Beauclerc Lakes v. Jacksonville, 115 F.3d 934, 11th Cir. (1997)

115 F.
3d 934
11 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 78
BEAUCLERC LAKES CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION,

Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
CITY OF JACKSONVILLE, a municipal corporation,
Defendant-Appellee.
No. 96-2778
Non-Argument Calendar.
United States Court of Appeals,
Eleventh Circuit.
June 24, 1997.
A. Barry Grosse, Grosse & Tritt, P.A., Jacksonville, FL, James R. Green,
Pensacola, FL, Robert Edwin Turffs, Sarasota, FL, for Appellant.
Tracey I. Arpen, Jr., General Counsel's Office, Jacksonville, FL, for
Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of
Florida.
Before ANDERSON, EDMONDSON and BIRCH, Circuit Judges.
EDMONDSON, Circuit Judge:
Plaintiff-Appellant Beauclerc Lakes Condominium Association

("Condominium"), on behalf of itself and similarly situated condominium
associations, brought this class action in Florida state court against the City of
Jacksonville, Florida (the "City"), alleging, among other things, that the City's
failure to provide solid waste collection to residential condominiums while
providing such service by ordinance to other residential premises was
actionable pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1983. The City removed the action to federal
district court based on federal subject matter jurisdiction and filed a motion to
dismiss for failure to state a cause of action. The district court granted the
motion on the federal claim and remanded the case to state court for
determination of the remaining state law claims. For the reasons explained by
the district court in its orders, we affirm.
2
At the outset we must determine whether we can review the district court's
order dismissing the federal claim and remanding the remaining claims to state
court. Although 28 U.S.C. 1447(d) generally precludes appellate review of an
order remanding a case to the state court from which it was removed, where (as
here) the remand order is a consequence of the dismissal of claims creating
federal jurisdiction, that dismissal is reviewable on appeal. See Armstrong v.
Alabama Power Co., 667 F.2d 1385, 1387 (11th Cir.1982) (recognizing that,
although order of remand not appealable, decree of dismissal must, perforce,
precede order of remand and is appealable).
Condominium alleges that the City provides, without charge, waste collection
services to residential premises unless the property is owned as a condominium
and that the failure to accord condominium owners this service constitutes a
denial of equal protection in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Condominium does not contend that the City's ordinances draw a distinction
based on a suspect classification, such as race, alienage, national origin,
indigence or illegitimacy. Instead, the contention is that the distinction is based
on the form of ownership,* which is not among the "suspect" classifications
recognized by the courts.
Nor can Condominium contend that a fundamental right is implicated: the right
to free waste collection is no fundamental right. See Goldstein v. City of
Chicago, 504 F.2d 989, 991-92 (7th Cir.1974) (denying claimed violation of
equal protection clause by condominium owners based on provision of free
garbage collection to single-family residences); Szczurek v. City of Park Ridge,
97 Ill.App.3d 649, 52 Ill.Dec. 698, 422 N.E.2d 907 (1981) (upholding validity,
against equal protection challenge, of city ordinance providing free sanitation
collection to single-family residences but not to multi-family residences).
The applicable standard for testing the constitutionality of the City's pertinent
ordinance is the "rational-basis" standard. Clements v. Fashing, 457 U.S. 957,
961-63, 102 S.Ct. 2836, 2843, 73 L.Ed.2d 508 (1982). This standard "requires
that classifications made by the challenged statutes or ordinances be rationally
related to the achievement of some legitimate government purpose." Haves v.
City of Miami, 52 F.3d 918, 921 (11th Cir.1995).
Determining whether legislation survives rational-basis scrutiny is a two-step
process. The first step is to identity a legitimate government purpose the

enacting governmental body could have been pursuing. Id. The actual
motivations of the legislators are unimportant, and the decisionmakers are not
required to articulate a reason for their acts. Id. at 921-922. The second step of
the rational-basis inquiry is to determine "whether a rational basis exists to
believe that the legislation would further the hypothesized purpose." Id. at 922.
Here the inquiry is whether a conceivably rational-basis exists, "not whether
that basis was actually considered by the legislative body." Id.
7
Efficient sanitation is a legitimate goal; the provision of free waste collection

service to residential premises consisting of four or fewer units is rationally
related to achieving that goal. If we assume, as Condominium contends, that all
condominiums are excluded, a legislature still could believe that--because of
the benefits of a larger scale--condominium owners (through their
representative condominium association) generally enjoy greater bargaining
power with private waste removal services. That the legislature did not
articulate this presumed goal--sanitation--or the rationale for its classification-scale and bargaining power--is not important. Id. at 921-922.
A government is not required to provide sanitation service to all or none; the

Equal Protection Clause does not always preclude a legislature from treating
some of its citizens differently from others. See Lehnhausen v. Lake Shore
Auto Parts Co., 410 U.S. 356, 357-59, 93 S.Ct. 1001, 1003, 35 L.Ed.2d 351
(1973). A government's line-drawing need not be accomplished with
mathematical precision--rough accommodations are tolerated even if some
inequality results. See Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471, 483-85, 90 S.Ct.
1153, 1161, 25 L.Ed.2d 491 (1970). The usual presumption is that the
legislature has acted constitutionally. See Clements, 457 U.S. at 961-63, 102
S.Ct. at 2843.
That the City may have sought to achieve the legitimate state interest in
sanitation by providing, at no cost, waste collection service to individuals or
small groups of individuals less likely to have sufficient bargaining power to
obtain such services at a reasonable price satisfies rational-basis scrutiny and,
therefore, constitutes no violation of the Equal Protection Clause.
10
AFFIRMED and REMANDED for return to state court.
For our purposes, it is unimportant whether the classification was, in reality,

ownership based (as Condominium contends) or numerically based (as the City
contends). The important point is that a legislature could reasonably assume

condominium owners tend to reside in larger facilities and with their
representative condominium association are likely to be better positioned to
negotiate with private sanitation services

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115 F.

BEAUCLERC LAKES CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION,

Plaintiff-Appellant Beauclerc Lakes Condominium Association

Determining whether legislation survives rational-basis scrutiny is a two-step

process. The first step is to identity a legitimate government purpose the

Efficient sanitation is a legitimate goal; the provision of free waste collection

A government is not required to provide sanitation service to all or none; the

AFFIRMED and REMANDED for return to state court.

For our purposes, it is unimportant whether the classification was, in reality,

contends). The important point is that a legislature could reasonably assume

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