Opinion ID: 2004788
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Heading: Pending Ordinance Doctrine

Text: The pending legislation doctrine, also known as the pending ordinance doctrine, provides that a building permit need not be issued if pending at the time of application is an amendment to a zoning ordinance that would prohibit the use of land for which the permit is sought. See 101A C.J.S. Zoning & Land Planning § 262 (2005). The pending ordinance doctrine permits a municipality to amend its zoning ordinances without the threat of landowners racing to beat the clock by filing an application and thus obtaining vested rights under existing regulations. Id. Accordingly, the pending ordinance doctrine allows a municipality to refuse to issue a permit even if the permit application is made a considerable time before the enactment of the pending ordinance. Id. The ordinance, however, must be legally pending on the date of the permit application. Id. In addition, the municipality may not unreasonably or arbitrarily refuse or delay issuance of the permit. Id. Finally, although most cases that discuss the pending ordinance doctrine involve a municipality's refusal to issue a permit in the face of a pending ordinance, the pending ordinance doctrine also allows a municipality to revoke a permit it erroneously issued. See, e.g., Sharrow v. City of Dania, 83 So.2d 274, 275 (Fla.1955) (holding that the pending ordinance doctrine permitted the municipality to revoke an erroneously issued permit). We applied the pending ordinance doctrine to a pending zoning ordinance in State ex rel. SCA Chemical Waste Services, Inc. v. Konigsberg, 636 S.W.2d 430, 436 (Tenn.1982). In Konigsberg , a company applied for a building permit three days after the city council had enacted a comprehensive zoning ordinance that was to become effective three months later. Application of the new zoning ordinance would have required the company to obtain a special permit to build such a facility. The company's application for a building permit was denied. We held that the local government had the authority to suspend the issuance of permits for construction pending the effective date of the new comprehensive zoning ordinance. Id. at 437. In Cherokee Country Club, Inc. v. City of Knoxville, 152 S.W.3d 466, 470-71 (Tenn.2004), however, we held that the pending ordinance doctrine was inapplicable. In that case, a country club purchased certain real property with the intent to demolish a structure on that property to expand its facilities. The city passed an emergency ordinance in April 2000 providing that no demolition permit could be issued for a renewable period of 180 days for any property under review for a potential historic overlay. In February 2002, the club applied for and was denied a demolition permit based upon the emergency ordinance and a pending application for historic rezoning that was filed in January 2002. We stated that the pending ordinance analysis in Konigsberg did not apply because the emergency ordinance did not seek to impose a temporary moratorium or to preserve the status quo pending the implementation or consideration of a comprehensive zoning plan. Id. at 471. In addition, we noted in Cherokee Country Club that the emergency ordinance was a zoning ordinance that was not enacted in accordance with the statutes requiring planning, public notice, and a public hearing. Id. at 474. We further observed that the emergency ordinance improperly permanently prohibited a use of property pending an application to consider a historic overlay designation. Id. We held that the emergency ordinance was invalid, and we ordered that the city issue a demolition permit to the country club. Id. at 479. While both Konigsberg and Cherokee Country Club refer to the proper application of the pending ordinance doctrine in the context of a comprehensive zoning ordinance, we do not limit the application of the pending ordinance doctrine to such cases. We see no good reason to make a distinction between a comprehensive zoning ordinance and an historic zoning ordinance. To the contrary, the same considerations are applicable. Whether or not the historic zoning ordinance at issue falls within the definition of a comprehensive zoning ordinance, the municipality's interest in being able to work out the details of a zoning change free from potential violations of the pending ordinance is identical. Moreover, we are aware of no cases from other jurisdictions that make such a distinction. The issue in the present case, therefore, is not whether the pending ordinance doctrine is applicable to a case involving an historic zoning ordinance but whether the historic zoning ordinance was actually pending at the time Harding applied for the demolition permits. Courts disagree about the point in time at which a zoning ordinance becomes pending for purposes of the pending ordinance doctrine. Some jurisdictions hold that for a zoning ordinance to be pending, the proposed change need not be introduced to the governing body for consideration provided the appropriate department of the city is actively pursuing it. Villa at Greeley, Inc. v. Hopper, 917 P.2d 350, 357 (Colo.Ct.App.1996) (citing 8 E. McQuillin, Municipal Corporations § 25.155 (3d ed.1983)). Other jurisdictions, however, have observed that an ordinance is pending when the governing body proposes a new zoning ordinance, makes the proposal open to public inspection, and advertises that the proposal will be discussed at a forthcoming public meeting. 101A C.J.S. Zoning & Land Planning § 262 (citing Casey v. Zoning Hearing Bd. of Warwick Twp., 459 Pa. 219, 328 A.2d 464 (Pa.1974)). In City of Jackson, Mississippi v. Lakeland Lounge of Jackson, Inc., 800 F.Supp. 455, 464 (S.D.Miss.1992), rev'd on other grounds, 973 F.2d 1255 (5th Cir.1992), the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi notes that the pending ordinance doctrine would not apply to a municipality's attempt to amend a zoning ordinance if the proposed amendments to the ordinance were still before the planning board and had not yet been considered by the city council or received public comment. In Konigsberg , we cited to Sherman v. Reavis, 273 S.C. 542, 257 S.E.2d 735 (S.C. 1979), among other cases, in support of the application of the pending ordinance doctrine. 636 S.W.2d at 436. In Sherman , the pending rezoning legislation had been recommended in detail to the city council and had already reached an advanced stage of the statutory rezoning procedure. 257 S.E.2d at 736. The Supreme Court of South Carolina emphasized that an ordinance is not legally pending until the governing body has resolved to consider a particular scheme of rezoning and has advertised to the public its intention to hold public hearings on the rezoning. Id. at 737-38 (citing Casey, 459 Pa. 219, 328 A.2d 464) (emphasis added). Moreover, the Pennsylvania authority upon which the Sherman court relied rejected the view that an ordinance could be considered pending when a governing body first announces its intention to consider rezoning and refers the matter to its zoning commission, Casey, 328 A.2d at 467; see also Scott v. Greenville County, 716 F.2d 1409, 1419 n. 10 (4th Cir.1983) (discussing Sherman and Casey ). At the time Harding applied for the demolition permits on May 1, 2003, an application for a zoning change had been filed with Metro's Planning Commission. This application simply proposed that the Belle Meade Links Triangle area be declared an historic overlay district. No action regarding the zoning change application had taken place prior to Harding's demolition requests other than the scheduling of a hearing before the Historic Zoning Commission to discuss the proposal and the publishing of a notice to residents about such meeting. The Historic Zoning Commission had not yet considered the zoning change application; consequently, the matter had not been referred to the City Council for its consideration. We emphasized in Cherokee Country Club that the emergency ordinance in that case improperly prohibited a use of property pending an application to consider a historic overlay designation. 152 S.W.3d at 474. As we explained in Cherokee Country Club , the creation of an historic district pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated section 13-7-405(a) and (b) requires an historic zoning commission to make written recommendations to the local legislative body. 152 S.W.3d at 475. Metro's Historic Zoning Commission had not taken this step at the time Harding applied for the demolition permits, and no proposed ordinance detailing a particular zoning scheme had been introduced before the Metro Council at that time. The actions that took place prior to Harding's requests for the demolition permits  Councilwoman Williams' filing of the zone change application form and the Historic Zoning Commission's notice of a public meeting regarding her proposal  do not establish a pending zoning ordinance because the Historic Zoning Commission had not yet made its recommendation to the Metro Council. See A.J. Aberman, Inc. v. City of New Kensington, 377 Pa. 520, 105 A.2d 586, 590 (Pa.1954) (distinguishing another case, Kline v. City of Harrisburg, 362 Pa. 438, 68 A.2d 182 (Pa.1949), on the basis that in that case, the planning commission had neither completed its report nor submitted its recommendations to council and, consequently, no zoning ordinance was pending); cf. Ropiy v. Hernandez, 363 Ill. App.3d 47, 299 Ill.Dec. 710, 842 N.E.2d 747, 752-55 (Ill.App.Ct.2006) (noting that the permits at issue were properly denied under the pending ordinance doctrine because an amendatory zoning ordinance was introduced in the city council before the plaintiff completed purchase of the property). In the present case, the Historic Zoning Commission did not recommend the historic conservation overlay designation to the Metro Council until after Harding applied for and was issued the demolition permits. Consequently, the ordinance in this case was not pending. The zone change application filed with the Metro Planning Commission and the subsequent notice of a public hearing simply occurred too early in the historic zoning process to justify use of the pending ordinance doctrine to revoke Harding's permits. See Scott, 716 F.2d at 1419 n. 10 (noting that mere public announcement of city council's intention to reconsider zoning of area in which plaintiff proposed to build could not undermine plaintiff's entitlement to a permit since referral of matter to county zoning and planning commission did not take place until after plaintiff applied for the permit). Because there was no pending ordinance in this case, we hold that Metro did not have the authority pursuant to the pending ordinance doctrine to revoke the permits it had issued to Harding and that Metro's revocation of the permits was therefore improper. Because we conclude that the ordinance was not sufficiently pending to permit the application of the pending ordinance doctrine, we do not reach the issue of whether Metro's revocation of Harding's demolition permits was arbitrary and capricious with regard to other property owners who had applied for building permits during the same period. We must, however, address the footnote in the Court of Appeals' opinion suggesting Harding may not be permitted to carry out its planned demolition of the structures on the properties at issue even if Metro reissues the permits. The Court of Appeals reasoned that the reissuance of the permits could be governed by the newly enacted ordinance. We disagree.