State ex rel. Vieux Carre Property Owners & Associates, Inc. v. Board of Zoning Adjustments

197 So. 2d 691
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 8, 1967
DocketNo. 2558
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 197 So. 2d 691 (State ex rel. Vieux Carre Property Owners & Associates, Inc. v. Board of Zoning Adjustments) 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
State ex rel. Vieux Carre Property Owners & Associates, Inc. v. Board of Zoning Adjustments, 197 So. 2d 691 (La. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

HALL, Judge.

Plaintiffs, alleging that they are aggrieved by a decision of the Board of Zoning Adjustments of the City of New Orleans rendered on June 16, 1966, wherein the Board granted a variation of the height and “open space” provisions of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance of the City of New Orleans (Ordinance No. 18565 C.C.S.) to permit the erection of a storage garage on certain lots which collectively form the corner of Iberville and Dau-phine Streets in the H-2 Vieux Carre Commercial District of the City, presented a petition on July 13, 1966 to the Civil District Court for the Parish of Orleans praying for a writ of certiorari (under the provisions of Section 6 of Article XXVII of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance and LSA-R.S. 33:4727) to review the decision of the Board.

In their petition plaintiffs named the following as defendants and prayed that citation and a copy of the petition be served on each viz:

1) The Board of Zoning Adjustments of the City of New Orleans (and its individual members).

2) Mr. AÍbert G. Wyler, Director, Department of Safety and Permits, City of New Orleans.

3) The Department of Safety and Permits, City of New Orleans and

4) The City of New Orleans.

Although plaintiffs’ petition alleges that the application to the Board for the variance was made by a firm of architects representing Mercier Realty and Investment Company, Mrs. Anna B. McFadden, and D. H. Holmes Company Limited, owners of the properties involved, neither the architectural firm nor any of the owners were [693]*693named by plaintiffs as parties defendant nor ■were they served with a copy of the petition nor was any notice whatever given to them of the actual proceedings. The record ■shows however that on July 12, 1966 plaintiffs’ attorney gave notice to the architectural firm and to one of the owners of plaintiffs’ intention to apply for a writ.

A writ of certiorari was issued by the Court commanding the Board of Zoning Adjustments to send up the record for review (which was done) and the named defendants were duly served with process.

On August 5, 1966 D. PL Holmes Company Limited and Mercier Realty and Investment Company filed a petition of intervention setting forth their interest in the proceedings as owners of the lots involved (Mrs. Anna B. McFadden had sold her lots to D. H. Holmes Company Limited) and as the applicants in whose favor the variations were granted by the Board of Zoning Adjustments. The intervenors prayed that they be permitted to intervene in opposition to plaintiffs’ demand for reversal of the Board’s decision, and that they be permitted to file any “motions, exceptions or otherwise plead herein in order to protect their rights.” An order permitting such intervention was granted.

On August 10, 1966 the Board of Zoning Adjustments and the other three defendants who were named and cited by plaintiffs filed an exception of no cause of action based on several grounds among which they urged that neither the Board nor any of the other named defendants had or could have any legal interest in the outcome of the proceedings and furthermore since the suit was not filed against a proper defendant within the 30 day statutory peremptive period there was no suit before the Court.

On September 1, 1966 D. H. Holmes Company Limited and Mercier Realty and Investment Company filed exceptions of no right of action and of no cause of action based on several grounds among which they -urged that since the Board cannot be held as a party-defendant in the matter and since plaintiffs had failed to join them as the true parties at interest within the statutory 30 day peremptive period, plaintiffs right of action had perempted.

On September 7, 1966 plaintiffs filed an amended petition seeking to meet some of the grounds upon which the exceptions were based.

The Trial Judge referred all exceptions to the merits. Answers were filed by the defendants and by the intervenors with full reservation of all of their exceptions. Following a hearing on the merits judgment was rendered (a) overruling all exceptions, and (b) reversing the decision of the Board of Zoning Adjustments as to the height variation and (c) affirming the decision as to the “open space” variation.

D. H. Holmes Company Limited and Mercier Realty and Investment Company filed separate appeals. Plaintiffs answered the appeals praying that the judgment appealed from be amended so as to reverse the decision of the Board of Zoning Adjustments quo ad the “open space” variation.

Neither the Board of Zoning Adjustments nor any of the three other named defendants appealed.

Appellants, D. H. Holmes Company Limited and Mercier Realty and Investment Company, contend as their first specification of error that the Lower Court erred by failing to maintain their exceptions of no right of action and of no cause of action and of peremption.

Since we are of the opinion that the exception of peremption should have been maintained by the Trial Court and since maintaining that exception will dispose of the entire matter we shall confine our remarks to a consideration of that exception.

Section 6 of Article XXVII of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance of the City of New Orleans provides as follows:

“Section 6. Any person or persons, or any officer, department, commission, [694]*694board, bureau or any other agency of the City of New Orleans jointly or severally aggrieved by any decision of the Board of Zoning Adjustments, may present to the Civil District Court of the Parish of Orleans, within thirty (30) days after filing of the decision in the office of the Board, a writ of certiorari asking for such relief and under such rules and regulations as are provided for such matters in appropriate legislation of the State of Louisiana.”

The “appropriate legislation” referred to in the above quoted provision of the ordinance is found in LSA-R.S. 33:4727 which reads in part as follows:

“Any person or persons jointly or severally aggrieved by any decision of the board of adjustment, or any officer, department, board, or bureau of the municipality, may present to the district court of the parish or city in which the property affected is located a petition, duly verified, setting forth that the decision is illegal, in whole or in part, specifying the grounds of the illegality. The petition shall be presented to the court within thirty days after the filing of the decision in the office of the board. Upon the presentation of such petition the court may allow a writ of certiorari directed to the board of adjustment to review the decision of the board of adjustment * * * If, upon the hearing, it shall appear to the court that testimony is necessary for the proper disposition of the matter, it may take additional evidence * * * which shall constitute a part of the proceedings upon which the determination of the court shall be made. The court may reverse or affirm, wholly or in part, or may modify the decision brought up for review. * * * ”

It is clear that the 30 days granted to the aggrieved person in which to file his petition for review is a period of per-emption. As said by the Supreme Court in Guillory v. Avoyelles Ry. Co., 104 La. 11, 28 So. 899 at p. 901:

“ * * * When a statute creates a.

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Bluebook (online)
197 So. 2d 691, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-vieux-carre-property-owners-associates-inc-v-board-of-lactapp-1967.