Opinion ID: 2393810
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Substantially Advance Legitimate Interests

Text: A property regulation must substantially advance a legitimate governmental interest to pass constitutional muster. See, e.g., Dolan, 512 U.S. at 385, 114 S.Ct. at 2316-17; Nollan, 483 U.S. at 834, 107 S.Ct. at 3147. See also City of College Station, 680 S.W.2d at 805 (property regulation must be substantially related to a legitimate goal); Hunt, 462 S.W.2d at 539 (same); Watkins, 275 S.W.2d at 481 (same); Lombardo, 73 S.W.2d at 485 (same). While it is clear that a zoning ordinance that does not substantially advance a legitimate state interest constitutes a taking, the standards for determining what constitutes a legitimate state interest or what relation between a regulation and the state interest satisfies the substantially advance requirement in a regulatory takings case has not been clarified by the United States Supreme Court. See, e.g., Nollan, 483 U.S. at 834, 107 S.Ct. at 3147. The Supreme Court has, however, indicated that a broad range of governmental purposes and regulations will satisfy these requirements. Id. at 834-35, 107 S.Ct. at 3147-48. Specifically, the Supreme Court has noted that the following state interests are legitimate state interests: protecting residents from the ill effects of urbanization; Agins, 447 U.S. at 261, 100 S.Ct. at 2141-42; enhancing the quality of life; Penn Central Transp. Co. v. New York City, 438 U.S. 104, 129, 98 S.Ct. 2646, 2661-62, 57 L.Ed.2d 631 (1978); and protecting a beach system for recreation, tourism, and public health; Keystone, 480 U.S. at 488, 107 S.Ct. at 1243-44; Esposito v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 939 F.2d 165, 169 (4th Cir.1991), cert. denied, 505 U.S. 1219, 112 S.Ct. 3027, 120 L.Ed.2d 898 (1992). In Agins, the City of Tiburon adopted a zoning ordinance governing development of open space land that limited the plaintiffs to building between one and five single-family residences on the five acres of land which they had previously purchased for residential development. 447 U.S. at 257, 100 S.Ct. at 2139-40. The Court held that protecting the residents of Tiburon from the ill effects of urbanization by precluding the conversion of open-space land to urban uses was a legitimate government purpose. Id. at 261, 100 S.Ct. at 2141-42. Cf. Penn Central Transp. Co., 438 U.S. at 129, 98 S.Ct. at 2661-62 (preservation of desirable aesthetic features); Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas, 416 U.S. 1, 9, 94 S.Ct. 1536, 1541, 39 L.Ed.2d 797 (1974); Berman v. Parker, 348 U.S. 26, 32-33, 75 S.Ct. 98, 102-03, 99 L.Ed. 27 (1954); Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365, 394-95, 47 S.Ct. 114, 120-21, 71 L.Ed. 303 (1926); see also Christensen v. Yolo County Bd. of Supervisors, 995 F.2d 161, 165 (9th Cir.1993)(preservation of agricultural uses of land a legitimate state interest); Smithfield Concerned Citizens for Fair Zoning v. Town of Smithfield, 907 F.2d 239, 244-45 (1st Cir.1990)(controlling both the rate and character of community growth a legitimate government purpose); Pompa Construction Corp. v. City of Saratoga Springs, 706 F.2d 418, 422 (2d Cir.1983)(discouraging conversion of open-space land to urban uses a legitimate state interest). Such zoning ordinances benefit the public by serving the city's interest in assuring careful and orderly development of residential property with provision for open-space areas. Agins, 447 U.S. at 262, 100 S.Ct. at 2142. The substantial advancement requirement examines the nexus between the effect of the ordinance and the legitimate state interest it is supposed to advance. See Yee v. City of Escondido, 503 U.S. 519, 530, 112 S.Ct. 1522, 1529-30, 118 L.Ed.2d 153 (1992); see also generally Nollan, 483 U.S. at 837, 107 S.Ct. at 3148-49; Esposito, 939 F.2d at 169. This requirement is not, however, equivalent to the rational basis standard applied to due process and equal protection claims. Nollan, 483 U.S. at 834 n. 3, 107 S.Ct. at 3147 n. 3. The standard requires that the ordinance substantially advance the legitimate state interest sought to be achieved rather than merely analyzing whether the government could rationally have decided that the measure achieved a legitimate objective. Id. The Town's denial of the Mayhews' planned development application passes constitutional muster under this standard. In making this determination, we do not review the wisdom of the Town's decision. See Smithfield Concerned Citizens, 907 F.2d at 245. Rather, we are concerned only with whether the decision satisfies constitutional standards. The Mayhews allege that the real reason behind the denial of their development application was to have their property serve as borrowed open space for the residents of the Town who primarily live on less than one-acre lots. In support of this contention, the Mayhews presented evidence negating some of the reasons given by the planning and zoning commission for the denial of their development application. For instance, the Mayhews presented evidence establishing, and the district court found, that sanitary sewer facilities would not be a problem for the Mayhews' planned development because the local sewage plant was operating in full compliance with EPA guidelines and had enough capacity to serve the additional residences contemplated in the Mayhews' planned development. But the Town's planning and zoning commission came forth with a number of separate reasons for the denial of the Mayhews' application, several of which substantially advance legitimate state interests. The Town denied the development application in part because of the impact the development would have on the overall character of the community and the unique character and lifestyle of the Town which is different from that of adjoining municipalities where there is a proliferation of multi-family and single-family homes on small lots. Under the Supreme Court's decision in Agins, concern for such urbanization effects is clearly a legitimate state interest. We also conclude that the denial of the Mayhews' development application substantially advances the Town's legitimate concern for protecting the community from the ill effects of urbanization. The Mayhews requested a planned development with 3,600 units in a Town with a population of only approximately 2,000 residents. Photographs in the record show that the Town is uniquely rural and suburban, with undivided two lane roads, clusters of trees, lakes and ponds, and houses on large lots. This community would change drastically if a large planned development with at least three residences per acre was built. The Mayhews' planned development would result in an estimated population increase of between 10,000 and 15,000 persons, more than quadrupling the population of the Town. Simply put, the Town has a substantial interest in preserving the rate and character of community growth, and its action in denying the Mayhews' planned development furthers those interests.