Case Title: Board of Zoning Appeals v. Koehler

Citation: 194 N.E.2d 49, 244 Ind. 504

Docket Number: 30,262

State: indiana

Court: Indiana Supreme Court

Date: 1963-11-22T00:00:00Z

Document:
244 Ind. 504 (1963)
194 N.E.2d 49
BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS ET AL.
v.
KOEHLER.
No. 30,262.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
Filed November 22, 1963.
*505 Basil H. Lorch, Jr., and Lorch & Lorch, of New Albany, for appellants.
Robert R. Kelso, Robert A. Kelso and Kelso & Kelso, of New Albany, for appellee.
MYERS, C.J.
This was an action brought by appellee, Mary Koehler, against appellants, in the Floyd Circuit Court of Indiana, on a petition for a writ of certiorari as an appeal from a decision of the Board of Zoning Appeals of the City of New Albany, Indiana. The Building Commissioner of that city had denied appellee an "Improvement Location Permit" so as to allow her to erect a Shopping Center on certain real estate owned by her. She appealed his ruling to the Board of Zoning Appeals which recommended that the matter be transferred to the Planning and Zoning Commission of the city. From this disposition, she followed the statutory *506 procedures to present the matter to the Floyd Circuit Court by writ of certiorari. Trial was had to the court and judgment was rendered upon special findings of fact and conclusions of law in favor of appellee and reversing the Board of Zoning Appeals. The court determined that she was entitled to have an Improvement Location Permit issued to her. The cause was remanded to the Board of Zoning Appeals for proceedings in conformity with the judgment.
A motion for new trial was filed, asserting that the decision of the court was not sustained by sufficient evidence and was contrary to law. It was also alleged that the court erred in its conclusions of law. The motion was overruled and this appeal followed.
The reason the appeal comes to this court is because a question was raised and duly presented that the pertinent city ordinance herein violates the Constitutions of Indiana and of the United States as it affects appellee's real estate. It is provided by statute that appeals involving constitutional questions shall come directly to this court. Section 4-214, Burns' Ind. Stat., 1946 Replacement.
The trial court's special findings of fact and conclusions of law, omitting the caption and formal parts, are as follows:
Appellants contend that the decision is contrary to law because of lack of evidence to support the special findings, and that therefore the conclusions of law are erroneous.
The statutes of this state provide for the creation of City, Town and County Plan Commissions, for the purpose, inter alia, of planning for the future development of their communities. Section 53-701 et seq., Burns' Ind. Stat., 1951 Replacement. The City of New Albany had such a Plan Commission established by city ordinance. Pursuant to statutory authority (§ 53-732, Burns'), it had prepared a Master Plan and had formulated a policy for the issuance of Improvement Location Permits within the jurisdiction of the Commission and in conformance with the Master Plan. Section 53-754, Burns'. It is provided by statute that:
The Zoning Ordinance of the City of New Albany defines an Improvement Location Permit as a "permit *510 stating that the proposed erection, construction, enlargement or moving of a building or structure referred to therein complies with the provisions of the master plan." Article Two, Section 5, Ordinance No. 41, 1958. Section 16 of this Ordinance sets out Shopping Center District Requirements and Procedures. It provides as follows:
Section 19 of the Ordinance provides as follows:
*511 The ordinance further provides for certain guideposts to be observed by the Commission in determining its approval or disapproval of a proposed Development Plan of Shopping Centers which pertain to location, arrangement, size and use of buildings and grounds. Section 19, C. (2).
The C-3 District Symbol referred to was a star placed on the official Zoning Map of the city. There were four of them spotted at different locations and they related only to Shopping Centers which were permitted in the area represented by the stars according to the Master Plan.
Appellee, on April 3, 1961, filed with the City Building Commissioner of New Albany her written application for an Improvement Location Permit to erect a Shopping Center on real estate owned by her. There was a legal or site description, a plan showing the location, size, width and length of buildings and entrances, together with adjacent roads and highways as required by the ordinance. The City Building Commissioner denied the application on the day it was filed, saying that no Shopping Center could be built on the property because it was zoned for residential purposes only. Appellee took an appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals, claiming that the ordinance was unconstitutional as it applied to her real estate. The Board treated her appeal as a request for a variance to permit the construction of a Shopping Center.
At the hearing on May 2, 1961, appellee presented evidence to support her contention that the Zoning Ordinance was unconstitutional. The hearing was then continued until a later date. The following day, the Mayor of New Albany issued a statement which was published in newspapers circulated throughout the city and made an exhibit in the trial of this case in the Circuit *512 Court. This statement was to the effect that Shopping Centers in New Albany would have a deleterious effect on downtown business and depreciate business property. It is appellee's contention that this statement influenced the Zoning Board to take the action on July 18, 1961, referring the matter to the Plan Commission.
The record reveals that appellee's property is a tract of about twenty acres located on State Road 150 in the City of New Albany with access on the east side on a street known as Green Valley Road. State Road 150 and Green Valley Road intersect. From this intersection to where State Road 150 crosses a street known as Daisy Lane, there is a distance of approximately 3,275 feet. Appellee's property fronts on State Road 150 for 950 of these feet. Along this section of State Road 150 were located many commercial establishments, including a laundry, laundromat, gasoline service station, two motels, a theater, grocery store, branch bank, bowling alley, and an abandoned tavern. Evidence was presented that appellee's property was worth about $65,000 for residential subdividing, but was worth $208,000 as a site for a Shopping Center; that Shopping Centers enhance the value of surrounding property; that fire insurance rates on Shopping Centers were lower than on downtown commercial establishments; that the stars on the official Zoning Map indicating available areas for Shopping Centers were placed in parts of the city which were wooded, hilly or industrial and far from prospective customers, and in places where construction costs would be prohibitive.
Appellants argue that appellee failed to exhaust her administrative remedy before seeking judicial review. They insist that she should have presented her plan to the City Plan Commission for investigation as required by ordinance. However, appellee *513 in this case has asserted that the Zoning Ordinance is unconstitutional as it applies to her property. She properly presented this question to the Board of Zoning Appeals. She did not request a variance, but asked for a ruling on the constitutionality of the Zoning Ordinance, claiming her right to an Improvement Location Permit. She did not have to proceed further upon an adverse ruling by the Board. Board of Zoning App. etc. v. La Dow et al. (1958), 238 Ind. 673, 679, 153 N.E.2d 599, 602. In that case we said as follows:
Appellee does not charge in her petition for writ of certiorari that the Zoning Ordinance is void in its *514 entirety, but only that it is unconstitutional as it affects her property under the existing circumstances. She claims that it is a taking of property without due process in violation of the Fourteenth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States and Sections 21 and 23 of Article 1 of the Constitution of Indiana. This question may be brought up by a petition for a variance, Town of Homecroft et al. v. Macbeth (1958), 238 Ind. 57, 148 N.E.2d 563, or by a petition asserting unconstitutionality. Board of Zoning App., etc. v. La Dow et al., supra. It must be presented to the Board of Zoning Appeals first, and this was done in the case at bar. No other administrative remedy is necessary to present the question to the trial court. We hold that the trial court had jurisdiction to hear and determine these proceedings.
Zoning ordinances must find support for their validity in the police power of the state, and this can only be exercised in the general public interest of safety, health and morals. Board of Zoning Appeals v. Schulte, etc. (1961), 241 Ind. 339, 348, 172 N.E.2d 39, 43. In that case this court said:
Where property rights are invaded by zoning regulations which do not promote the public health, safety, morals or welfare, within the authorized police power of the state, such invasion of property rights comes within the ban of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and cannot be sustained. Nectow v. Cambridge (1928), 277 U.S. 183, 48 S. Ct. 447, 72 L. Ed. 842. A legislative *515 body cannot arbitrarily interfere with private business or impose unnecessary restrictions on lawful occupations under the guise of protecting public interests. Dept. of Financial Institutions v. Holt, etc. (1952), 231 Ind. 293, 108 N.E.2d 629.
There was evidence from which the court could have determined that a Shopping Center constructed on appellee's land would not adversely affect the public health, comfort, morals, safety or welfare of the City of New Albany, and that its location was the best place in Floyd County, considering all circumstances, for such a Center. There was sufficient evidence from which the trial court could have based its findings and conclusions of law. The ordinance in question is unconstitutional as applied to appellee's property, and the judgment of the trial court is sustained by sufficient evidence and is not contrary to law.
Judgment affirmed.
Achor, Arterburn, Jackson and Landis, JJ., concur.
NOTE.  Reported in 194 N.E.2d 49.