Rivera-Colón v. Torres-Díaz

252 F. Supp. 3d 68
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedMay 17, 2017
DocketCIVIL NO. 16-2045 (GAG)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 252 F. Supp. 3d 68 (Rivera-Colón v. Torres-Díaz) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rivera-Colón v. Torres-Díaz, 252 F. Supp. 3d 68 (prd 2017).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

GUSTAVO A. GELPI, United States District Judge

This case concerns a resident’s efforts to combat increased traffic noise in his neigh[71]*71borhood. Plaintiff Nestor Rivera-Colón (“Rivera-Colón”)1 brings this amended complaint against the Municipality of Cag-uas, the Puerto Rico Highway and Transportation Authority (“PRHTA”), and individual capacity defendants (collectively, “Defendants”),2 alleging violation of a federal' environmental . 'statute regulating noise. (Docket No. 52.)

Presently before the Court is Defendants’ motion to dismiss the amended complaint.3 (Docket No. 52.) Defendants raise two bases for dismissal. First, the Court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction to entertain the amended complaint under Rule 12(b)(1) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Second, even if this Court has jurisdiction over Rivera-Colón’s claims, the amended complaint fails to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6). Rivera-Colón opposed the motion, and Defendants subsequently replied. (Docket Nos. 58, 59.) After review of the parties’ submissions and the pertinent law, the.Court GRANTS Defendants’ motion to dismiss the amended complaint at Docket No. 52.

I. Factual and Procedural Background

Rivera-Colón is a resident and neighbor of the Villa Blanca urban community in the Municipality of Caguas, -Puerto Rico. (Docket No. 42 ¶ 6.) In 2004,' the PRHTA designed and built a road to connect the Puerto Rico Toll Expressway, known as Highway 30, with Puerto Rico Road #1 in Caguas. Id ¶ 12. As part of its construction, it converted and widened residential Zafiro Street into an expressway, the José Garrido Avenue. Id. ¶ 13.

Since construction work began on Zafiro Street, and before the street became one of the most circulated avenues of Caguas, Rivera-Colón and other Villa Blanca residents filed noise complaints at the PRHTA and the Municipality of Caguas. Id. ¶ 14. Rivera-Colón and his neighbors also filed noise complaints requesting administrative intervention before the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board (Spanish acronym “JCA”), the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), and the Puerto Rico Ombudsman Office. Id.

Rivera-Colón alleges that .he and his neighbors have gone from living in a peaceful environment to having to withstand intolerable noise. Id. ¶¶ 15-16. Since the conversion óf Zafiro Street into the José Garrido Avenue, .the pervasive noise has disrupted their normal activities, such as having conversations, listening to the radio, watching television, and sleeping. Id. They previously petitioned the state and federal entities to close the' access to the José Garrido Avenue or to expropriate their homes. Id ¶ 17.

[72]*72Rivera-Colón and his neighbors’ efforts were unsuccessful. While these state and federal agencies acknowledged a need for change, they either lacked the authority or the funds to provide any assistance or to expropriate the homes. Id. ¶ 18. In 2015, Rivera-Colón filed his first federal complaint in this district against these defendants arising under analogous facts. Rivera-Colón v. Torres-Díaz, No. 15-1048 (DRD), ECF No. 1 (D.P.R. January 21, 2015). The complaint was dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction because Rivera-Colón did not comply with the statute’s pre-suit notice requirements.4 Rivera-Colón v. Torres-Díaz, 174 F.Supp.3d 667, 672-73 (D.P.R. 2016).

Undeterred, Rivera-Colón filed a second complaint in federal court, once again alleging violations under the Noise Control Act, as amended by the Quiet Communities Act of 1978, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4901-4918, the United States Constitution, and the Constitution of Puerto Rico. (Docket No. 42 ¶¶ 19; 24-30.) As relief, Rivera-Colón demands: (1) compensation for the residents of Villa Blanca for an amount no less than $200,000 for every affected home; (2) equitable relief in the form of a return to the conditions before Zafiro Street became the José Garrido Avenue or that their homes be expropriated and paid a market-value, which has been appraised at $183,000 plus $40,000 per home; (3) a permanent injunction ordering Defendants to reinstate conditions before the conversion of their residential area road to an expressway; and (4) an injunction to restrain Defendants from further adverse actions affecting his environmental, property, and liberty rights. Id. ¶ 39. Rivera-Colón also seeks damages under Puerto Rico’s tort statute, Articles 1802 and 1803 of the Puerto Rico Civil Code, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 31, §§ 5141-5142. Id. ¶¶ 25-35.

II. Standard of Review

“When a court is confronted with motions to dismiss under both Rules 12(b)(1) and 12(b)(6), it ordinarily ought to decide the former before broaching the latter.” Deniz v. Municipality of Guaynabo, 285 F.3d 142, 149 (1st Cir. 2002) (citations omitted).

Rule 12(b)(1) requires dismissal when the court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction to entertain a complaint. Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(1). In considering dismissal, the Court “must accept as true all well-pleaded factual claims and indulge all reasonable inferences in plaintiffs favor.” Viqueira v. First Bank, 140 F.3d 12, 16 (1st Cir. 1998). Once jurisdiction is challenged, “it is plaintiffs burden to establish that the court has jurisdiction.” Id, A Rule 12(b)(1) challenge includes standing, ripeness, mootness, and sovereign immunity. See Valentín v. Hospital Bella Vista, 254 F.3d 358, 362-63 (1st Cir. 2001).

“Federal Courts are courts of limited jurisdiction[.]” Rolón v. Rafael Rosario & Assocs. Inc., 450 F.Supp.2d 153, 156 (D.P.R. 2006). Thus, a court has “the responsibility to police the border of federal jurisdiction” Spielman v. Genzyme Corp., 251 F.3d 1, 4 (1st Cir. 2001). Courts “must rigorously enforce the jurisdictional limits [standards] that Congress chooses.” Del Rosario Ortega v. Star Kist Foods, Inc., 213 F.Supp.2d 84, 88 (D.P.R. 2002) (citing Coventry Sewage Assocs. v. Dworkin Realty Co., 71 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir. 1995).

[73]*73Rule 12(b)(6), by contrast, provides that a defendant may move to dismiss an action against him for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6). To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion, a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter “to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007).

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Bluebook (online)
252 F. Supp. 3d 68, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rivera-colon-v-torres-diaz-prd-2017.