Tri-Corp Management Co. v. Praznik

33 F. App'x 742
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
DecidedMarch 29, 2002
DocketNo. 00-4326
StatusPublished
Cited by36 cases

This text of 33 F. App'x 742 (Tri-Corp Management Co. v. Praznik) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tri-Corp Management Co. v. Praznik, 33 F. App'x 742 (6th Cir. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION

COLE, Circuit Judge.

Tri-Corp Management Inc. (“TriCorp”), an Ohio corporation, sought to construct a development of fourteen single-family condominiums on property it owned in Hubbard, Ohio. After the Hubbard City Engineer issued a stop work order that prevented Tri-Corp from completing its construction plans, Tri-Corp filed a § 1983 civil rights suit in federal court against the City of Hubbard and three city officials: George Praznik, the Mayor of Hubbard and a member of the Hubbard Planning and Zoning Commission (the “PZC”); William Colleta, the Hubbard City Service Director and a member of the PZC; and David Kelly, the current Hubbard City Engineer. In its two-count complaint, Tri-Corp claimed that by issuing a stop work order, the defendants violated TriCorp’s due process rights and unconstitutionally took Tri-Corp’s property. The defendants moved to dismiss the complaint, arguing that (i) the complaint raised only a regulatory takings claim and (ii) the regulatory takings claim was not ripe for federal court review. The district court granted both components of defendants’ motion and dismissed Tri-Corp’s complaint without prejudice. Tri-Corp appealed both issues. We AFFIRM the district court’s judgment in part, REVERSE in part, and REMAND for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I.

According to the allegations in the complaint, Tri-Corp sought to construct fourteen modular homes on its property at 752 Elmwood Drive in Hubbard, Ohio (the “Property”). In February 1997, the president of Tri-Corp discussed construction plans with William Mariotti, who was then the Hubbard City Engineer. Mariotti believed that Tri-Corp’s proposed construction of fourteen modular homes complied with the zoning requirements, but recommended that the PZC approve the plans. Based on Mariotti’s advice, Tri-Corp submitted preliminary plans to the PZC, which the PZC unanimously approved in January 1998. With the PZC’s approval in place, Tri-Corp received a zoning permit and began construction.

Shortly after Tri-Corp commenced developing the Property, it encountered resistance from the Hubbard City Council. At its March 2, 1998 meeting, members of [744]*744City Council expressed disfavor with TriCorp’s plans to build modular homes in Hubbard. Despite the opposition from City Council, the EPA and the Hubbard Service Director approved the extension of utilities to the Property. In April, however, members of City Council sought to stop Tri-Corp’s construction of modular homes. On May 12, the Hubbard City Engineer, Defendant Kelly, issued a stop work order to Tri-Corp. Three days later, on May 15, Kelly lifted the initial stop work order and allowed the construction of one single-family dwelling on the Property.

Tri-Corp never received permission to build the remaining thirteen units. Although it resubmitted the same development plans that the PZC previously approved, the PZC voted against a motion to re-approve those plans. The PZC also voted down a motion to reject Tri-Corp’s plans. Thus, the plans were technically neither approved nor rejected by the PZC. With the PZC paralyzed on the issue and with the stop work order in place, TriCorp sued defendants in federal court under 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

Tri-Corp’s .complaint contained two counts. Count I claimed that through the issuance of the stop work orders, defendants violated the due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment and Section 16 of the Ohio Constitution. In support of this claim, Tri-Corp alleged that defendants acted arbitrarily in issuing the stop work orders and that defendants engaged in a “confiscatory action” by stopping the previously permitted development. Count II claimed that the stop work orders unconstitutionally took property from TriCorp without providing just compensation as required by the Fifth Amendment and Section 19 of the Ohio Constitution.

In reply to Tri-Corp’s complaint, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss. Defendants first moved to merge the two counts into a single regulatory takings claim. Second, defendants moved to dismiss the regulatory takings claim on ripeness grounds because Tri-Corp did not exhaust state remedies. The district court granted both components of defendants’ motion and Tri-Corp appealed both aspects of the district court’s decision.

II.

Although not labeled as such, the defendants’ motion to dismiss before the trial court contains two distinct components: a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss all claims except for a regulatory takings claim and a Rule 12(b)(1) motion to dismiss the regulatory takings claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction due to its lack of ripeness.

A. Standard of Review

A district court’s dismissal of a civil rights claim for failure to state a claim for relief under Rule 12(b)(6) is a question of law that we review de novo. See Mertik v. Blalock, 983 F.2d 1353, 1356 (6th Cir.1993); see also Bibbo v. Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., 151 F.3d 559, 561 (6th Cir.1998). In reviewing a complaint for dismissal for failure to state a claim for relief, the complaint is construed liberally in plaintiffs favor and all factual allegations and permissible inferences are accepted as true. See Sistrunk v. City of Strongsville, 99 F.3d 194, 197 (6th Cir.1996); Allard v. Weitzman (In re DeLorean Motor Co.), 991 F.2d 1236, 1240 (6th Cir.1993). Despite the instruction to construe the complaint liberally in plaintiffs favor, a complaint must contain “either direct or inferential allegations respecting all the material elements” and those allegations must amount to more than “bare assertions of legal conclusions.” Scheid v. Fanny Farmer Candy Shops, Inc., 859 F.2d 434, 436 (6th Cir.1988) (quoting Car Carriers, Inc. v. Ford Motor Co., 745 F.2d [745]*7451101, 1106 (7th Cir.1984)). Ultimately, because a Rule 12(b)(6) motion tests the sufficiency of the complaint, the court’s review amounts to a determination of whether it is possible for the plaintiff to prove any set of facts in support of his claims that would entitle him or her to relief. See Miller v. Currie, 50 F.3d 373, 377 (6th Cir.1995) (explaining that a court “should deny [a Rule 12(b)(6) ] motion unless it is clear that the plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of her claim that would entitle her to relief’); Mayer v. Mylod, 988 F.2d 635, 638 (6th Cir.1993) (“The purpose of Rule 12(b)(6) is to allow a defendant to test whether, as a matter of law, the plaintiff is entitled to legal relief even if everything alleged in the complaint is true.”); Scheid, 859 F.2d at 436 (noting that “[a] Rule 12(b)(6) motion tests whether a cognizable claim has been pleaded in the complaint” and explaining that a claim should not be dismissed “unless it appears beyond doubt that plaintiff can prove no set of facts in support of his claim which would entitle him to relief’).

With respect to a ripeness challenge, federal courts should not consider questions that do not amount to a case or controversy. See Dixie Fuel Co. v. Comm’r of Soc. Sec., 171 F.3d 1052, 1057 (6th Cir.1999); Adcock v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co.,

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Bluebook (online)
33 F. App'x 742, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tri-corp-management-co-v-praznik-ca6-2002.