Agenda - Planning Commission - 01/08/2015

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Zoning Bulletin December 10, 2014 1 Volume 8 I Issue 23' 5011141 (La. Ct. App. 3d Cir. 2014) LOUISIANA (10/08/14)—This case addressed the issue of whether a contractor prevented from perfoiuring a contract because of the deci- sion of the board of zoning adjustment has standing to bring a suit chal- lenging the zoning decision. The Background/Facts: Bass Custom Signs, LLC ("Bass") con- tracted with Lafayette Shooters, Wilderness & Western Wear, Inc. ("Shooters") to modify a sign. Changes to zoning laws in the city of Lafayette rendered Shooters' sign legally nonconforming (i.e., noncon- forming with current zoning regulations, but allowed to remain because it existed prior to the zoning law changes). The contract between Bass and Shooters required Bass to apply for and secure the necessary permits for the modifications. Bass applied for the permits for sign modification. The Board of Zoning Adjustment (the "Board") did not approve the permit request. Bass then appealed the decision to the district court. Lafayette City -Parish Consolidated Government (the "City") then filed an Exception of No Right of Action. It maintained that Bass did not have standing to appeal the zoning decision, pursuant to Louisiana statutory law, La. R. S. 33:4727(E)(1). That statute defines who may challenge board of zoning adjustment decisions as including: "any person or persons jointly or severally aggrieved" by the decision. The City argued that the proper party to bring the appeal was the owner of the business or the landowner—here, Shooters. Bass claimed it was "a person aggrieved" because the Board's refusal to approve the modifica- tions for the sign caused Bass to lose the contract to modify the sign. The district court agreed with the City, granted the City's requested exception, and dismissed the case. Bass appealed. DECISION: Judgment of district court affirmed. As a matter of first impression (i.e., the first time the court ruled on the issue), the Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Third Circuit, held that a contractor that is prevented from performing a contract because of a de- cision of a board of zoning adjustment does not have standing to chal- lenge the decision in a district court. Thus, here, the Court concluded that Bass did not have standing to challenge the appeal of the Board's decision to deny the requested sign modification permit. In so holding, the court looked to interpret La. R. S. 33:4727(E)(1) and the meaning of "a person aggrieved." The court found that "a person aggrieved" had been defined by state common law as: a person that (1) has some interest in land affected by the zoning and (2) alleges specific pecuniary damage. The court interpreted the terra "a person aggrieved" to require, in order to challenge a decision of the Board of Zoning Adjustment in district court, that "the person have a proprietary interest © 2014 Thomson Reuters 3