Opinion ID: 547055
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Requests for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief from

Text: Enforcement of the Old Ordinance 36 In its amended complaint, National requested a declaration that the old ordinance was unconstitutional, and an injunction prohibiting its enforcement or an order requiring Denver to grant its applications for off-site advertising permits. Approximately one month after National filed its amended complaint, the old ordinance was repealed. On the basis of that repeal, the district court dismissed as moot National's claims for declaratory and injunctive relief on summary judgment. On appeal, National argues that the district court should not have dismissed the claims for prospective relief because it had a right to issuance of the permits before the repeal of the old ordinance. 37 Regardless of the propriety of Denver's denial of National's permit applications, the district court was correct in dismissing National's claims for prospective relief as moot. Federal court jurisdiction depends on the existence of a case or controversy 38  'admitting of specific relief through a decree of a conclusive character, as distinguished from an opinion advising what the law would be upon a hypothetical state of facts.' The controversy must exist at all stages of the proceedings, 'not merely at the time the complaint is filed.' The relief sought must be capable of addressing the alleged harm. 39 Blinder, Robinson & Co. v. United States Sec. & Exch. Comm'n, 748 F.2d 1415, 1418 (10th Cir.1984) (citations omitted), cert. denied, 471 U.S. 1125, 105 S.Ct. 2655, 86 L.Ed.2d 272 (1985). 40 At the time the district court held the claims moot, the new ordinance had been enacted and the old ordinance repealed. A declaratory judgment on the validity of a repealed ordinance is a textbook example of  'advising what the law would be upon a hypothetical state of facts.'  Id.; see also United States Dep't of the Treasury v. Galioto, 477 U.S. 556, 559-60, 106 S.Ct. 2683, 2685-86, 91 L.Ed.2d 459 (1986) (amendment of federal statute excising portion under constitutional attack moots appeal); Taxpayers for the Animas-La Plata Referendum v. Animas-La Plata Water Conservancy Dist., 739 F.2d 1472, 1478-79 (10th Cir.1984) (enactment of superseding state law mooted actions for injunctive and declaratory relief). 41 The district court's holding that the new ordinance is constitutional similarly renders meaningless any injunctive relief National seeks. Even if the permits had been issued, Denver could have revoked them under the new ordinance in effect at the time the district court ruled. See Cline v. City of Boulder, 168 Colo. 112, 450 P.2d 335, 338 (Colo.1969) (en banc) (municipality may revoke permit where zoning changed to prohibit use absent material change in reliance on issued permit). Thus, even assuming National was entitled to a permit before enactment of the new ordinance, it would have been immediately revocable from the time the new ordinance was enacted. Because the requested injunctive relief after enactment of the new ordinance would be meaningless, National's claim for injunctive relief is also moot. 6