Woodson v. City of Kansas City

80 S.W.3d 6, 2002 Mo. App. LEXIS 1368, 2002 WL 1362832
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedJune 25, 2002
DocketNo. WD 59773
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 80 S.W.3d 6 (Woodson v. City of Kansas City) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Woodson v. City of Kansas City, 80 S.W.3d 6, 2002 Mo. App. LEXIS 1368, 2002 WL 1362832 (Mo. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

EDWIN H. SMITH, Judge.

Robert L. Woodson appeals from the judgment of the circuit court affirming the [8]*8decision of the Kansas City, Missouri, Property Maintenance Appeals Board (Board) affirming the order (demolition order) of the Neighborhood and Community Services Department (NCS) to demolish his garage located at 3259 Gillham Road, Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri.

The appellant raises seven points on appeal attacking the Board’s decision affirming the demolition order of the NCS. In Point I, he claims that the ordinances of the Kansas City, Missouri, Property Maintenance Code (PMC),1 under which the NCS ordered his property demolished, were unconstitutional. In Points II and V, he claims that the Board’s requisite findings of fact and conclusions of law in affirming the demolition order were deficient and did not support its decision. In Point III, he claims that the evidence did not support the Board’s findings of fact and conclusions of law and that he was denied a fair hearing before the Board because, in order to make its case before the Board and to provide him with a fair hearing, the NCS was required, but failed, to call as a witness at the hearing before the Board the author of the demolition order, Paul Binner, the manager of the Dangerous Building Division (DBD) of the NCS. In Point IV, he claims that: (1) the demolition order did not contain the requisite findings of fact and conclusions of law as to the conditions or defects that caused his garage to be a dangerous building, as defined in § 56 — 532(a); and (2) the evidence was insufficient to find that the appellant’s garage was damaged, decayed or deteriorated to a degree that it was not economically feasible to rehabilitate it, or it was not structurally safe, as required by § 56-533(3) for demolition. In Point VI, he claims that the Board, in affirming the demolition order, considered irrelevant evidence concerning another building, denying him a fair hearing. In Point VII, he claims that the vote of the Board appearing of record did not support an affirmance of the demolition order.

We reverse and remand with directions.

Facts

The appellant owns real property at 3259 Gillham Road, Kansas City, Jackson County, Missouri. Located on the property is a one-story commercial-type garage constructed of concrete blocks, which the appellant uses for storage. On February 11, 2000, Roger Stewart, an inspector with the DBD, inspected the storage garage. During this initial inspection, Stewart took photographs. He also completed a Dangerous Building Evaluation Form and a Feasibility Analysis Report. Subsequent inspections occurred on March 28 and July 12, with additional photographs being taken.

On February 25, 2000, pursuant to § 56-533(3), the manager of the DBD, Paul Binner, issued an order to demolish the appellant’s garage based upon his findings that the garage was a dangerous building, as defined in § 56-532(a), that was damaged to a degree that it was not economically feasible to rehabilitate it. Copies of this demolition order were mailed to the appellant and posted on his garage.

On March 6, 2000, pursuant to § 56-537, the appellant appealed the demolition order to the Board. His appeal was heard on July 13, 2000. At the hearing, Stewart was the sole witness for the NCS. He testified as to the conditions that he found when he inspected the appellant’s garage, including structural defects caused by a [9]*9tree growing into the structure. He also testified as to his findings with respect to the economic feasibility of rehabilitating the garage, to which the appellant objected, contending that the method used by Stewart to evaluate the building in determining whether it could be rehabilitated was improper. Several of the photographs of the garage taken during Stewart’s inspections, as well as the Dangerous Building Evaluation Form and Feasibility Analysis Report completed by Stewart, were admitted. At the hearing, the appellant also presented evidence, consisting primarily of photographs and documents detailing the appellant’s previous disputes with the City, the majority of which were irrelevant to the case before the Board. After considering the evidence, the Board voted 2-0 to affirm the demolition order.2 On July 17, 2000, the Board issued its findings of fact and conclusions of law affirming the demolition order.

On August 15, 2000, the appellant filed a petition in the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, for judicial review, as authorized by § 536.100,3 of the Board’s decision affirming the demolition order. On February 13, 2001, the circuit court entered its judgment affirming the Board’s decision.

This appeal follows.

Standard of Review

Actions, which are delegated by a municipality to a board or retained to itself to enforce an ordinance, are administrative, and, thus, are reviewable under the Missouri Administrative Procedure Act, codified in Chapter 536, RSMo. Wrenn v. City of Kansas City, 908 S.W.2d 747, 749 (Mo.App.1995). When a decision of an administrative agency or board in a contested case, as authorized by § 536.100, is appealed, we review the agency or board’s decision, not the judgment of the circuit court. Graves v. City of Joplin, 48 S.W.3d 121, 124 (Mo.App.2001). The decision of the agency or board will be upheld unless it is not supported by competent" and substantial evidence; it is arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable; it is an abuse of discretion; or it is otherwise unauthorized by law. KV Pharm. Co. v. Mo. State Bd. of Pharmacy, 43 S.W.3d 306, 310 (Mo. banc 2001) (citing § 536.140). In reviewing the decision of an agency or board, the evidence is viewed in its entirety together with all legitimate inferences drawn therefrom, in a light most favorable to the agency or board. Graves, 48 S.W.3d at 124.

I.

In Point IV, the appellant claims, inter alia, that the Board erred in affirming the demolition order of the NCS because it did not contain, as required by § 56-535(1), findings of fact and conclusions of law as to the conditions or defects that caused his garage to be a dangerous building, as defined' in § 56-532(a). Specifically, he claims that the NCS, in determining that his garage was a dangerous building necessitating demolition, was required, but failed, to include in its demolition order, findings as to the specific conditions or defects that existed in the garage that caused it to be dangerous. Because this claim is dispositive of the appellant’s appeal, we discuss it alone.

In ordering the demolition of the appellant’s garage, the City was exercising [10]*10its police power. Stahlberg v. Travelers Indem. Co., 568 S.W.2d 79, 85 (Mo.App.1978). The control of this governmental function lies with the state. City of Hamilton v. Pub. Water Supply Dist. No. 2 of Caldwell County, 849 S.W.2d 96, 102 (Mo.App.1993).

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80 S.W.3d 6, 2002 Mo. App. LEXIS 1368, 2002 WL 1362832, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/woodson-v-city-of-kansas-city-moctapp-2002.