March 19, 2001
You have essentially the following question: Where a building permit is issued upon the
basis of a mistake in the zoning map, and the permit was applied for, and issued, in good faith,
neither party knowing there was a mistake in the zoning map, can the permit be revoked? In this
case the permit was issued for a mobile home that would not otherwise be permitted in the zone
in question, and which was in fact established on a lot in the zone. The zoning map mistake was
made (and not caught by the city) for around seven years!
The answer is probably no.
Although as you yourself have discovered, there are not Tennessee cases directly on
point, it is said in Yokely, Zoning Law and Practice, ' 14.5, that:
The judiciary is frequently confronted with provocative questions
dealing with the issuance of permits where the permit is issued in
accordance with the provisions of a zoning ordinance, and in
conformity therewith, and efforts are subsequently made to revoke
the permit or declare it inoperative. The courts have generally
held, in a long line of decisions, that where a permit has been
granted by an officer or board authorized to issue it and the
permittee has acted in reliance thereon and incurred substantial
expense, the right to continue construction under the permit
becomes a vested right which the municipality or county has no
right to violate by revocation, recall or otherwise.
The same authority, in the same section, says:
The law is well settled that a municipality cannot revoke a building
permit granted to an applicant who, upon the faith of it, enters into
contractual relations with respect thereto and expends moneys in
the prosecution of work unless it appears that such permit was
obtained by fraud or deceit.
A city will be equitably estopped from having a building removed
where it issues a permit therefor and stand by while the building is
completed and placed in operation for the purposes for which it
has been constructed. In announcing this familiar rule, the
Supreme Court of Arkansas sustained the right of a defendant to
continue in the use of his building which was constructed under a
permit, and under the supervision of city officials, for the purpose
of engaging in the wholesale business.
There are exceptions to the vested rights rule. Yokely, Zoning Law and Practice, ' 14-5.
However, I have scanned those exceptions and it does not appear to me that any apply to your
case.
There is a zoning estoppel case in Tennessee: Rives v. City of Clarksville, 618 S.W.2d
502 (1981). There the Tennessee Court of Appeals, held that the failure of the city to enforce its
zoning ordinance did not estopp the city from eventually enforcing it. However, the facts in that
case can be totally distinguished from the facts in your case, and the case does not appear to
help you.
But with respect to the application of estoppel to a government, it is said in Sexton v.
Sevier County, 948 S.W.2d 747 (Tenn. App. 1997), that:
Generally speaking, the doctrine of estoppel is not favored
under our law. [Citations omitted] Although the doctrine can be
invoked against a county, [citation omitted], “very exceptional
circumstances are required to invoke the doctrine against the
State and its governmental subdivisions.” [Citations omitted]
In order to invoke the doctrine of estoppel, a party must
show the following:
(1) his or her lack of knowledge and of the means of knowledge of
the truth as to the facts in question;
(2) his or her reliance upon the conduct of the party who is
estopped; and
(3) action by the invoking party based thereon of such a character
as to change that party’s position prejudicially. [Citations omitted]
It is the burden of the party claiming estoppel to prove each of the
above elements. [Citations omitted] [At 751]
It appears to me that the mobile home owner in this case could meet his burden on all of
the points. There is probably no way, even upon diligent inquiry that the owner could have
known about the mistake on the zoning map. In fact, the city did not even realize there was a
mistake until it was called to its attention by neighboring property owners. Reliance and action
on the part of the property owner also seem foregone conclusions.
A similarBbut in fact a less seriousBmistake was made by a city with respect to its zoning
records in Jones v. City of Aurora, 772 P.2d 645 (Colo.App. 1998), and the city was still held
estopped to apply its zoning ordinance. In that case, the property owners in question had a far
better opportunity to determine that the city’s records contained the mistake that led the city to
issue them a permit to build a day care center in an R-1 zone, which was clearly a prohibited
use, and which in fact they were operating when the mistake came to the city’s attention.
Because the city had superior knowledge to discover the mistake, the property owners were
justified in their reliance in the permit for a day care center issued by the city.
All things considered, my opinion is that the permit in your case cannot be revoked.
Sincerely,
Sidney D. Hemsley
Senior Law Consultant