Texas Judiciary Online - HTML Opinion

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Opinion issued January = 4,=20 2007

In=20 The

Court of=20 Appeals

For=20 The

First=20 District of Texas

NO. = 01-04-01224-CV

THE CITY = OF LA=20 MARQUE, Appellant

TOYYA = BRASKEY D/B/A=20 THE MOMMA CAT, Appellee

On = Appeal from the=20 212th District Court

Galveston County,=20 Texas

Trial = Court Cause=20 No. 03CV0644

O P I N = I O=20 N

Appellant, the City of = LaMarque, appeals=20 a judgment rendered on a jury verdict in favor of appellee, Toyya = Braskey=20 d/b/a The Momma Cat. The trial court (1) issued a judgment that = declared=20 that the City's Kennel Location Ordinance did not apply to = Braskey, (2)=20 issued an injunction to prevent the City from enforcing the = ordinance, and=20 (3) awarded Braskey attorney's fees of $27,500 for the trial, = $10,000 for=20 an appeal to the court of appeals, and $15,000 for an appeal to = the=20 supreme court. On appeal, the City asserts, in its first issue, = that the=20 trial court had no jurisdiction over Braskey's suit. We agree that = the=20 trial court lacked jurisdiction over the applicability of the = ordinance to=20 Braskey because jurisdiction is proper in the court where the = criminal=20 charges against Braskey are pending. We vacate the trial court's = judgment=20 and dismiss the cause for want of jurisdiction.^{=20
(1)}

Background

Braskey has=20 operated a state-licensed cat shelter, the Momma Cat, within the = City of=20 LaMarque since October 2002. In May 2003, the City issued = citations to=20 Braskey for violation of Ordinance No. 587, section 4-8 (the = Kennel=20 Location Ordinance). The Kennel Location Ordinance prohibits = maintaining a=20 kennel within 500 feet of a dwelling, school, or church. The Momma = Cat=20 shelter, which housed as many as 100 cats at a time, is located = within 100=20 feet of three residences.

While=20 criminal charges were pending against Braskey in the municipal = court,=20 Braskey filed this lawsuit seeking a declaration and an injunction = from=20 the trial court. Braskey requested that the trial court declare = that the=20 Kennel Location Ordinance does not apply to her because the = ordinance=20 pertains to kennels only, and the Momma Cat is an "animal shelter" = and not=20 a "kennel." Further, by contending that enforcement of the = ordinance would=20 cause her irreparable harm, Braskey sought an injunction from the = trial=20 court that would order the City not to enforce the ordinance = against her.=20 The irreparable harm claimed by Braskey was that enforcement of = the=20 ordinance would cause her facility to be closed, the death of cats = housed=20 at the Momma Cat, possible fines levied against her, her possible=20 confinement, and her expenditure of attorney's fees. Braskey's = petition=20 alleged that the Kennel Location Ordinance was an "ex post facto=20 application and constitutes unlawful taking of property in = violation of=20 the due process cause [sic] of the U.S. Constitution."

The Kennel=20 Location Ordinance

The Kennel=20 Location Ordinance states,

It shall be=20 unlawful for any person to maintain or construct a kennel as = defined in=20 this section within 500 feet of a dwelling, school or church with = the=20 following exceptions: 1. the owner or operator may locate within = the=20 distance limitation, 2. distance limitation may be reduced to 100 = feet=20 when all residents and property owners within 500 feet sign a = verified=20 statement waiving the 500 foot distance requirement. In no event = shall=20 such kennel create a nuisance because of noise, smell or any other = reason.=20 A kennel is defined as follows: any premises wherein any person = keeps,=20 harbors, possesses, or maintains more than four (4) dogs or four = (4) cats=20 or a combination of said animals within the total number exceeding = four=20 (4) over three (3) months old, except a licensed veterinarian=20 clinic.

Trial=20 Court's Jurisdiction

In its=20 first issue on appeal, the City contends that the trial court, and = thus=20 this Court, lack jurisdiction. If a court lacks jurisdiction, the = cause=20 must be dismissed. Reese v. City of Hunter's Creek = Village, 95=20 S.W.3d 389, 392 (Tex. App.--Houston [1st Dist.] 2002, pet. = denied). "The=20 plaintiff has the burden to plead facts that affirmatively show = that the=20 trial court has subject-matter jurisdiction." Channelview = Indep. Sch.=20 Dist. v. A.R.C.I., Ltd., 199 S.W.3d 556, 558 (Tex. = App.--Houston [1st=20 Dist.] 2006, no pet.) (citing Tex. Ass'n of Bus.v. Tex. Air = Control=20 Bd., 852 S.W.2d 440, 446 (Tex. 1993)).

Generally,=20 the meaning and validity of a penal statute or ordinance should be = determined by a court exercising criminal jurisdiction. State = v.=20 Morales, 869 S.W.2d 941, 945 (Tex. 1994) (citing Passel = v. Fort=20 Worth Indep. Sch. Dist., 440 S.W.2d 61, 63 (Tex. 1969)). A = court of=20 equity does not have jurisdiction to enjoin the enforcement of a = penal=20 ordinance or statute unless (1) it is unconstitutional and (2) it=20 threatens vested property rights with irreparable injury. = Id. If=20 a party fails to satisfy both prongs of Morales, then a = civil=20 court lacks jurisdiction over the cause. See Potter County = Attorney's=20 Office v. Stars & Stripes, Sweepstakes, L.L.C., 121 = S.W.3d 460,=20 469 (Tex. App.--Amarillo 2003, no pet.); Warren v. = Aldridge, 992=20 S.W.2d 689, 691 (Tex. App.--Houston[14th Dist.] 1999, no pet.). If = questions of constitutionality can be resolved in a criminal = proceeding=20 "and vested property rights are not in jeopardy," then a court of = equity=20 should not intervene. Morales, 869 S.W.2d at 945 (citing=20 Passel, 440 S.W.2d at 63). The lack of jurisdiction in = this type=20 of case is not limited to suits seeking to enjoin enforcement, but = also to=20 suits seeking a declaratory judgment regarding the = constitutionality of a=20 statute or ordinance. Id. at 947.

For the=20 trial court to have jurisdiction here, Braskey must show that a = vested=20 property right was threatened with irreparable harm. See = Morales,=20 869 S.W.2d at 945. The City does not dispute that Braskey, as = owner of the=20 facility, has a property right in the facility. See = Reese, 95=20 S.W.3d at 391 (stating that property rights include "actual = ownership" of=20 property). The issue here is not whether Braskey had a property = right in=20 the facility, but rather whether her use of the facility, = as a=20 cat shelter, was a vested property right.

Property=20 owners do not have a constitutionally protected vested right to = use real=20 property in any certain way, without restriction. See City of = Univ.=20 Park v. Benners, 485 S.W.2d 773, 778 (Tex. 1972) (holding = "that=20 property owners do not acquire a constitutionally protected vested = right=20 in property uses once commenced or in zoning classifications once = made");=20 Weatherford v. City of San Marcos, 157 S.W.3d 473, 483 = (Tex.=20 App.--Austin 2004, pet. denied) (concluding property owner "had no = vested=20 property right in any particular zoning classification"); Hang = On III,=20 Inc. v. Gregg County, 893 S.W.2d 724, 726 (Tex. = App.--Texarkana 1995,=20 writ dism'd by agr.) (holding that property owner did not have = vested=20 property right in operating sexually-oriented business on that = property).=20 A right is "vested" when it "has some definitive, rather than = merely=20 potential existence." Tex. S. Univ. v. State Street Bank and = Trust=20 Co., No. 01-05-00758-CV, 2006 WL 1549744, at *7 (Tex. = App.--Houston=20 [1st Dist.] June 8, 2006, no pet.); see also Black's Law=20 Dictionary 1595 (8th ed. 2004) (defining "vested" as "[h]aving = become a=20 completed, consummated right for present or future enjoyment; not=20 contingent; unconditional; absolute"). Braskey's use of her = property as a=20 facility for cats is not a constitutionally protected vested right = because=20 it concerns only the way that her property is used, which is not = an=20 absolute right. See Benners, 485 S.W.2d 778;=20 Weatherford, 157 S.W.3d at 483; Hang On, 893 = S.W.2d at=20 726. Braskey's asserted harms--the closing of her facility, the = death of=20 cats housed at the facility, possible fines levied against her for = operating the facility, her possible confinement for operating the = facility, and her expenditure of attorney's fees to pursue = continued=20 operation of the facility--all concern the use of her property as = a=20 facility for cats, which is not a constitutionally protected = vested right.=20 See Benners, 485 S.W.2d 778; Weatherford, 157 = S.W.3d at=20 483; Hang On, 893 S.W.2d at 726.

We conclude=20 that the ordinance's restrictions on the use of Braskey's property = as a=20 cat shelter do not constitute threats to vested property = rights. See=20 Benners, 485 S.W.2d 778; Weatherford, 157 S.W.3d at = 483;=20 Hang On, 893 S.W.2d at 726. We hold that the trial court = did not=20 have jurisdiction to hear this lawsuit and, thus, we do not have=20 jurisdiction over this appeal. See Morales, 869 S.W.2d at = 945=20 (requiring irreparable harm to vested property rights before civil = court=20 may enjoin enforcement of criminal law); see also Channelview = Indep.=20 Sch. Dist., 199 S.W.3d at 558 (stating plaintiff must = affirmatively=20 allege facts showing subject-matter jurisdiction); Tex. Dep't = of=20 Transp. v. City of Sunset Valley, 92 S.W.3d 540, 549 (Tex.=20 App.--Austin 2002) (holding that parties' failure to identify = authority=20 that right at issue was vested property right precluded judicial = review of=20 agency action), rev'd = on other=20 grounds, 146 S.W.3d 637 (Tex. 2004). Therefore, the municipal = court=20 is the proper court to hear Braskey's challenges to the ordinance. = See=20 Morales, 869 S.W.2d at 945 (quoting Passel, 440 = S.W.2d at=20 63) (stating that if no property rights are threatened, "[a] = person may=20 continue his activities until he is arrested and then procure his = release=20 by showing that the law is void"). Because Morales = requires that=20 a plaintiff meet both prongs to establish jurisdiction and we have = determined that Braskey has not met the second prong, we do not = reach the=20 first prong that concerns the constitutionality of the ordinance. = See=20 id.

We sustain the City's first=20 issue.

Conclusion

We vacate the judgment of the = trial court=20 and dismiss this cause for want of jurisdiction.

Elsa Alcala

Justice

Panel consists of Chief Justice = Radack=20 and Justices Alcala and Bland.

1. Because we=20 conclude that we lack jurisdiction over this case, we do not reach = the=20 City's appellate issues numbered two through five that assert that = the=20 trial court erred (1) by declaring that the ordinance in question = does not=20 apply to Braskey, (2) by declaring that Braskey's facility was not = a=20 nuisance, and (3) by awarding post-judgment interest and = attorney's fees.=20

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