of Shreveport, 2010-1559, pp. 3-4 (La.3/15/11), 60 So.3d 1215, 1217-18, as follows:

Because zoning falls under the jurisdiction of the legislature, courts will not interfere with their prerogative unless the action is palpably erroneous and without any substantial relation to the public health, safety, or general welfare. King v. Caddo Parish Commission, 97-1873 (La.10/20/98), 719 So.2d 410. The terms “arbitrary and capricious” mean willful and unreasoning action, absent consideration and in disregard of the facts and circumstances of the case. However, when there is room for two opinions, an action is not arbitrary or capricious when exercised honestly and upon due consideration, even though it may be believed an erroneous conclusion has been reached. Four States Realty Co., Inc. v. City of Baton Rouge, 309 So.2d 659, 664 (La.1974).

Generally, the action of a governmental body is arbitrary and capricious and unreasonable if it bears no relation to the health, safety, or general welfare of the public. King, 97-1873 at pp. 14-15, 719 So.2d at 418; Papa v. City of Shreveport, 27,045 at p. 6 (La.App. 2 Cir. 9/29/95), 661 So.2d 1100, 1103.

[1189]*1189A challenge to a zoning decision in Louisiana is a de novo proceeding on the' issue of whether the result of the legislation is arbitrary and capricious, and therefore a taking of property without j4due process of law. Palermo Land Co., Inc. v. Planning Com’n of Calcasieu Parish, 561 So.2d 482, 492 (La.1990). Whether an ordinance bears the requisite relationship to the health, safety, and welfare of the public is a factual question which must be determined from the evidence in the record. The property owner has the burden to establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the decision by the governmental body to deny the variance has no substantial relationship to public health, safety, morals, or general welfare of the municipality. Id. at 493.

LAW AND ANALYSIS

In pertinent part, La. R.S. 33:4721- sets forth the zoning powers of municipalities as follows:

For the purpose of promoting health, safety, morals, or the general welfare of the community, the governing authority of all municipalities may regulate and restrict ... the location and use of the buildings, structures, and land for trade, industry, residence, or other purposes; provided that zoning ordinances enacted by the governing authority of municipalities or the acts of the zoning commission, board of adjustment as herein provided for, or zoning administrator shall be subject to judicial review on the grounds of abuse of discretion, unreasonable exercise of the police powers, an excessive use of the power herein granted, or the denial of the right of due process, provided, further, that the right of judicial review of a zoning ordinance shall not be limited by the foregoing.

The issue to be resolved in this appeal is whether the BZA’s decision to deny plaintiffs request to sell high alcohol content beverages was arbitrary and capricious. To do so, we consider whether the BZA’s action was reasonable under the circumstances and consistent with the principals set forth in La. R.S.

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Bluebook (online)
173 So. 3d 1186, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0109, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1618, 2015 WL 4965885, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/manninos-p-m-texaco-service-center-inc-v-city-of-new-orleans-lactapp-2015.