Windham Properties v. Town of Windham

Superior Court of Maine·Decided August 14, 2007·No. CUMap-07-9·Unpublished

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

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Thomas D. Warren

Justice, Superior Court

Date Filed 02-07-07

Action 80B APPEAL CIMBERLAND

County

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Docket No. AP-07-009

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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.

WINDHAM PROPERTIES LLC, Plaintiff,

v.

THE TOWN OF WINDHAM, et aI., Defendants.

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).

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 Corporation, 246 F.3d 1, 7 (lst Or. 2001). In this case Windham Properties alleges that it was selectively treated compared to others similarly situated because no other quarry application has received de novo review from the Town Council and other quarry applications received either cursory review or no review after they had been approved by the Planning Board. Complaint lJIlJI 56-58. There is a question whether this sufficiently alleges that Windham Properties were similarly situated to other quarry applicants in all relevant respects. See Barrington Cove, 246 F.3d at 8. The court need not resolve this issue, however, because Windham Properties has failed to allege that its disparate treatment was based on the kind of impermissible considerations that would give rise to a cognizable equal protection claim.

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