Opinion ID: 427585
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: plaintiff's first amendment claims

Text: 14 We have no difficulty concluding that the evidence presented to the district court is insufficient to warrant summary judgment on behalf of defendants. We begin with the settled premise that zoning decisions may not constitutionally be made for the purpose of restricting protected first amendment speech, including that which is sexually explicit. 4 See generally Kuzinich v. County of Santa Clara, 689 F.2d 1345, 1347 (9th Cir.1982). Consequently, federal courts strictly scrutinize zoning decisions that impinge on first amendment rights. See generally Young v. American Mini Theatres, 427 U.S. 50, 56 & n. 12, 96 S.Ct. 2440, 2445 & n. 12, 49 L.Ed.2d 310 (1976); Interstate Circuit, Inc. v. Dallas, 390 U.S. 676, 88 S.Ct. 1298, 20 L.Ed.2d 225 (1968); Ebel v. City of Corona, 698 F.2d 390, 392 (9th Cir.1983). Cf. Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, 383 U.S. 663, 670, 86 S.Ct. 1079, 1083, 16 L.Ed.2d 169 (1966). Under the strict scrutiny standard, zoning decisions aimed at regulating unprotected activities that incidentally limit free expression are valid only if justified by a compelling state interest. Young, 427 U.S. at 56 n. 12, 96 S.Ct. at 2445 n. 12; Ebel, 698 F.2d at 392. 15 Thus, summary judgment is proper in this case only if, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to plaintiffs, it can be said as a matter of law that the purpose of the zoning decisions was to serve a compelling governmental interest unrelated to the suppression of free expression. Kuzinich, 689 F.2d at 1348-49. In addition, the incidental restriction on first amendment freedoms can be no greater than is essential to the furtherance of the governmental interest. Young, 427 U.S. at 79-80, 96 S.Ct. at 2457 (Powell, J., concurring). Under this legal framework and the facts presented here, summary judgment for defendants is inappropriate. 16 To begin with, the deposition testimony of one of the principal defendants indicates that the primary purpose of the City Council's zoning decision was to prevent plaintiffs' theater from operating in Pocatello. Defendant Billmeyer's deposition testimony indicates that he, in his capacity as Pocatello's mayor, called the September 2nd Council meeting to see what the City Council could do about getting the [plaintiffs'] Gallery Theater out of Pocatello. And defendant Ellis, the City's building inspector, candidly admitted in deposition testimony that he was instructed by Mayor Billmeyer to deny the building permit when plaintiffs applied for one. Ellis followed these instructions eight days later when plaintiffs' application was finally submitted. 17 In addition to these statements, the extraordinary nature of the City Council's decision-making process also casts suspicion on its motives. The September 2nd meeting was held before plaintiffs had even applied for a building permit for the theater. City Manager Charles Moss, who attended that meeting, recalled that the Council's purpose was to decide whether or not plaintiffs' theater would be permitted to operate at its new location. Defendant Councilwoman Boe testified that she could not recall any other time during her tenure on the Council when a meeting was held to deny a building permit before an application had been submitted. Indeed, Boe could not think of any other example where the Council instructed the City's building inspector to deny a permit application prior to its submission. Defendant Councilman Evans, who did not attend the September 2nd meeting, also testified that he could recall no other instances where the Council had instructed that a permit be denied prior to an application and that, under most circumstances, it would be improper for the Council to act in such a way. 18 Finally, the deposition testimony of several defendants indicates that the September 2nd meeting was the first time in the zoning code's six year history that the Council had adopted an interpretation of the term amusement enterprises that included indoor movie theatres. This testimony supports plaintiffs' allegation that the new zoning interpretation was specifically directed at their theatre. 19 When faced with a similar set of circumstances in Ebel v. City of Corona, 698 F.2d at 390, we did not hesitate to find that genuine issues of material fact existed and that plaintiff was entitled to a preliminary injunction. In Ebel, the plaintiff argued that the real purpose of the City's zoning ordinance restricting sellers of sex-oriented material was to obstruct the exercise of her First Amendment rights. Id. In Ebel, as in this case, the plaintiff operated the only adult-oriented business in town. Id. In Ebel, as here, there was an explicit statement by a City official that the goal of the ordinance was to remove the plaintiff's business from the City. Id. And, just as in the present case, there were other indications in Ebel that the City's zoning decision was directed specifically at the plaintiff. Id. Under these circumstances, we found that [t]he record provides enough evidence in support of [plaintiff's first amendment] claim to make the question one that does not lend itself to summary disposition. The claim presents fair ground for litigation. Id. 20 We reached a similar result in Kuzinich v. County of Santa Clara, 689 F.2d at 1345, where the Board of Supervisors enacted an emergency amendment to the zoning ordinances that made the operation of the plaintiff's adult businesses at their present locations illegal. 689 F.2d at 1347. Because there was ... evidence from which it might be inferred that the basic purpose [of the zoning decision] was to control the exercise of protected pornographic expression, 689 F.2d at 1348, we held in Kuzinich that summary judgment for the defendants was inappropriate. 21 A zoning decision that has as a purpose the restriction of protected first amendment freedoms cannot survive strict constitutional scrutiny. From the evidence presented in this case, it is impossible to conclude that there is no genuine material dispute concerning the reasons motivating the Pocatello City Council's actions. Indeed, there appears to be substantial evidence--most of it provided by defendants themselves--that the City Council took the unusual steps of adopting a new interpretation of the zoning ordinance, and ordering that a building permit be denied before it was even applied for, in order to prevent plaintiffs from exercising their first amendment rights. Plaintiffs must be given the opportunity to explore fully the Council's motivations at trial. 22 Plaintiffs do not question the City Council's legal authority to interpret provisions of the zoning ordinance or to deny conditional use permits. What plaintiffs do allege is that the Council's zoning decisions had as a purpose the restriction of first amendment rights. 5 Defendants are of course free to prove at trial that a compelling governmental interest, rather than a desire to curtail free expression, motivated their zoning decisions. See, e.g., Young, 427 U.S. at 56 n. 12, 96 S.Ct. at 2457 n. 12. 23 In granting summary judgment, the district court relied in part on the hearing the City Council held to consider the application for a conditional use permit. At this hearing the Council purportedly denied the application based on traffic and parking problems. However, if it is true, as plaintiffs allege, that the City Council actually made its decisions at the closed-door September 2nd meeting, then subsequent Council hearings and findings on potential traffic and parking problems are, at the least, suspect. We note that the first extensive hearing on the potential problems presented by plaintiffs' theater was conducted by the Board of Adjustments, and that Board decided that plaintiffs should be granted a conditional use permit. Only after the Board of Adjustments made its decision did the City Council--which plaintiffs allege had already decided the issues on September 2nd--hold its October 23, 1975 pre-election meeting to solicit the views of concerned individuals. Such a post hoc attempt to rationalize a previous decision is certainly an important factor in evaluating the Council's motives. See, e.g., Peacock, 694 F.2d at 648. 24 In any event, the justifications offered by the City Council must consist of more than [c]onclusions alone. Kuzinich, 689 F.2d at 1348. Rather, there must be a factual basis for the ... Council's conclusion that this kind of [zoning] restriction will have the desired effect. Young, 427 U.S. at 71, 96 S.Ct. at 2452-53 [footnote omitted]. 25 Even assuming that the desire to limit traffic and parking problems motivated the City Council's actions, the law requires that zoning decisions restricting first amendment rights be narrowly drawn. Kuzinich, 689 F.2d at 1348; see also Schad v. Borough of Mount Ephraim, 452 U.S. 61, at 68, 101 S.Ct. 2176, at 2182, 68 L.Ed.2d 671 (when a zoning law infringes upon a protected liberty, it must be narrowly drawn and must further a sufficiently substantial government interest.); Young, 427 U.S. at 56 n. 12, 96 S.Ct. at 2445 n. 12; Ebel, 698 F.2d at 393. Consequently, the City must show that plaintiffs' theater has a different impact upon traffic ... than other kinds of businesses have, Kuzinich, 689 F.2d at 1348, and that an ordinance directed at traffic or parking would not accomplish what the restriction on first amendment freedoms was intended to accomplish. Id. 26 The district court must therefore determine at trial whether a motivating factor in the zoning decision was to restrict plaintiffs' exercise of first amendment rights. Ebel, 698 F.2d at 393. If a motivating reason for the Council's actions was to prevent the theater from operating, then the zoning decision would violate the first amendment. Purposeful attempts to suppress protected expression are unconstitutional. 6 Id; see also Kuzinich, 689 F.2d at 1348-49. On the other hand, defendants' case will depend on proof that the zoning decisions were motivated by a desire to further a compelling governmental interest unrelated to the suppression of free expression. As we cautioned in Ebel, the district court should make factual findings on the validity of the city's assertions of harm [to be prevented by zoning] and then closely scrutinize the [zoning] ordinance's relationship to prevention of the alleged harms. Ebel, 698 F.2d at 393; see also Young, 427 U.S. at 56 n. 12, 96 S.Ct. at 2445 n. 12. 7 Finally, in order for defendants to prevail, the court must find that other actions, such as ordinances dealing directly with parking and traffic, could not have prevented the harms involved. Kuzinich, 689 F.2d at 1348. 8