Agenda - Planning Commission - 10/04/2012

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Zoning Bulletin July 10, 2012 1 Volume 6 I No. 13 Eminent Domain —Parish adopts ordinances imposing weight restriction on roadway Property and business owners argue ordinances effectively ended their truck business, constituting an unconstitutional taking of property Citation: Boudreaux v. Larpenter, 2011-410 La. App. 1 Cir. 6/1/12, 2012 WL 1964098 (La. Ct. App. 1st Cir. 2012) LOUISIANA (06/01/12)--This case addressed the issue of whether enforcement of a zoning ordinance that established a 15-ton limit weight re- striction on a road deprived the landowners of virtually all economically vi- able use of their property though an unconstitutional taking of property. The Background/Facts: Robert and Jessica Boudreaux lived on Bayouside Drive in Chauvin, Louisiana. This was also the location of Tradewinds, their family -owned business. As early as 1990 or 1991, Tradewinds hauled and sold river sand and limestone. In order for Tradewinds to conduct this work, it was necessary for large, heavy, commercial trucks to traverse Bayouside Drive to conduct business at the Boudreauxs' property. By 1999 or 2000, Tradewinds owned twelve to fourteen tandem dump trucks (weighing up to twenty-five tons when fully loaded), a fleet of eighteen -wheel trailer trucks (weighing up to forty-four tons when fully loaded), three bulldozers, and two excavators. In October 1996, the Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government ("TPCG") enacted an Ordinance 5685, which, among other things, established a 15-ton weight limit restriction on the entirety of Bayouside Drive. Ordinance 5685 was based on engineering studies of Bayouside Drive that were performed to establish the condition and capacity of the roadway. In December 2000, TPCG adopted Ordinance 6362, which, among other things, repealed the weight limit restrictions established in Ordinance 5685 and enacted section 18-30 of the Terrebone Parish Code. Section 18-30 re- enacted the 15-ton weight limit on Bayouside Drive, and allowed for person to obtain a permit to operate vehicles in excess of the weight limit. Through January 2002, Tradewinds and its drivers continued to violate the weight limit restrictions on Bayouside Drive, without applying for a permit. In January 2002, Tradewinds received a notice from the Sheriff of Terrebonne Parish, advising it to cease operating trucks on Bayouside Drive in violation of the weight limits. Thereafter, the Boudreauxs and Tradewinds (hereinafter, collectively "Tradewinds") filed a legal action in court. Among other things, Tradewinds alleged that the TPCG's passage of the weight limit restrictions constituted an unconstitutional taking —an inverse condemnation —of the Bayouside Drive Property because it deprived the Tradewinds of the practical economic uses of the property and substantially diminished the value of the property, without expropriation, due process, and compensation. Specifically, Tradewinds ©2012 Thomson Reuters " 7