Montclair Parkowners Ass'n v. City of Montclair

No. 99-55083 (211 F.3d 1144) (9th Cir. May 8, 2000)

ELR Digest

The court holds that the federal courts can hear a trailer park association's claim that a local rent control ordinance regulating trailer parks effected an unconstitutional taking under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. Because the association brought suits in federal and state court, the federal district court held that the abstention doctrine required dismissal of the federal claim. The court holds, however, that the federal court can hear the claim because the association's lawsuit under state law is no longer ongoing. The essential factual predicate of the district court's decision to abstain is now absent, for there are no longer any pending state court proceedings with which the district court's exercise of jurisdiction could possibly cause any interference. Therefore, the district court's decision was vacated and remanded.

The full text of this opinion is available from ELR (6 pp., ELR Order No. L-222).

Counsel for Plaintiffs
John A. Ramirez
Pacific Legal Foundation
2151 River Plaza Dr., Ste. 305, Sacramento CA 95833
(916) 641-8888

Counsel for Defendant
Henry E. Heater
Endeman, Lincoln, Turek & Heater
600 B St., Ste. 2400, San Diego CA 92101
(619) 544-0123

[30 ELR 20559]

[OPINION OMITTED BY PUBLISHER IN ORIGINAL SOURCE]