USCA4 Appeal: 22-1690 Doc: 42 Filed: 01/24/2024 Pg: 1 of 13
PUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 22-1690
SAS ASSOCIATES 1, LLC; MILITARY 1121, LLC,
Plaintiffs – Appellants,
v.
CITY COUNCIL FOR THE CITY OF CHESAPEAKE, VIRGINIA,
Defendant - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Norfolk. Raymond A. Jackson, Senior District Judge. (2:21−cv−00491−RAJ−DEM)
Argued: December 6, 2023 Decided: January 24, 2024
Before WILKINSON, NIEMEYER, and AGEE, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Wilkinson wrote the opinion, in which Judge Niemeyer and Judge Agee joined.
ARGUED: Robert W. McFarland, MCGUIREWOODS, LLP, Norfolk, Virginia, for Appellants. Ellen Frances Bergren, OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY, Chesapeake, Virginia, for Appellee. ON BRIEF: V. Kathleen Dougherty, Norfolk, Virginia, Sean A. McClelland, MCGUIREWOODS LLP, Washington, D.C., for Appellants. Jacob P. Stroman IV, City Attorney, Daniel J. Wisniewski, Assistant City Attorney, OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY, Chesapeake, Virginia, for Appellee. USCA4 Appeal: 22-1690 Doc: 42 Filed: 01/24/2024 Pg: 2 of 13
WILKINSON, Circuit Judge:
SAS Associates 1, LLC and Military 1121, LLC (collectively “the Developers”)
appeal the district court’s order dismissing their claim against the City Council of the City
of Chesapeake, Virginia (“the City Council”) pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure
12(b)(6). The Developers alleged that the City Council violated their equal protection rights
when it denied their rezoning applications. But the Developers’ own complaint belied their
claims by providing multiple sound bases for the denial. We thus affirm.
I.
A.
The Developers own several parcels of land in Chesapeake, Virginia. They wanted
to combine those parcels to create a ninety-acre development that would include single-
and multifamily housing units, commercial space, and a sixty-acre conservation district.
But there was a hitch in the plan. The area slated for development lay within several
zones—agricultural (A-1), general business (B-4), and single-family residential (R-15S)—
that each placed restrictions on land use. Those restrictions did not allow for the types of
uses the Developers envisioned.
The Developers thus sought to have their parcels rezoned. They filed their first
rezoning application in June 2016, asking that their land be rezoned for multifamily
residential (R-MF1), neighborhood business (B-1), and conservation (C-1) uses. The
application articulated a development plan that included 293 townhouse-style
condominiums and 10,000 square feet of commercial space.
2 USCA4 Appeal: 22-1690 Doc: 42 Filed: 01/24/2024 Pg: 3 of 13
In Chesapeake, such rezoning applications are first reviewed by the city’s planning
commission, which assesses the application, holds an initial public hearing, and
recommends a course of action to the City Council. After its hearing, the planning
commission recommended that the City Council approve the Developers’ 2016
application. It found that the proposal satisfied Chesapeake’s Planning and Land Use
Policy, which set level-of-service standards meant to ensure that a development would not
overwhelm local infrastructure. The planning commission also found that the proposal was
consistent with Chesapeake’s comprehensive plan for the area and compatible with the
development of the surrounding community.
The City Council’s own public hearing on the Developers’ application was less
promising. Residents from the surrounding neighborhoods spoke out against the proposed
development, and the City Council ultimately denied the application, citing community
opposition and observing that existing zoning classifications did not preclude useful
development.
The Developers revised their proposal and refiled in 2018. The revised proposal
reduced the residential density of the project by nearly fifty percent, outlining plans for 153
single-family and townhouse units. It also included 11,300 square feet of commercial space
and a sixty-acre conservation district. The planning commission again found that the
Developers’ application was consistent with Chesapeake’s comprehensive plan, its level-
of-service standards, and the development of the surrounding community.
The City Council held a public hearing on the Developers’ revised application in
early 2020. Residents from nearby neighborhoods once again spoke against the proposed
3 USCA4 Appeal: 22-1690 Doc: 42 Filed: 01/24/2024 Pg: 4 of 13
development. They expressed concern about recent flooding and worried that the
development would compound the area’s drainage problems. They also complained that
the inhabitants of the new dwellings would exacerbate existing traffic congestion.
After hearing from the concerned neighbors, Councilmember Debbie Ritter moved
to deny the application. The land at issue, she said, could be developed under its present
zoning classifications. In her view, given recent infrastructure issues in the area, it was not
the right time to relax zoning restrictions and greenlight a new development. She also
criticized the city’s level-of-service standards as outdated and inadequate. The fact that the
development met those outdated standards did not assuage her concerns that it would have
a detrimental effect on the infrastructure in the area. Specifically, she worried that the
development would compound flood risk and increase enrollment at already overpopulated
schools. She also expressed concern about traffic issues resulting from the “1500 vehicle[]
trips a day” projected to be generated by the Developers’ project. J.A. 21. Councilmember
Ritter summed up her position by stating, “So for all those reasons I think that sort of
memorializes my feeling on the application and why, unfortunately . . . this isn’t the right
time.” Id.
In response, Chesapeake’s Floodplain Administrator, James Tate, was asked to
address the drainage concerns. Mr. Tate acknowledged that the surrounding area suffered
from regular flooding due to the elevation of previously developed land, but averred that
the Developers’ project could be designed so that it would not have a detrimental effect.
Notwithstanding Mr. Tate’s assessment, the City Council ultimately voted 7-2 to
deny the Developers’ application.
4 USCA4 Appeal: 22-1690 Doc: 42 Filed: 01/24/2024 Pg: 5 of 13
B.
Following the denial of their second application, the Developers filed a complaint
in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, alleging that the City
Council’s denial violated their right to equal protection of the laws under the Fourteenth
Amendment and 42 U.S.C. § 1983, as well as their rights against unconstitutional rezoning
limitations under Virginia state law.
The Developers argued that the City Council had violated their right to equal
protection by denying their application even though it had approved similar applications
from other developers. In support, the Developers’ complaint identified ten “similarly
situated” developments that had been permitted to go forward. The Developers also argued
that the City Council’s reasons for denying their applications were irrational and arbitrary
in light of the record before it, and that therefore the denial was only logically explained
by discriminatory animus.
The City Council moved to dismiss the Developers’ action pursuant to
Rule 12(b)(6). The district court granted the motion, finding that the Developers had failed
to state a claim upon which relief could be granted because the ten identified developments
were not similarly situated and because the Developers had not sufficiently alleged any
purposeful discrimination by the City Council. The district court also dismissed the pendent
state-law claim for lack of independent jurisdiction. This appeal followed.
II.
On appeal, the Developers contend that the district court erred in dismissing their
claim under Rule 12(b)(6), a matter we review de novo. Woods v. City of Greensboro, 855
5 USCA4 Appeal: 22-1690 Doc: 42 Filed: 01/24/2024 Pg: 6 of 13
F.3d 639, 646 (4th Cir. 2017). They posit that their complaint plausibly alleged that
similarly situated developments were approved while theirs was denied. They also contend
that they adequately refuted the City Council’s stated rationales for treating their
development differently. Under Village of Willowbrook v. Olech, 528 U.S. 562 (2000) (per
curiam), they argue, those allegations sufficed to make out a class-of-one equal protection
claim plausible enough to withstand a Rule 12(b)(6) challenge.
As a prefatory matter, we underscore that zoning decisions are presumptively the
province of local governments. Land use decisions like these lie at the core of local
governments’ historic responsibilities in much the same way that state governments
regulate domestic relations and the federal government oversees matters of national
security. See Gardner v. City of Baltimore Mayor & City Council, 969 F.2d 63, 67 (4th Cir.
1992).
To have the federal courts upending zoning decisions impairs the constitutional
architecture in two ways. First, zoning challenges constitute a request for the federal
government to intervene in local affairs. Zoning decisions primarily impact the
communities to which they apply. Local officials are well equipped to make such decisions
because they interact with those most affected and can remain attentive to their changing
needs. Their constituents attend the schools, drive the roads, and drink the water that zoning
classifications affect. The federal government, on the other hand, waves a distant wand. It
cannot inform itself about individual communities well enough to know their needs and is
thus comparatively ill-suited to decide matters of zoning.
6 USCA4 Appeal: 22-1690 Doc: 42 Filed: 01/24/2024 Pg: 7 of 13
Second, appeals of zoning disputes such as this one are requests for judicial
authority to displace discretionary legislative judgments. Zoning decisions generally turn
on questions of public policy about how to organize a community: What types of properties
should be slated for which areas? What is the optimal population density for which
location? Such judgments are best left to elected bodies, which are both representative and
accountable. Federal courts are relatively beyond the reach of the displeased; democracy
by contrast does not disenfranchise the discontented.
We see no reason to override the City of Chesapeake’s judgment here. To make out
an equal protection claim, the Developers must “plead sufficient facts to demonstrate
plausibly that [they] w[ere] treated differently from others who were similarly situated and
that the unequal treatment was the result of discriminatory animus.” Equity In Athletics,
Inc. v. Dep’t of Educ., 639 F.3d 91, 108 (4th Cir. 2011). Here, just like in Equity In
Athletics, the Developers “failed to make sufficient allegations with respect to either
element.” Id.
As an initial matter, the Developers have supplied no facts from which we could
infer discriminatory animus on the part of the members of the City Council. Discriminatory
animus cannot be established simply by showing “that a benefit was denied to one person
while conferred on another.” Sylvia Dev. Corp. v. Calvert County, Md., 48 F.3d 810, 819
(4th Cir. 1995). Rather, there must be some evidence that the disparate treatment was
intentionally selected to produce “adverse effects upon an identifiable group” or individual.
Wayte v. United States, 470 U.S. 598, 610 (1985) (quoting Pers. Adm’r of Mass. v. Feeney,
7 USCA4 Appeal: 22-1690 Doc: 42 Filed: 01/24/2024 Pg: 8 of 13
442 U.S. 256, 279 (1979)). Such evidence can come in various forms. For example, a
complainant might provide facts that establish the decisionmaker harbored ill will toward
her or a class of which she was a member; she might provide evidence of a pattern of
historical discrimination intended to disadvantage a particular person or class; or she might
point to statements in the contemporaneous record that evince a discriminatory purpose.
See Sylvia Dev. Corp., 48 F.3d at 819.
In this case, the Developers attempt to allege discriminatory intent by taking aim at
Councilmember Ritter, who voiced an opinion on traffic congestion and drainage concerns
and school capacity. For those comments, she is alleged to have harbored discriminatory
animus. But the record is devoid of anything that would lead us to conclude that the
concerns she expressed were pretexts for discriminatory animus or that there was an issue
of triable fact as to the same. Councilmember Ritter was discussing precisely the kinds of
things that local governments routinely discuss in considering matters of zoning. To say
that a councilmember cannot opine on congestion in the schools and on the streets and
increased burdens on the drainage and sewage systems without being accused of
discriminatory animus would be to cripple her ability to represent her constituents. The
factors Councilmember Ritter considered here are the very ones that ought to be taken into
account when making zoning determinations.
Moreover, Councilmember Ritter’s concerns echoed those of the community. The
Developers argue that those concerns were unfounded, but that is a dispute best umpired
by the City Council, not by a federal court. It is the City Council’s “responsibility to
mediate disputes between developers[] and local residents.” Sunrise Corp. of Myrtle Beach
8 USCA4 Appeal: 22-1690 Doc: 42 Filed: 01/24/2024 Pg: 9 of 13
v. City of Myrtle Beach, 420 F.3d 322, 329 (4th Cir. 2005). And given the facts before
them, the councilmembers “reasonably could have believed” that the denial was “rationally
related” to the “legitimate government interest” of mitigating flooding, traffic, and school
overcrowding in the region. Front Royal & Warren Cnty. Indus. Park Corp. v. Town of
Front Royal, Va., 135 F.3d 275, 290 (4th Cir. 1998). Whether they were right or wrong on
that judgment is a matter for the next election.
The Developers’ case is further weakened by their inability to supply any
comparator property that would support their view. Not one of the properties they identify
in the complaint is sufficiently similar to theirs to support an inference of zoning
malfeasance.
In Olech, on which the Developers rely, the Supreme Court confronted a town which
had departed from a clear, objective standard that had been uniformly applied to other
property owners. 528 U.S. at 565. The plaintiffs in that case had asked to be connected to
the town’s water supply. Id. at 563. The town demanded that they cede it a thirty-three-
foot easement, even though the town required only fifteen-foot easements for water
connections from other property owners. Id. The plaintiffs refused. Id. After much delay,
the town relented and connected their water service with a fifteen-foot easement. Id. The
Court held that those facts made out a sufficient case that the town had “intentionally”
treated the plaintiffs differently than “other similarly situated property owners,” and that
the departure was irrational and wholly arbitrary. Id. at 565. That, the Court held, was
enough to plausibly allege an equal protection violation. Id.
9 USCA4 Appeal: 22-1690 Doc: 42 Filed: 01/24/2024 Pg: 10 of 13
In contrast, discretionary zoning decisions such as the one here are generally not
governed by “a clear standard against which departures, even for a single plaintiff, c[an]
be readily assessed.” Engquist v. Or. Dep’t of Agric., 553 U.S. 591, 602 (2008) (discussing
Olech). To establish a class-of-one claim, a person complaining of a zoning decision must
therefore “show an extremely high degree of similarity between themselves and the persons
to whom they compare themselves.” Clubside, Inc. v. Valentin, 468 F.3d 144, 159 (2d Cir.
2006). Only then can we infer that the decisionmaker’s differential treatment was
intentional and arbitrary.
The Developers, in their own pleadings, demonstrated that there was not an
“extremely high degree of similarity” between themselves and the ten other developments
to which they purported to be substantially similar. Nine of the ten developments were
constructed between 1960 and 2009. In the interval between 2010 and the City Council’s
2020 decision, obvious demographic changes had occurred in Chesapeake, as an influx of
more than twenty-five thousand new residents came into the city. QuickFacts: Chesapeake
City, Virginia, U.S. Census Bureau (last visited Jan. 4, 2024). Comparators lose their force
through the passage of time. As a city becomes more densely populated, zoning authorities
should not be required to approve any development that resembles one approved when the
city was less crowded.
The only proposed comparator approved in the same time frame as the Developers’
proposal was Knell’s Ridge. But it is located 1.3 miles away on a different road, in a
different part of the city. Where zoning is concerned, short distances can sometimes require
different outcomes. It is not at all unlikely that one proposed site sits near a crowded school
10 USCA4 Appeal: 22-1690 Doc: 42 Filed: 01/24/2024 Pg: 11 of 13
while another does not. Or that one proposed location lies at an intersection free of traffic
jams and another sits at a congested or even dangerous traffic thoroughfare.
Moreover, none of the comparator developments were alleged to include a
commercial component, while the Developers here proposed 11,300 square feet of
commercial space. And none of them had requested the Developers’ proposed combination
of R-MF1, B-1, and C-1 zoning classifications. “[I]n the land-use context, to be prima facie
similar, the comparators must be engaged in the same type of land use.” Clubside, 468 F.3d
at 159 (discussing the holding of Campbell v. Rainbow County, Ala., 434 F.3d 1306 (11th
Cir. 2006)); see also Tri Cnty. Paving, Inc. v. Ashe County, 281 F.3d 430, 440 (4th Cir.
2002) (holding that an asphalt plant was not similarly situated to other businesses that did
not pose similar environmental and safety concerns).
These dissimilarities, as the district court recognized, are fatal. It is fundamental to
equal protection law that those differently situated may be treated differently.
C.
The Developers note that their case was resolved on a motion to dismiss pursuant
to Rule 12(b)(6). They contend that their claim should proceed at least to summary
judgment, if not to trial. ∗ They claim that at the core of their case is an evidentiary matter
governed by the sequential steps in the federal rules.
∗ The Developers alternatively ask that we remand the case with instructions that the district court should grant leave to amend the complaint. We decline to do so. The Developers never asked for leave to amend below and given the infirmities in their complaint any amendment would have been futile. See Save Our Sound OBX, Inc. v. N.C. Dep’t of Transp., 914 F.3d 213, 228 (4th Cir. 2019).
11 USCA4 Appeal: 22-1690 Doc: 42 Filed: 01/24/2024 Pg: 12 of 13
Not so. The Supreme Court has emphasized that conclusory statements devoid of
plausibility are not enough to survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion. A complaint must include
“enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Bell Atl. Corp. v.
Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007). The Developers’ complaint does not clear that hurdle.
Pleadings that simply state the elements of an equal protection claim are insufficient. See
Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). As discussed above, the complaint here alleged
no facts from which we can plausibly infer discriminatory intent. And importantly, the
Developers’ allegations that the zoning denial was irrational are undermined by its
inclusion of Councilmember Ritter’s reasons for supporting it.
The Developers claim, however, that there is an evidentiary issue as to whether the
city’s concerns were well founded. But that is insufficient by itself to remove the
controversy from the province of local government and put it in the hands of a federal
court. The Developers’ disagreement with the City Council’s decision does not render the
Council’s judgment call pretextual. The members of the City Council have been selected
by the people of the area precisely because the people trust their judgment. The Developers
have been given no such mandate to dictate what types of zoning classifications are
reasonable or appropriate, nor have we. Whether the Developers ought to have their
petition granted may be an evidentiary matter, but the evidence was properly assembled in
advance of the City Council decision for consideration by the Council itself and any
agencies it enlisted to assist it. Just because something is an evidentiary matter in zoning
does not mean that it is subject to federal judicial resolution. Local zoning hearings may
feature adversary battles the equal of any evidentiary hearing in federal court.
12 USCA4 Appeal: 22-1690 Doc: 42 Filed: 01/24/2024 Pg: 13 of 13
Likewise, the Developers have not alleged facts that plausibly qualify them for a
class-of-one claim under Olech. A class-of-one claim requires a showing that highly similar
comparators received better treatment. Under Twombly and Iqbal, it is not enough to simply
allege such similarity; the similarity must be plausible. The Developers have provided no
valid comparators and their conclusory insistence that the alleged comparator properties
are similar is just the type of “naked assertion” that requires “further factual enhancement”
to “nudge” a claim “across the line from conceivable to plausible,” such that it passes
muster under Rule 12(b)(6). Twombly, 550 U.S. at 557, 570.
III.
The citizens of Chesapeake retain the right to fashion the destiny of their community
subject to whatever appeals state and local zoning law provides. See Va. Code §§ 15.2-
2308 to -2312; Chesapeake, Va., Zoning Ordinance §§ 20-300 to -303. It is their quality of
life at issue, not ours. They are the ones, not us, who will feel the effects, year in and year
out, of whatever decision is made. They are the ones who will be disadvantaged by
overcrowded schools, who will wait in traffic lines, and who will encounter problems with
flooded streets, no small matter for the many coastal communities in our nation. The record
gives us no reason to take their future from them, and we affirm the judgment of the district
court dismissing the complaint.
AFFIRMED