City of Arlington v. Cerkezi Enterprises, L.L.C., D/B/A Euro Car Tech, and Elio Cerkezi

Summary

The Texas Court of Appeals, Second District, Fort Worth, considered an interlocutory appeal from the denial of the City of Arlington’s plea to the jurisdiction and combined traditional and no-evidence motion for summary judgment. The court held that Cerkezi Enterprises and Elio Cerkezi failed to state claims waiving the City’s governmental immunity, including inverse condemnation, estoppel, and alleged violations of Texas Local Government Code Section 211.019, and therefore reversed and rendered judgment.

Holdings

1. Euro Car Tech's consent to the fence requirement as a condition of obtaining rezoning defeated its inverse-condemnation claim because a person who consents to governmental action cannot validly assert a takings claim based on that action.
2. Euro Car Tech failed to state a valid equitable or quasi-estoppel claim against the City because the erroneous certificates of occupancy were void and created no protected property rights or estoppel.
3. Euro Car Tech's major auto-repair and used-car activities were not a statutory nonconforming use because those uses were illegal when Arlington Ordinance 96-111 became effective; section 211.019 therefore did not waive the City's immunity or support the claim.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Euro Car Tech stated an inverse-condemnation claim when it consented, without objection, to the fence requirement imposed as a condition of rezoning.
2. Whether Euro Car Tech stated equitable or quasi-estoppel claims against the City based on reliance on erroneously issued certificates of occupancy and the City's enforcement of its zoning requirements.
3. Whether Euro Car Tech's business constituted a statutory nonconforming use under Texas Local Government Code section 211.019.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded