Windham Properties v. Town of Windham

CourtSuperior Court of Maine
DecidedAugust 14, 2007
DocketCUMap-07-9
StatusUnpublished

This text of Windham Properties v. Town of Windham (Windham Properties v. Town of Windham) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Maine primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Windham Properties v. Town of Windham, (Me. Super. Ct. 2007).

Opinion

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WINDHAM PROPERTIES LLC,

Plaintiff,

ORDER

INHABITANTS OF THE TOWN OF WINDHAM et al.,

Defendants.

Before the court is a motion to specify the future course of proceedings in a case

where Windham Properties has combined a claim for judicial review under Rule BOB,

including a claim of bias on the part of several town counselors (Count I), a due process

and equal protection claim based on allegedly inconsistent treatment of zoning

applications by the town counsel (Count 11), and a declaratory judgment claim alleging

that the provision in the town ordinance calling for town counsel approval is void for

vagueness.

The court does not agree with Windham Properties that the constitutional issues

presented in this case - which Windham Properties terms "foundational" issues -

should be decided first. Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authoritv, 297 U.S. 288,

341 (1936) (Brandeis, J., concurring).

In this case the court's inclination is to proceed with those portions of the case

that can be resolved on the administrative record below or as a matter of law. T h s

would suggest going forward first with the Rule BOB appeal (perhaps excluding the bias

issue) and with Count 111. Within 30 days counsel for plaintiff shall file a motion for a trial of the facts as it

relates to plaintiff's claim of bias and shall also include with that motion an

identification of any factual issues that plaintiff contends are presented by Count I11 (as

opposed to issues of law that can be decided on the face of the ordinance) and an

identification of any discovery plaintiff would request with respect to Count 111. The

Town shall have 21 days to respond.

The court will reserve decision at this time on the motion to specify the future

course of proceedings. However, unless the court is persuaded otherwise based on the

submissions set forth above, it is inclined to stay all proceedings as to Count 11, to allow

limited discovery (if plaintiff can demonstrate the need for same) as to the bias claim,

and to proceed with briefing as to Counts I and 111.

The entry shall be:

Procedural order entered on plaintiff's motion to specify future course of

proceedings. The clerk is directed to incorporate this order in the docket by reference

pursuant to Rule 79(a).

DATED: March g ,2007 L -..- Thomas D. Warren Justice, Superior Court Date Filed 02-07-07

Action 80B APPEAL CIMBERLAND County

-- Docket No. AP-07-009 0 WINDHAM PROPERTIES, LLC INHABITANTS OF THE TOWN OF WINDHAM WINDHAM TOWN COUNCIL WINDHAM PRESERVATION COMMITTEE (PII)

VS.

Plaintiff's Attorney Defendant's Attorney MICHAEL H HILL ESQ NATALIE BURNS ESQ. (TOWN OF WINDHAM AND ERICA M JOHANSON ESQ JENSEN BAIRD WINDHAM TOWN COUNCIL: MONAGHAN LEAHY PO BOX 4510 PO BOX 7046 PORTLAND ME 04112-4510 PORTLAND ME 04112-7046 775-7271 (207) 774-3906 SCOTT ANDERSON, ESQ. PI1 ONE PORTLAND SQUARE (Windhm Comm) PORTLAND, MAINE 04112-05896 Date of .>+T,, I STATE OF MAINE CUlVIBERLAND, ss.

v.

THE TOWN OF WINDHAM, et aI.,

Before the court are a motion by party-in-interest Windham Preservation

Committee (WPC) to dismiss Counts II and III of the complaint, a motion by plaintiff

Windham Properties LLC to amend Count II of the complaint, and a motion by

Windham Properties for a trial of the facts pursuant to Rule 80B(d).

Count I of the complaint seeks review under Rule 80B of a decision by the

Windham Town Council denying plaintiff's application for a permit to operate a quarry

on land owned by plaintiff in Windham. Count II alleges that the denial was not only

legally invalid but also violated equal protection and due process. Count III seeks a

declaratory judgment that the applicable provision of the Town's Land Use Ordinance

is void for vagueness.

1. Motion to Dismiss Count II

As originally pleaded, Count II claims that Windham Properties' equal

protection and procedural due process rights were violated. After WPC's motion to

dismiss Count II had been filed, Windham Properties filed a motion to amend or

substitute a substantive due process claim for its procedural due process claim without

changing any of the factual allegations in the complaint. WPC has opposed the motion to amend on the ground that amendment would be futile because the complaint as

proposed to be amended does not state a substantive due process claim. The court will

therefore consider whether Count II, as plaintiff proposes to amend it, states a

cognizable claim for denial of either equal protection or substantive due process.

In analyzing whether Count II states cognizable constitutional claims, the court

looks to a series of First Circuit decisions beginning with Creative Environments Inc. v.

Estabrook, 680 F.2d 822, 833 (1"1 Cir. 1982), that have addressed alleged constitutional

violations in the context of challenges to the actions of zoning and planning boards. 1 In

considering a motion to dismiss, the court should consider the allegations in the

complaint as true, and should examine the complaint in the light most favorable to

plaintiff. See In re Wage Payment Litigation, 2000 ME 162 fJI 3, 759 A.2d 217, 200. In the

context of constitutional claims raised in zoning and other land use appeals, however, it

is not enough simply to give state law claims constitutional labels. See, e.g., Creative

Environments, 680 F.2d at 833. The question is whether plaintiff's allegations, taken as

true, do not merely allege that a local authority exceeded or abused its authority but

instead rise to the level of a constitutional deprivation.

Decisions of the First Circuit further establish that the question of whether a land

case challenge states a constitutional claim can be determined at the pleading stage, and

that it is unnecessary to permit discovery and await a summary judgment motion if the

pleading does not state a constitutional claim. See SFW Arecibo Ltd. v. Rodriguez, 415

F.3d 135, 137 (1"1 Cir. 2005) (Lipez, J.); PFZ Properties Inc. v. Rodriguez, 928 F.2d 28 (lst Cir.

1991).

1 Both parties have cited to this line of cases and the Law Court has previously cited this line of cases as well. See Bangs v. Town of Wells, 2003 ME 129 err 12, 834 A.2d 955, 959; Burr v. Town of Rangeley, 549 A.2d 733,734 (Me. 1988) (both citing to Creative Environments).

2 To state a cognizable equal protection violation, Windham Properties must allege

that, compared to others similarly situated, it was selectively treated based on

impermissible considerations such as race, religion, intent to inhibit or prevent the

exercise of constitutional rights, or malicious or bad faith intent to injure a person.

Barrington Cove Limited Partnership v. Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Financial

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Related

Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority
297 U.S. 288 (Supreme Court, 1936)
Baker v. McCabe
230 F.3d 470 (First Circuit, 2000)
SFW Arecibo Limited v. Rodriguez
415 F.3d 135 (First Circuit, 2005)
Creative Environments, Inc. v. Robert Estabrook
680 F.2d 822 (First Circuit, 1982)
In Re Wage Payment Litigation
2000 ME 162 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2000)
Town of Baldwin v. Carter
2002 ME 52 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2002)
Fitanides v. Perry
537 A.2d 1139 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1988)
Frye v. Inhabitants of Town of Cumberland
464 A.2d 195 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1983)
Cope v. Inhabitants of Town of Brunswick
464 A.2d 223 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1983)
Kosalka v. Town of Georgetown
2000 ME 106 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2000)
Bangs v. Town of Wells
2003 ME 129 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2003)
Stewart v. Town of Sedgwick
2000 ME 157 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 2000)
Ryan v. Town of Camden
582 A.2d 973 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1990)
Burr v. Town of Rangeley
549 A.2d 733 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1988)
Carl L. Cutler Co. v. State Purchasing Agent
472 A.2d 913 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1984)
American Legion, Field Allen Post 148 v. Town of Windham
502 A.2d 484 (Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, 1985)

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