St. Joseph Medical Building Associates v. City of Fort Wayne

434 N.E.2d 130, 1982 Ind. App. LEXIS 1171
CourtIndiana Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 26, 1982
DocketNo. 3-581A139
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 434 N.E.2d 130 (St. Joseph Medical Building Associates v. City of Fort Wayne) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
St. Joseph Medical Building Associates v. City of Fort Wayne, 434 N.E.2d 130, 1982 Ind. App. LEXIS 1171 (Ind. Ct. App. 1982).

Opinions

GARRARD, Judge.

St. Joseph Medical Building Associates (Associates) applied to the City of Fort Wayne to have certain real estate owned by Associates designated as an “urban development area.” See IC 6-1.1-12.1-1 et.seq. The purpose of the application was to secure for Associates property tax relief benefits for the construction of a new medical office building and parking garage.

The City Common Council denied the application and upon appeal the Allen Circuit Court granted summary judgment in favor of the city. Associates appeal and the city’s response, in part, asserts this court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the appeal on the merits. We shall consider that contention first.

I.

Jurisdiction

Our legislature has recently enacted a statute concerning appeals from actions taken by municipalities. IC §§ 34-4-17.-5-1 to -8 (Supp.1981) (Acts 1980, P.L. 8, § 174). The statute professes its control of the appeal “from any action or decision of a board of a city, the common council or city-county council of a city if it performs the functions of a board, or the board of trustees of a town .... ” Id. at 34-4-17.5-1. Associates appealed the City Common Council’s denial of its application pursuant to these statutes. Three questions regarding the jurisdiction of this Court are thereby raised.1

Under this legislation, appeals are instituted by first filing an original complaint in the circuit or superior court of the county in which the municipality is located. IC 34-4-17.5-1. Then, IC 34-4-17.5-6 provides that appeals from the trial court’s decision “shall be taken direct[ly] to the supreme court of Indiana .... ”

[132]*132Indiana Rules of Procedure, Appellate Rule 4(A) delineates ten specific classes of appeals of which the Indiana Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdiction. The appeal from a trial court’s review of the actions of municipalities does not come within any of those ten specific classes.2

AP 4(B) provides in part:

“In all other cases, appeals shall be taken to the Court of Appeals, notwithstanding any law, statute or rule providing for direct appeal to the Supreme Court of Indiana .... ”

In that the above quoted portion of IC 34-4-17.5-6 directly conflicts with the Indiana Rules of Procedure, that portion of the statute is without force or effect. Sekerez v. Board of Sanitary Commissioners of the Sanitary District of the City of Gary (1973), 261 Ind. 398, 304 N.E.2d 533.

IC 34-4-17.5-4(d) further provides in part that:

“The order and judgment of the court is conclusive upon all parties, and no appeal lies except upon questions affecting the jurisdiction of the court .... ”

In City of South Bend v. Whitcomb & Keller (1946), 224 Ind. 99, 64 N.E.2d 580, the court addressed a statute with almost identical language which purported to control the scope of appellate review. The court held that the legislature was “without power” to take from the court its constitutional jurisdiction. Id. at 102, 64 N.E.2d at 581.

A number of decisions have clearly declared that the legislature may not limit the court’s constitutional power of judicial review. Prunk v. Indianapolis Redevelopment Commission of the Department of Redevelopment of the City of Indianapolis (1950), 228 Ind. 579, 93 N.E.2d 171, appeal dismissed, 340 U.S. 950, 71 S.Ct. 575, 95 L.Ed. 685; City of South Bend v. Whitcomb & Keller (1946), 224 Ind. 99, 64 N.E.2d 580; Warren v. Indiana Telephone Co. (1940), 217 Ind. 93, 26 N.E.2d 399; Montgomery v. State (1944), 115 Ind.App. 189, 57 N.E.2d 943. It is equally well established in Indiana that there is a constitutional right to judicial review of an administrative decision. Salk v. Weinraub (1979), Ind., 390 N.E.2d 995; Warren v. Indiana Telephone Co., supra.

Succinctly stated:

“... [T]he right of a party to judicial review is not subject to the grace of the legislative branch of the government.
sjt * * * * *
. .. [T]he judicial branch of the government may interfere with the rulings of administrative bodies adopted under laws of the legislature whenever a judicial question is involved....”

State ex rel. City of Marion v. Grant Circuit Court (1959), 239 Ind. 315, 317-18, 157 N.E.2d 188, 189. Therefore, the quoted provision in IC 34-4-17.5-4 does not deprive the parties of the right to appellate review.

Finally we note that IC 34-4-17.5-6 provides in part:

“A petition for rehearing may be filed by any party within fifteen (15) days after the decision, order, and judgment of the court.”

Citing this provision, the city argues that the failure of Associates to file a petition for rehearing at the trial court level precludes appellate review in this court.

As noted above, IC 34-4-17.5-4 attempted to restrict appellate review of the trial court’s decision solely to the issue of that court’s jurisdiction. However, under IC 34-4-17.5-6, this legislation provides for a petition for rehearing at the trial court level. It thus appears that the petition for rehearing was meant as a substitute for appellate review of the trial court’s decision.

The very argument raised by the city was answered in City of Mishawaka v. Stewart (1974), 261 Ind. 670, 310 N.E.2d 65. In that case, the court addressed the necessity of a [133]*133statutorily prescribed petition for rehearing to the trial court as a condition precedent to appeal:

“The question now becomes whether the necessity of a Motion to Correct Errors obviates the need for a Petition for Rehearing ... or whether both are required before the appeal is properly perfected. The Petition for Rehearing is not required by the Indiana Rules of Procedure. As was pointed out earlier, the petition for rehearing was originally intended to be in lieu of an appeal from the decision of the trial court. Since an appeal is now permitted and, further, since the procedure for such an appeal is governed by the Indiana Rules of Procedure, the Petition for Rehearing serves no useful purpose and should not be considered a condition precedent to the perfection of an appeal. We hold that the Indiana Rules of Procedure requiring the filing of a motion to correct errors has superseded the requirement of .. . filing of a petition for rehearing.”

Id. at 675, 310 N.E.2d at 68. Under the controlling precedent of

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Bluebook (online)
434 N.E.2d 130, 1982 Ind. App. LEXIS 1171, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/st-joseph-medical-building-associates-v-city-of-fort-wayne-indctapp-1982.