TREASURE CHEST v. Parish of Jefferson

691 So. 2d 751, 96 La.App. 1 Cir. 1010, 1997 La. App. LEXIS 848, 1997 WL 156680
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 27, 1997
Docket96 CA 1010
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 691 So. 2d 751 (TREASURE CHEST v. Parish of Jefferson) 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
TREASURE CHEST v. Parish of Jefferson, 691 So. 2d 751, 96 La.App. 1 Cir. 1010, 1997 La. App. LEXIS 848, 1997 WL 156680 (La. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

691 So.2d 751 (1997)

TREASURE CHEST CASINO, L.L.C., et al.
v.
PARISH OF JEFFERSON, et al.

No. 96 CA 1010.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, First Circuit.

March 27, 1997.

*752 Robert A. Vosbein, New Orleans, for Plaintiff/Appellee, Treasure Chest Casino, L.L.C.

Kurt C. Garcia, Kenner, for Plaintiff/Appellee, City of Kenner.

Peter J. Butler, New Orleans, for Defendant/Appellant, Parish of Jefferson.

Before CARTER, LeBLANC and PARRO, JJ.

CARTER, Judge.

This is an appeal from a trial court judgment, dismissing a reconventional demand for injunctive relief on an exception pleading the objections of no cause and no right of action.

*753 FACTS

On September 5, 1994, the Louisiana Riverboat Gaming Commission (Commission) issued a certificate of final approval for riverboat gaming operations to Treasure Chest Casino, L.L.C. (Treasure Chest). Pursuant to this certificate, Treasure Chest was to commence its riverboat gaming operations at Lake Ponchartrain, at the north end of Williams Boulevard in Kenner, Louisiana, the vessel's licensed berth site.

In 1994, Jefferson Parish (Jefferson) enacted various ordinances,[1] levying an admission fee pursuant to LSA-R.S. 4:552 A(1), which authorized the levy of an admission fee by the local governing authority of the municipality or parish in which a riverboat is berthed. Jefferson initiated steps to enforce the collection of the admission fee from Treasure Chest. On September 12, 1994, Jefferson made a demand upon Treasure Chest for collection of the $2.50 per person boarding fee. Shortly thereafter, Kenner responded to Jefferson's demand, advising Jefferson that it had no legal authority to impose the admission fee.

Treasure Chest and the City of Kenner (Kenner) subsequently filed a petition for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief, naming as defendants Jefferson and the Commission. Treasure Chest and Kenner alleged that Jefferson was attempting unlawfully to levy an admission fee, pursuant to the provisions of LSA-R.S. 4:552 A, by claiming that the gaming vessel is berthed in an unincorporated area of Jefferson and not within the limits of Kenner. Treasure Chest and Kenner further alleged that the Commission, which has authority over berths, docks, boarding areas, and routes of riverboat gaming facilities, designated the berth site of the Treasure Chest's gaming vessel as Kenner, Louisiana.

Jefferson answered the petition and filed a reconventional demand for a mandatory injunction against Treasure Chest. In its reconventional demand, Jefferson sought judgment, pursuant to LSA-R.S. 4:552 A(1), as well as the parish ordinance, setting forth its entitlement to collect the fees because Treasure Chest lies within Jefferson Parish and because Kenner (as a municipality and the only other governmental authority which might be entitled to collect the fees) had waived its rights to collect the fees. Jefferson also alleged that the berth site of the Treasure Chest is not within the boundaries of Kenner and that, as such, Jefferson is the only governing authority entitled to collect the fees. Accordingly, Jefferson requested an injunction, ordering Treasure Chest to satisfy its liabilities and to pay all future fees.

Thereafter, Treasure Chest filed exceptions pleading the objections of no right of action and no cause of action as to Jefferson's reconventional demand.[2] On January 30, 1995, a hearing on the exceptions was held. On May 28, 1995, the trial court rendered judgment in favor of Treasure Chest and against Jefferson, sustaining the objections of no right of action and no cause of action as to Jefferson's reconventional demand.

From this adverse judgment, Jefferson appeals, assigning the following specifications of error:[3]

1. The district court erred in granting Treasure Chest's exception[s] of no cause of action and no right of action.
*754 2. The district court erred in determining that the berth of Treasure Chest's riverboat is in Kenner.
3. The district court erred in determining that Kenner is the only local governing authority authorized to [levy] an admission fee on Treasure Chest pursuant to La. R.S. 4:552(A).
4. The district court erred in ignoring the obvious effects of Kenner's waiver of "any existing or future right it may have to levy the [admission] fee."
5. The district court erred in determining that language in the Riverboat Gaming Commission's Certificate could deprive Jefferson Parish of its statutory right to levy an admission on Treasure Chest's passengers.
6. The district court erred in determining that the Riverboat Gaming Commission's powers are even at issue in this litigation.
7. The district court erred in determining, in light of Kenner's annexation of the berth area, that Treasure Chest's riverboat lay within the boundaries of Kenner at all times pertinent to this dispute.

PEREMPTORY EXCEPTIONS

The objections of no right of action and no cause of action are properly raised by the peremptory exception.

A. OBJECTION OF NO RIGHT OF ACTION

The objection of no right of action tests whether the plaintiff has a "real and actual interest" in the suit. Louisiana Paddlewheels v. Louisiana Riverboat Gaming Commission, 94-2015, p. 4 (La.11/30/94); 646 So.2d 885, 888; Williams v. Mumphrey, 95-643, p. 3 (La.App. 5th Cir. 1/30/96); 668 So.2d 1274, 1275-76, writ denied, 96-0569 (La.3/29/96); 670 So.2d 1240. Stated another way, an exception of no right of action determines "whether the plaintiff belongs to the particular class to which the law grants a remedy for the particular harm alleged." Ferguson v. Dirks, 95-560, p. 4 (La.App. 5th Cir. 11/28/95); 665 So.2d 585, 587; Zar v. Gaudet, 94-533, p. 2 (La.App. 5th Cir. 12/14/94); 648 So.2d 1012, 1013. The exception is appropriate when the plaintiff does not have an interest in the subject matter of the suit or legal capacity to proceed with suit in a particular case. Gorum v. Louisiana Hospital Association Employee Benefit Trust, 95-468, pp. 3-4 (La.App. 3rd Cir. 11/2/95); 664 So.2d 662, 664. LSA-C.C.P. art. 931 permits the introduction of evidence to support or controvert an exception of no right of action.

B. NO CAUSE OF ACTION

The exception of no cause of action questions "whether the law extends a remedy to anyone under the factual allegations of the petition." Louisiana Paddlewheels v. Louisiana Riverboat Gaming Commission, 646 So.2d at 888 n. 3; Williams v. Mumphrey, 668 So.2d at 1275. The purpose of an exception pleading the objection of no cause of action is to determine the sufficiency in law of the petition. City of New Orleans v. Board of Commissioners of Orleans Levee District, 93-0690, p. 2 (La.7/5/94); 640 So.2d 237, 241; Woodland Ridge Association v. Cangelosi, 94-2604, p. 3 (La.App. 1st Cir. 10/6/95); 671 So.2d 508, 510.

Generally, no evidence may be introduced to support or controvert the exception. Woodland Ridge Association v. Cangelosi, 671 So.2d at 510; Parish of Jefferson v. City of Kenner, 95-266, p. 1 (La.App. 5th Cir. 10/31/95); 663 So.2d 880, 881. However, as set forth in City National Bank of Baton Rouge v. Brown, 599 So.2d 787, 789 (La.App. 1st Cir.), writ denied, 604 So.2d 999 (La.

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691 So. 2d 751, 96 La.App. 1 Cir. 1010, 1997 La. App. LEXIS 848, 1997 WL 156680, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/treasure-chest-v-parish-of-jefferson-lactapp-1997.