Title: City of Mobile v. Karagan

State: alabama

Issuer: Alabama Supreme Court

Document:

476 So. 2d 60 (1985)
CITY OF MOBILE, a municipal corporation, and Mobile City Planning Commission
v.
Phillip P. KARAGAN.
83-1424.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
August 30, 1985.
*61 William R. Lauten and John L. Lawler, Mobile, for appellants.
Phillip P. Karagan, pro se.
TORBERT, Chief Justice.
This is an appeal from a judgment entered by the Mobile Circuit Court ordering appellants, the City of Mobile (City) and the Mobile City Planning Commission (Planning Commission), to rezone the subject property from Residence-Agriculture District to Two-Family Residence District. We reverse and remand.
This is the third time this case has been before us. See Karagan v. City of Mobile, 420 So. 2d 57 (Ala.1982); and Karagan v. City of Mobile, 437 So. 2d 120 (Ala.1983). On the first appeal, we reversed the judgment of the trial court, which had granted the City's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief might be granted. On the second appeal, we reversed a summary judgment that had been granted the City. The facts, as recited in those opinions, are pertinent here and we recite them again:
437 So. 2d  at 120-21 and 420 So. 2d  at 58-59.
Following a trial on the merits, the trial court, sitting without a jury, ordered the City and the Planning Commission to rezone Karagan's property from Residence-Agriculture to Two-Family Residence. The trial court held that the Planning Commission was required to state valid grounds in its recommendations to the City, and that the ground stated in the Planning Commission's recommendation to deny Karagan's proposed amendment, namely, that the "proposed development would be out of character with the neighboring single family *62 residential areas," was not a valid ground.[1]
On appeal, the City argues that because this is a zoning case, the only issue properly before this Court is whether the City's denial of Karagan's proposed amendment was "fairly debatable." Karagan, however, argues that the judgment of the trial court was correct and that because the ground stated in the Planning Commission's recommendation was invalid, the City's denial of the proposed amendment was arbitrary and capricious.
Mobile Zoning Ordinance, § IX-B-5, provides:
Section IX-B-6 provides in pertinent part:
Zoning is an exercise of the police power of a city and is a legislative matter. COME v. Chancy, 289 Ala. 555, 269 So. 2d 88 (1972). The legislature of Alabama delegated legislative authority to municipalities of the state to pass general zoning ordinances. Fleetwood Development Corp. v. City of Vestavia Hills, 282 Ala. 439, 212 So. 2d 693 (1968). Code 1975, § 11-52-70, provides:
Section 11-52-76 provides:
The Mobile Zoning Ordinance, which was enacted in accordance with the provisions of the Code, specifically provides that the Planning Commission shall make recommendations on proposed amendments and transmit its recommendations to the City for "further action." Section IX-B-6 of the zoning ordinance, which is entitled Legislative Disposition, specifies the "further action" the City might take. Consequently, the City, within the context of the zoning ordinance and within the limits imposed by the Code, has the ultimate authority to rezone, and the Planning Commission, in consideration of a rezoning amendment, *63 is an advisory body only. The Planning Commission can recommend to the City what it thinks should be done, but it cannot pass finally on an application to rezone. The City is not bound by a recommendation of the Planning Commission. Though we can find no Alabama case directly on point, in Cale v. City of Bessemer, 393 So. 2d 959 (Ala.1981), this Court affirmed the denial, by the Bessemer City Commission, of an application to rezone certain property after the Bessemer Planning and Zoning Commission had unanimously recommended approval of the application.
In the instant case, the recommendation of the Planning Commission and the grounds stated therein, were only factors to be considered by the City in arriving at its ultimate decision as a legislative body. See Wright v. Mayor and Commissioners of the City of Jackson, 421 So. 2d 1219 (Miss.1982); Taylor v. City of Little Rock, 266 Ark. 384, 583 S.W.2d 72 1979. We find to be particularly persuasive the case of Kleidon v. City of Hickory Hills, 120 Ill.App.3d 1043, 76 Ill. Dec. 277, 458 N.E.2d 931 (1984). In Kleidon, the City of Hickory Hills adopted a variation ordinance. The plaintiffs, in an attempt to enjoin enforcement of the ordinance, brought suit and alleged, in part, that the failure of the zoning board to make findings of fact with respect to the then-proposed ordinance invalidated the City's action in adopting the ordinance. The court affirmed the City's adoption of the ordinance and wrote:
120 Ill.App.3d at 104, 76 Ill.Dec. 284, 458 N.E.2d  at 938.
Regardless of the grounds stated in the recommendation of the Planning Commission, the recommendation was no more than advisory in nature. Therefore, any alleged deficiency regarding the recommendation would not invalidate the legislative action taken by the City on Karagan's proposed zoning amendment.
The City's contention that the only issue before the court was whether the denial of the proposed amendment by the City was fairly debatable is correct.
The trial court did not make any finding as to whether the denial was fairly debatable. Therefore, the trial court erred in entering judgment for Karagan. The judgment is reversed and the cause remanded for a determination as to whether the denial by the City was fairly debatable.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
FAULKNER, ALMON, EMBRY and ADAMS, JJ., concur.
[1]  The parties did not argue the validity of the second ground set forth in the recommendation, that "a development of the density proposed should be located on a major street, or at least a secondary street," because the City admitted that Howells Ferry Road was a secondary street.