Seventh Street, LLC v. Baldwin County Planning & Zoning Commission

172 F. App'x 918
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedMarch 6, 2006
Docket04-15538
StatusUnpublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 172 F. App'x 918 (Seventh Street, LLC v. Baldwin County Planning & Zoning Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Seventh Street, LLC v. Baldwin County Planning & Zoning Commission, 172 F. App'x 918 (11th Cir. 2006).

Opinion

*920 PER CURIAM:

Seventh Street, L.L.C., appeals a summary judgment in favor of the Baldwin County Planning and Zoning Commission and the Baldwin County Commission. Seventh Street argues that some provisions of the Subdivision Regulations of Baldwin County violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment on the ground that the County Commission lacked statutory authority to enact the regulations and others violate due process on the ground that they are unconstitutionally vague and standardless. Because Alabama law granted the Commission the police power to enact the regulations and those regulations are not vague as applied to Seventh Street, we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Seventh Street sought approval from the Zoning Commission to build a condominium complex in Lillian, Baldwin County, Alabama. Portions of the parcel were not then subject to county zoning, but the entire parcel was designated as a “flood prone area.” In March and April 2002, the Zoning Commission held public hearings to consider the application of Seventh Street.

The Zoning Commission denied the application of Seventh Street based on failure to comply with sections 10.3.2(b), 10.3.2(d), 10.3.3(a)(1), 10.3.3(a)(2), 10.3.5(f), 10.3.5(r), and 10.3.5(f) of the Subdivision Regulations. Section 10.3.2 requires all planned developments to “meet the minimum development standards” including to reserve ten percent of the land area in the development for open space, Baldwin County, Ala., Subdivision Regulations § 10.3.2(b) (2002), and to limit non-residential land uses to no more than twenty percent of the gross land area, id. § 10.3.2(d). Section 10.3.3(a) requires approval of the site plan by the Commission after consideration of (1) “the value and character” of adjacent properties and (2) the “objectives and purpose of the master plan.” Id. § 10.3.3(a). Section 10.3.5 lists additional “site plan requirements,” including the “[n]ames and addresses of the owners of the land immediately adjoining the site,” id. § 10.3.5(f); “[pjroposed land uses and the location of proposed buildings and other structures,” id. § 10.3.5(r); and “[t]he method proposed to maintain private common open areas,” id. § 10.3.5(t).

On March 23, 2003, Seventh Street filed a complaint against the County Commission and the Zoning Commission in federal district court and sought relief on two grounds. First, Seventh Street argued that certain provisions of the subdivision regulations were “promulgated without statutory authority and thus application of those provisions to plaintiffs application was arbitrary and capricious in violation of due process.” Second, Seventh Street argued that two provisions of the subdivision regulations were “so vague and standard-less as to be arbitrary and capricious, in violation of due process.” The Commissions moved for summary judgment, the district court granted the motion as to each claim, and Seventh Street appealed.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

This Court reviews de novo the grant of summary judgment. Kingsland v. City of Miami, 382 F.3d 1220, 1225-26 (11th Cir.), reh’g en banc denied, 124 Fed.Appx. 644 (11th Cir.2004). Summary judgment is appropriate “if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(c). We view the evidence and all factual inferences in the *921 light most favorable to the non-moving party. Kingsland, 382 F.3d at 1225-26.

III. DISCUSSION

Seventh Street’s argument is twofold. First, Seventh Street argues that the Subdivision Regulations violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because they are beyond the statutory authority of the County Commission. Second, Seventh Street argues that provisions of the regulations are so vague as to violate due process. We address each argument in turn.

A. The Commission Has Statutory Authority to Enact the Challenged Provisions.

Seventh Street argues that sections 10.3.2(b), 10.3.2(d), 10.3.3(a)(1), 10.3.3(a)(2), 10.3.5(f), 10.3.5(r), and 10.3.5(t) of the Subdivision Regulations violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because “the [ ] Commission lack[ed] statutory authority to promulgate” the provisions and “those regulations are therefore arbitrary and capricious.” Because Seventh Street does not contend that the Subdivision Regulations impair a fundamental right, we apply “rational basis” scrutiny. Ga. Manufactured Hous. Ass’n v. Spalding County, 148 F.3d 1304, 1307 (11th Cir.1998). “The first step in determining whether legislation survives rational-basis scrutiny is identifying a legitimate government purpose.... The second step of rational-basis scrutiny asks whether a rational basis exists for the enacting governmental body to believe that the legislation would further the hypothesized purpose.” Id. A governmental entity does not have a legitimate purpose to regulate beyond the authority conferred by its enabling legislation. See Thorpe v. Hous. Auth., 393 U.S. 268, 280-81, 89 S.Ct. 518, 525, 21 L.Ed.2d 474 (1969). Because “a county can exercise only that authority conferred on it by law,” Jefferson County v. Johnson, 333 So.2d 143, 145 (Ala.1976), this Court must turn to Alabama law to determine whether the County Commission was empowered to enact the regulations.

Alabama Code Title 11, Chapter 19 provides a “grant of zoning powers” to each county over land “within the flood-prone area of the county.” Ala.Code § 11-19-16. The section lists powers that, as Seventh Street admits, amount to a grant of general police power to the County over flood-prone areas. See id. Seventh Street concedes that if Chapter 19 applies, the County Commission has authority to enact the challenged regulations, but Seventh Street argues that the County Commission failed to avail itself of Chapter 19 powers. See Jefferson County, 333 So.2d at 148. In Jefferson County, the Alabama Supreme Court interpreted a predecessor statute to Chapter 19 and held “the provisions of these sections are not controlling unless the county governing body has adopted or established comprehensive land-use and control measures or building codes for flood-prone areas.” Id.

The County Commission adopted regulations for flood-prone areas under Chapter 19. In Town of Orange Beach v. Baldwin County,

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Bluebook (online)
172 F. App'x 918, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/seventh-street-llc-v-baldwin-county-planning-zoning-commission-ca11-2006.