Court Opinion

ID: 9402735
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-06-16 18:00:43.57626+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:20:02.367985
License: Public Domain

Case: 22-50908           Document: 00516789701            Page: 1      Date Filed: 06/16/2023

                United States Court of Appeals
                     for the Fifth Circuit
                                                                                 United States Court of Appeals
                                                                                          Fifth Circuit

                                       ____________                                     FILED
                                                                                    June 16, 2023
                                        No. 22-50908                               Lyle W. Cayce
                                       ____________                                     Clerk

   Rafael Marfil; Verge Productions, L.L.C.;
   Enrico Marfil; Naomi Marfil; Korey A. Rholack;
   Daniel Olveda; Douglas Wayne Mathes,

                                                                    Plaintiffs—Appellants,

                                              versus

   City of New Braunfels, Texas,

                                                  Defendant—Appellee.
                        ______________________________

                        Appeal from the United States District Court
                             for the Western District of Texas
                                  USDC No. 6:20-CV-248
                        ______________________________

   Before Jones, Clement, and Haynes, Circuit Judges. 1
   Edith H. Jones, Circuit Judge:
            Plaintiffs here appeal the Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of their complaint
   alleging that the City of New Braunfels’s zoning regulation banning short-
   term rentals of residential properties in certain areas of the city is
   unconstitutional. The district court ordered dismissal by approving a few

            _____________________
            1
                Judge Haynes dissents. She would affirm for the reasons stated by the district
   court.
Case: 22-50908      Document: 00516789701          Page: 2   Date Filed: 06/16/2023

                                    No. 22-50908

   conclusory paragraphs in a magistrate judge’s recommendation.             This
   court’s relevant case law, however, indicates that some factual development
   may often occur in these cases, and that summary judgment may often follow.
   See, e.g., Mahone v. Addicks Util. Dist., 836 F.2d 921, 935–37 (5th Cir. 1988).
   We make no prediction on the future course of this case, but based on the
   complaint’s well-pled allegations, plaintiffs are entitled to engage in
   discovery in an attempt to surmount the currently high bar for challenging
   local zoning ordinances under the Constitution.
          VACATED and REMANDED.

                                         2