Patel v. City of Everman
Patel v. City of Everman
Opinion of the Court
A property owner appealed an administrative determination that his property was a nuisance, and he also asserted a takings claim. He then nonsuited the case. He later filed this suit, again alleging that the government illegally took his property. Because he is collaterally es-topped from doing so, we affirm the court of appeals’ judgment.
Jayanti Patel owned twenty buildings in the City of Everman. The City notified Patel that it intended to demolish fifteen of his buildings because they were substandard. After a hearing, the City Council adopted the Planning and Zoning Commission’s recommendation that the buildings be demolished.
Patel sued to enjoin the demolition, and the trial court signed an agreed order requiring him to bring all fifteen buildings into compliance with the City’s code. Patel did not honor his commitment, and the City again notified him that his buildings were substandard. The City held another hearing, and the administrative board voted to demolish all twenty of Patel’s buildings. Patel again sued to stop the demolition. He also alleged a taking and asked the trial court to issue a writ compelling the administrative board to review its demolition decisions. See Tex. Loc. Gov’t
Patel sued the City in federal court, asserting claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for deprivations of rights guaranteed by the Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The federal district court granted the City’s motion for summary judgment,
Patel argues that the court of appeals wrongly concluded that collateral estoppel precludes his takings claim. We disagree. We recently held that a party asserting a taking based on an allegedly improper administrative nuisance determination must appeal that determination and assert his takings claim in that proceeding. See City of Dall. v. Stewart, 361 S.W.3d 562 (Tex. 2012). We noted that “[although agencies have no power to preempt a court’s constitutional construction, a party asserting a taking must first exhaust its administrative remedies and comply with jurisdictional prerequisites for suit.” Id. (footnote omitted). We also held that “a litigant must avail [himself] of statutory remedies that may moot [his] takings claim, rather than directly institute a separate proceeding asserting such a claim.” Id. (citing City of Dall. v. VSC, 347 S.W.3d 231 (Tex. 2011)). Here, Patel appealed the administrative nuisance determination. Although
Accordingly, without hearing oral argument, Tex.R.App. P. 59.1, we grant the petition for review and affirm the court of appeals’ judgment.
. The district court dismissed as premature Patel’s takings and procedural due process claims, as well as his challenges to Local Government Code section 214.001. Patel v. City of Everman, No. 4:99CV-982-BE, 2001 WL 11074, at *1 n. 3, 2001 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 34, at *4 n. 3 (N.D.Tex. Jan. 3, 2001), aff'd, 275 F.3d 46 (5th Cir. 2001), cert. denied, 535 U.S. 954, 122 S.Ct. 1357, 152 L.Ed.2d 353 (2002).
. This appeal concerns only the four buildings that were demolished but not subject to the agreed order or the no-evidence motion for summary judgment.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jayanti PATEL v. CITY OF EVERMAN
- Cited By
- 13 cases
- Status
- Published