Opinion ID: 204316
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: facts

Text: Some time prior to 1998, Jordan-Arapahoe, LLP, purchased land in Arapahoe County, Colorado. In 1998 Arapahoe County approved a preliminary development plan (1998 PDP) that rezoned Jordan-Arapahoe's land from agricultural to Mixed Used-Planned Unit Development (MU-PUD). Arapahoe County amended the PDP in 1999 (1999 PDP). Both the 1998 PDP and the 1999 PDP noted Automotive Sales and Repair as an allowable use under the MU-PUD zoning. In September 2002, Jacob Mazin Company, Inc. purchased some of Jordan-Arapahoe's land with the intent to develop an automobile dealership. It never developed the dealership, but Jordan-Arapahoe, relying on both PDPs' provision of Automotive Sales and Repair as an allowed use, paid approximately $2.6 million in capital development costs on both its and Jacob Mazin's property for (a) street construction, (b) site preparation and grading, (c) water channel drainage improvements, and (d) sanitary sewer installation in preparation for selling the land to a buyer interested in using it for an automotive dealership. In April 2006, Jordan-Arapahoe and Mazin agreed to sell their land to CarMax, which intended to operate a dealership. The contract was contingent upon confirmation that CarMax's intended use of the property was permitted under the zoning regulations. In May 2006, the city of Centennial asked the County to suspend all applications for development approval of automobile-sales uses at and around the Jordan-Arapahoe property. Arapahoe County complied and imposed a four-week moratorium on all development proposals, prompting a meeting at which the City Manager for Centennial, Jordan-Arapahoe, and CarMax appeared to state their various interests. CarMax advised Arapahoe County it had expended $100,000 to prepare its Final Development Plan. After the meeting, Arapahoe County extended the moratorium to January 2007. During that moratorium period, in late 2006, against the unanimous recommendation of the Arapahoe County Planning Commission and over Jordan-Arapahoe's objections, Arapahoe County altered the zoning for an area that included Jordan-Arapahoe's property. The rezoning added to the existing zoning regulations an Overlay District that superseded portions of the MU-PUD and replaced the PDPs' original 30-foot setback with a 1,500-foot setback for all public rights of way surrounding Jordan-Arapahoe's property. The 1,500-foot setback only applies to automobile or vehicle sales uses and makes it impossible to build a car dealership on the property, effectively negating Jordan-Arapahoe's contract with CarMax. Frustrated at not being able to sell its property after developing it for a specific use, Jordan-Arapahoe brought a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for deprivation of a protected property interest without due process in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The district court dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted, concluding Jordan-Arapahoe had failed to allege facts sufficient to show they had a protected property interest in the original zoning.