2003 D e c i sion s O p inion s of the U nit e d S t at e s C our t of Appe al s for the Thir d C ir c uit
10-17-2003 

# Les se r v . C ity of C ap e M a

y P r e c e de n t i al or N on-P r e c e de n t i al : N on-P r e c e de n t i al D ocke t N o . 00-2736

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Thi s de c i sion i s br ou gh t t o you for f r e e a nd ope n a c c e s s b y the O p inion s of the U nit e d S t at e s C our t of Appe al s for the Thir d C ir c uit at V i l l a no va U nive r sity S choo l of L a

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w . vi l l a no va . e du/thir dc ir c uit_2003/201NOT PRE CEDENT IAL UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FO R T HE TH IRD CIR CU IT No. 00-2736 FRANCES D. LESSER ; GEORGE L ESSER; BARBARA SKINNER; JANE T SKI NNER; BRUCE MI NNIX; CORI NNE MINNIX; F RED WI LSON; ALICE STEER WILSON; MARTIN PYLE; HANNAH PYLE,

Ap pellan ts
v. THE CITY OF CAPE MAY, IN ITS CAPACI TY AS DESIGNEE OF THE UNITEDSTATES DEPARTMENT OF HO USING AND URBAN DEVELOPMEN T; CATHY BUF ORD SLAT ER, AS CHAI RPERS ON OF THE ADVIS ORY COUNCI L ON HI STORI C PRES ERVATI ON, AN INDE PENDE NT AGENCY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HISTOR IC PRESERVAT ION, AN INDEPEND ENT AG ENCY O F TH E U NI TE D S TA TE S O F A M ER ICA ; *B RA DL EY C. C AM PB EL L., IN HIS OFFI CIAL CAPACITY AS THE NEW JERSEY STATE HIST ORIC PR ESERVATI ON OFFIC ER; C ONGRESS HALL PART NERS, LLC;

WILLIAM G. GAFF NEY , as Mayor of the City of Cape May *{Su bstituted Pursua nt to F.R.A .P. 43(c)} Ap peal f rom the U nited S tates D istrict Co urt for the Dis tri ct of New Jersey (Civ. No. 99- cv-05575) Distri ct Judge: Hon. Joel A. Pi sano Submitte d Pursuant to Third Circ uit LAR 34.1(a)

April 1, 2003 (Opinion fi led: Oct ober 17, 2003) Be for e: M cK EE and SM ITH , Circuit Judges , and CO W EN , Senior Circuit Judge1 The Co ngre ss H all Ho tel, the larg est nine teenth centu ry beach fron t hotel re main ing in

Ca pe M ay, N ew Jers ey, is liste d as a N ation al H istor ic L and ma rk. Lesser v. City of Cape May , 110 F.S upp .2d 3 03, 3 05 ( D.N .J. 20 00)
. 2 Ou r rev iew of th e dis trict c our t’s gr ant o f su mm ary jud gm ent is plen ary. Huang v . BP Amoco Corp. , 271 F.3d 560, 564 (3d Cir. 200 1). 

### 2 OPI NION M cK EE , Circuit

Judge
. The appellants ar e a group of t en resi dents of Cape May, New Jersey, who sued the owner of Congress HallHotel 1 and v arious mu nicipa l, coun ty, state and f edera l offic ials challenging the propo sed rehab ilitati on of the Hotel on the groun d that certain statutory proceduralrequirements of the NationalHistori c Preservation Act of 1996 (“NHPA”), 16 U.S.C. § 470 et seq ., and the Nati onal Envir onmental Pol icyAct of 1969 (“NEPA”), 42 U.S.C. § 4312 et seq. , have no t been satisfied. Th ey are appealing the district court’s gran t of su mm ary judgm ent in f avor of the defe ndan ts on e ach o f the se ven c oun ts asserted in the ir amended complaint; however, the ir brief onl y address thedismis sal of
coun ts one and f ive of their am ende d com plaint. 2 Inasmuch as t

he dist rict court has alrea dy se t fort h the fact

ual and proc edural hist ory of this case,we need not repeat them here exce pt ins ofar as maybe helpfulto our brie f dis cus sion
. Lesser v. City of Cape May , 110 F.S upp .2d 3 03 ( D.N .J. 20 00)
. Moreover, thedist

rict court’ s carefulanaly sis compl etel y and t horoughlyexplai ns the court’ s reasons for deny ing plai ntiff s any reli ef and granting summaryjudgment t o the defe ndan ts. We need not en gage in a red und ant an alysis simp ly to reach the sam e resu lt.

### 3

Ac cord ingly, we will af firm th e district c ourt su bstan tially for the re ason s set fo rth in the di stri ct court ’s Opinion wit hout furt her elaborati on.

TO THE CLERK OF THE CO URT:

Please fi le theforegoing Opini on.
/s/ Theodore A. McKee Circuit Judge