Opinion ID: 781619
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Termination Based on Alleged Zoning Violations

Text: 82 Motiva contends that the district court erred in concluding that it did not meet its burden of showing that termination of Ceraso's franchise was proper on the basis of zoning violations. It argues, inter alia, that the court should have given substantial weight to the ZBA decision that Ceraso violated the Town Regulation and that the court should have viewed Motiva's evidence more favorably. We find no basis for reversal in any of Motiva's contentions.
83 Motiva's contention that the district court should have deferred to the decision of the ZBA that Ceraso violated the Town Regulation is meritless. The Regulation states that no more than five (5) motor vehicles awaiting repair work or having been repaired are to be stored or parked on the lot out-of-doors, without being screened. Town Zoning Regulations § 27.4.8.5 (emphasis added). The Revocation Application filed by Marsala in October 2000 for revocation of Ceraso's special exception permit, although quoting the Regulation, alleged as facts the following: 84 In December of 1999, I issued Mr. Ceraso an Order to Comply with § 27.4.8.5. Specifically, Mr. Ceraso was to reduce the number of unscreened vehicles on the property to five or fewer. He has failed to comply with my Order.... 85 .... Because Mr. Ceraso has been in violation of § 27.4.8.5 of the Regulations, the Commission has the authority to revoke his Special Exception.... 86 For the above reasons, in my capacity as Zoning Enforcement Officer of the Town of Fairfield, I respectfully request that Mr. Ceraso's Special Exception certificate for approval to use the location at the above property be revoked by this Board. 87 (Attachment to Revocation Application at 1-2.) The application contained no allegations as to how many cars were on the premises awaiting repair or having been repaired. Thus, the application did not allege a violation of the Regulation as written. 88 The ZBA voted to grant Marsala's application without making any findings. Given that the ZBA made no findings and gave no express instructions, its decision apparently contemplated that in order to avoid loss of his permit, Ceraso must reduce to no more than five the total number of unscreened vehicles on the property — regardless of whether they had been or were to be repaired. Accordingly, the ZBA imposed on Ceraso an obligation different from that on the face of the Regulation. 89 Generally, it is the function of a zoning board or commission to decide within prescribed limits and consistent with the exercise of [its] legal discretion, whether a particular section of the zoning regulations applies to a given situation and the manner in which it does apply. Double I Limited Partnership v. Plan & Zoning Commission, 218 Conn. 65, 72, 588 A.2d 624, 628 (1991) (internal quotation marks omitted). The board's action is subject to review by the courts only to determine whether it was unreasonable, arbitrary or illegal. Id. Here, the ZBA's decision was subject to review in state court, and Ceraso had indeed appealed that decision. No definitive state-court ruling on the ZBA's interpretation was ever forthcoming, however, because Ceraso and the Town agreed to a settlement that did not involve revocation of his permit. 90 The district court found that the ZBA action cannot be said to prove a violation of the strict wording of the regulation because [t]he terminology in the [Revocation A]pplication does not state a violation of, or noncompliance with, the actual wording of the Regulation. Posttrial Decision at 7, 6. In light of the disparity between the language of the Regulation and the allegations of the application, and in light of the absence of any findings by the ZBA, we see no error in the district court's treatment of the ZBA's decision as a less-than-reasonable interpretation of the Regulation. The district court properly rejected Motiva's contention that it should rule that Ceraso had violated the Regulation simply on the basis of the ZBA decision. 91
92 Finally, Motiva contends that the evidence it presented at trial was sufficient to show that Ceraso violated the Regulation and hence that Motiva's termination of the franchise on that basis was valid. For the reasons that follow, we reject this contention as well. 93 The PMPA provides that [t]he franchisor shall bear the burden of going forward with evidence to establish as an affirmative defense that [its] termination or nonrenewal was permitted under section 2802(b) .... 15 U.S.C § 2805(c). Thus, after the franchisee has presented evidence of a termination or nonrenewal, the burden is on the franchisor to prove that its action was permitted by the PMPA. See, e.g., Four Corners Service Station, Inc. v. Mobil Oil Corp., 51 F.3d 306, 310 (1st Cir.1995); Clinkscales v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc., 831 F.2d 1565, 1569 (11th Cir.1987). There is no dispute that Motiva sent the Termination Letter informing Ceraso that his franchise would be terminated for violations of the zoning Regulation. Thus, Motiva had the burden of proving that Ceraso had violated the Regulation. 94 The district court's findings of fact after a bench trial are not to be overturned unless they are clearly erroneous. See, e.g., Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a); Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564, 573-74, 105 S.Ct. 1504, 84 L.Ed.2d 518 (1985). This standard applies whether those findings are based on witness testimony, or on documentary evidence, or on inferences from other facts. See, e.g., id. at 574, 105 S.Ct. 1504; Petereit v. S.B. Thomas, Inc., 63 F.3d 1169, 1176 (2d Cir.1995). In reviewing findings for clear error, we are not allowed to second-guess either the trial court's credibility assessments or its choice between permissible competing inferences. See, e.g., Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. at 573-74, 105 S.Ct. 1504. Even if the appellate court might have weighed the evidence differently, it may not overturn findings that are not clearly erroneous. See id. at 574, 105 S.Ct. 1504. The weight of the evidence is not a ground for reversal on appeal, see, e.g., Schwartz v. Capital Liquidators, Inc., 984 F.2d 53, 54 (2d Cir.1993) (per curiam), and the fact that there may have been evidence to support an inference contrary to that drawn by the trial court does not mean that the findings are clearly erroneous, see, e.g., Healey v. Chelsea Resources, Ltd., 947 F.2d 611, 618 (2d Cir.1991). The decisions as to whose testimony to credit and which of permissible inferences to draw are solely within the province of the trier of fact, and [w]here there are two permissible views of the evidence, the factfinder's choice between them cannot be clearly erroneous, Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. at 574, 105 S.Ct. 1504; see United States v. Yellow Cab Co., 338 U.S. 338, 342, 70 S.Ct. 177, 94 L.Ed. 150 (1949). 95 The district court here, focusing on the terms of the Regulation, found that Motiva's evidence was insufficient to persuade the court that, during the period in question, there were more than five unscreened cars that had been repaired or were awaiting repair on any precise date or for any more-than-minimal duration. We see no clear error in that finding. 96 Plainly, none of the testimonial evidence required a contrary finding. For example, although Marsala testified that he had counted the number of cars on the premises, he admitted that he had not determined whether any of the vehicles were awaiting repair or had been repaired. His failure to make that determination is hardly surprising given his apparent misimpression, as revealed in both the initial Order To Comply and the Revocation Application to the ZBA, that the Regulation limited the total number of unscreened cars without regard to their repair status. 97 Ascher testified that he had estimated the total number of vehicles on the lot on each of his visits, placing that number at 25 to 35, excluding vehicles in the bays, in a fenced area, and at the gasoline pumps. But he too conceded that he had no information as to the repair status of any of the vehicles. And although the Gall affidavit colorfully stated the view that there were too many cars on Ceraso's premises, it likewise provided no information as to the vehicles' repair status. 98 The one trial witness who appeared to have any information as to the number of cars on the premises that were repaired or awaiting repair was Seagren, who had been the manager of Ceraso's towing operation. Seagren testified that while he dealt primarily with the towing business, he also dealt with customers needing repairs; that he had written some repair orders and released some repaired cars; and that he personally knew of the status of basically every car that was on the lot. (Tr. vol. I, at 55.) He estimated that during the last month he worked for Ceraso, about 15 cars a day were on the premises for repairs. The pertinence of his testimony, however, was superficial. First, the court, which had the opportunity to assess Seagren's demeanor and credibility, apparently found his testimony not believable to the extent that Seagren claimed to have personal knowledge beyond facts relating to vehicles that had been towed from accidents or breakdowns, see Posttrial Decision at 3-4, an assessment we cannot overturn. More importantly, Seagren was employed on Ceraso's premises for only a minuscule part of the period covered by the Town's zoning complaints. The Town's initial Order To Comply was dated December 17, 1999. Seagren testified that, after a falling out (Tr. vol. I, at 90), he left Ceraso's employ just before Christmas of '99 ( id. at 47). Thus, although the period covered by the Town's zoning complaints was more than 10 months, Seagren's personal contact with Ceraso's operations during that period was limited to no more than one week. Even assuming that Seagren's estimates were accepted for that single week, which immediately followed the Town's initial Order To Comply, the court plainly was not required to accept his estimates as proof of conditions at any other point in the 10-month period. Finally, Motiva's first written warning to Ceraso, stating that his franchise would be in jeopardy of termination if he did not comply with the Town's zoning orders, was the letter dated September 18, 2000. By the time of that warning, Seagren had been gone from Ceraso's employ for nearly nine months; he apparently had no first-hand knowledge of the repair status of any cars on Ceraso's premises at any time near the point at which Motiva threatened or attempted to terminate the franchise. In sum, we have seen no testimonial evidence that required a finding that, at the times pertinent to Motiva's notice of termination, Ceraso violated § 27.4.8.5. 99 Nor do we see any clear error in the court's finding that Motiva's documentary evidence was inadequate to show the pertinent number of cars on Ceraso's premises during the relevant period. Although some documents showed dates on which cars were towed to Ceraso's station and dates on which payments were received, the court found those documents unpersuasive in the absence of additional information. It noted that some payments could have been merely for towing, with repairs to be made by companies other than Ceraso's; in other instances, payment could have been made for repairs after the cars had been picked up by their owners. In neither circumstance would the car in question have been repaired or awaiting repair for all of (or perhaps any part of) the period between the two dates recorded on the documents. The court found that other documents, while revealing the dates on which a car had arrived at and left the premises, d[id] not delineate the time a car was actually being repaired, to which the Regulation, by its terms, does not apply. Posttrial Decision at 8. The court also found that the documents did not necessarily reveal how long a car was waiting to be picked up after repairs had been completed, stating that some short but reasonable amount of time — which would not have been controllable by Ceraso — must be allowed for the owner to pick up a car following its repair. In light of the above assessments, we cannot say that the court erred in finding Motiva's documentary evidence less than sufficiently probative. 100 Motiva contends that there was no evidence to support certain of the district court's statements, such as that some of the cars on the premises could have belonged to Ceraso's employees or that the repair bays and screened area of the premises could accommodate certain numbers of cars. We see no basis for reversal in these statements, which we regard as observations as to various respects in which there were simply gaps in Motiva's proof. It was incumbent upon Motiva, which bore the burden of proof, to provide sufficient evidence to persuade the court as to the repair status of unscreened cars on Ceraso's premises during the pertinent period. We see no clear error in any of the court's findings, nor any error in its ultimate ruling that Motiva did not carry its burden. 101 The judgment in the present case adjudicated only the events related to Motiva's November 13, 2000 attempt to terminate Ceraso's franchise. Nothing in that judgment or in our affirmance precludes a renewed attempt by Motiva to terminate the franchise if there are subsequent violations of Ceraso's obligations.