KANSAS CITY – The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri granted RLR Investment's motion to remand a land dispute case between it and the city of Pleasant Valley back to a state court.
Judge Greg Kays ruled April 3 that the city failed to meet its burden of proving why the case should not be remanded, and granted the motion to remand the case to Clay County Circuit Court.
“(RLR) argues that because the initial petition was removable under both federal question and diversity jurisdiction, the city’s removal three years later is untimely,” Kays wrote. “The city disagreed, claiming the petition was removable."
RLR Investment owns an industrial property in the city of Pleasant Valley. In 2015, RLR moved to sell the property for $3.8 million to Amerco Real Estate Co. for use as a U-Haul facility. The city filed a moratorium ordinance, which prohibited any construction on the property. Amerco soon terminated its contract with RLR after the city’s order.
RLR continued to look for a taker when it found U.S. Trailer Rental and Storage, which agreed to lease the property for $20,000 per month on a 10-year contract. But soon after, the city of Pleasant Valley issued another ordinance in which it refused to give U.S. Trailer a business license.
RLR filed a lawsuit against the city in February 2016 in the Circuit Court over allegations the city did not give it a warning before issuing the ordinances, which it alleges is unconstitutional.
The case proceeded in court for more than two years.
“In September 2018, the state court granted summary judgment in favor of the city on Counts I and II (declaratory and injunctive relief on ordinances 3200 and 3195) but denied summary judgment on Count III (inverse condemnation), finding it could not decide the issue as a matter of law,” the ruling states.
A few weeks before trial, the state court allowed RLR to file an amended petition. The court ruled that separating RLR multiple theories under the inverse condemnation claim would avoid any evidentiary issues during the trial.