HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 03/21/2017 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 052, 2017, AMENDINGAgenda Item 11
Item # 11 Page 1
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY March 21, 2017
City Council
STAFF
Judge Kathleen M. Lane, Municipal Judge
Carrie Daggett, City Attorney
SUBJECT
First Reading of Ordinance No. 052, 2017, Amending Chapter 19 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins to
Adopt the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure to Govern the Procedures for Civil Actions Filed in Municipal
Court and to Add City Code Section 1-24 to Clarify that Civil Actions Arising Under the City's Ordinances are
not Intended to Create by Implication Claims for Monetary Damages for the Benefit of Third Parties.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this item is to adopt for Municipal Court the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure to be used to
govern the procedures for civil actions filed in Municipal Court that do not arise from violations of the City
Charter or Code.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading.
BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION
As a home rule municipality, the City is granted in Article XX, Section 6.c. of the Colorado Constitution the
home rule power to create a municipal court and to define and regulate its “jurisdiction, powers and duties”. In
City Charter Article VII, Section 1, the City has created its Municipal Court and vested it “with original
jurisdiction of all causes arising under the City’s Charter and ordinances,” and further provides that the Court’s
“[r]ules of procedure . . . shall be enacted by the Council upon recommendation of the Municipal Judge”.
The City Council has previously adopted in Code Section 19-3 the “Colorado Municipal Court Rules of
Procedure” promulgated by the Colorado Supreme Court, which govern the procedures in municipal courts in
“municipal charter and ordinance violation cases,” and Council has also adopted various other rules of
procedure in Chapter 19, all related to governing the procedures in Municipal Court for the City’s prosecution
of misdemeanor, traffic, parking and civil violations, offenses and infractions under the City Charter, Code and
ordinances (collectively “Current Rules of Procedure”). In granting the Municipal Court “original jurisdiction of
all causes arising under the City’s Charter and ordinances,” the Court also has jurisdiction over causes arising
under the City Code that are unrelated to violations of the Charter or Code, for example this can include
jurisdiction to consider civil actions filed with the Municipal Court to challenge quasi-judicial decisions made by
City Council and other City officials.
The Current Rules of Procedure do not provide the necessary rules of procedure needed by the Municipal
Court to adequately, properly and expeditiously consider a civil action filed with it that does not involve a
violation of the Charter or Code and needed by the litigants in that civil action to guide them in presenting their
cases to the Court. The rules of procedure that would provide such adequate, proper and expeditious
procedures for the Municipal Court and the needed guidance to litigants are found in the Colorado Rules of
Civil Procedure adopted by the Colorado Supreme Court to govern the procedures in all civil actions filed in
Colorado’s district courts. Pursuant to Charter Article VII, Section 1, Municipal Judge Kathleen Lane has
Agenda Item 11
Item # 11 Page 2
recommended to the Council that it adopt the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure for the Municipal Court to use,
as applicable, to govern the procedures for civil actions filed with it.
A civil action has recently been filed in Municipal Court to challenge a quasi-judicial decision Council rendered
in February denying an appeal from a decision of the Planning and Zoning Board granting a land use
application, so this Ordinance’s adoption of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedures is being made retroactive
to January 1, 2017, so this newly filed civil action can proceed under these rules.
This Ordinance also adds a Section 1-24 to the Code to clarify that with respect to those civil actions filed in
Municipal Court over which it has jurisdiction, that the provisions of the Code are not intended to create by
implication for the benefit of any person not the City, a cause of action for monetary damages or amounts
unless made expressly clear in such provisions.
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ORDINANCE NO. 052, 2017
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
AMENDING CHAPTER 19 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS
TO ADOPT THE COLORADO RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE TO GOVERN
THE PROCEDURES AND TO ADD CITY CODE SECTION 1-24 TO CLARIFY
THAT CIVIL ACTIONS ARISING UNDER THE CITY’S ORDINANCES ARE NOT
INTENDED TO CREATE BY IMPLICATION CLAIMS FOR MONETARY
DAMAGES FOR THE BENEFIT OF THIRD PARTIES
WHEREAS, as a home rule municipality, the City is granted in Article XX, Section 6.c.
of the Colorado Constitution the home rule power to create a municipal court and to define and
regulate its “jurisdiction, powers and duties”; and
WHEREAS, in City Charter Article VII, Section 1, the City has created its Municipal
Court and vested it “with original jurisdiction of all causes arising under the City’s Charter and
ordinances,” and further provides that the Court’s “[r]ules of procedure . . . shall be enacted by
the Council upon recommendation of the Municipal Judge”; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has previously adopted in Code Section 19-3 the
“Colorado Municipal Court Rules of Procedure” promulgated by the Colorado Supreme Court,
which govern the procedures in municipal courts in “municipal charter and ordinance violation
cases,” and Council has also adopted various other rules of procedure in Chapter 19, all related to
governing the procedures in Municipal Court for the City’s prosecution of misdemeanor, traffic,
parking and civil violations, offenses and infractions under the City Charter, Code and
ordinances (collectively “Current Rules of Procedure”); and
WHEREAS, in granting the Municipal Court “original jurisdiction of all causes arising
under the City’s Charter and ordinances,” the Court also has jurisdiction over causes arising
under the City Code that are unrelated to violations of the Charter or Code, for example this can
include jurisdiction to consider civil actions filed with the Municipal Court to challenge quasi-
judicial decisions made by City Council and other City officials; and
WHEREAS, the Current Rules of Procedure do not provide the necessary rules of
procedure needed by the Municipal Court to adequately, properly and expeditiously consider a
civil action filed with it that does not involve a violation of the Charter or Code and needed by
the litigants in that civil action to guide them in presenting their cases to the Court; and
WHEREAS, the rules of procedure that would provide such adequate, proper and
expeditious procedures for the Municipal Court and the needed guidance to litigants are found in
the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure adopted by the Colorado Supreme Court to govern the
procedures in all civil actions filed in Colorado’s district courts: and
WHEREAS, pursuant to Charter Article VII, Section 1, Municipal Judge Kathleen Lane
has recommended to the Council that it adopt the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure for the
Municipal Court to use, as applicable, to govern the procedures for civil actions filed with it; and
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WHEREAS, a civil action has recently been filed in Municipal Court to challenge a
quasi-judicial decision Council rendered in February denying an appeal from a decision of the
Planning and Zoning Board granting a land use application, so this Ordinance’s adoption of the
Colorado Rules of Civil Procedures is being made retroactive to January 1, 2017, so this newly
filed civil action can proceed under these rules; and
WHEREAS, this Ordinance also adds a Section 1-24 to the Code to clarify that with
respect to those civil actions filed in Municipal Court over which it has jurisdiction, that the
provisions of the Code are not intended to create by implication for the benefit of any person not
the City, a cause of action for monetary damages or amounts unless made expressly clear in such
provisions; and
WHEREAS, the City Council hereby finds and determines, in the exercise of the City’s
home rule authority, that adoption of this Ordinance is necessary for the just, orderly and
expeditious resolution of civil actions filed in Municipal Court.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
FORT COLLINS as follows:
Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and
findings contained in the recitals set forth above.
Section 2. That Chapter 1 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended
by the addition of a new Section 1-24 which reads in its entirety as follows:
Sec. 1-24. - No implied civil causes of action for damages.
The provisions of this Code and other City ordinances are not intended to create by implication
for the benefit of any person not the City any civil cause of action, right of action, chose in action
or any other kind of civil action or legal claim of liability for monetary damages or amounts.
Any such civil action or legal claim for monetary damages or amounts created in this Code or
any City ordinance must be expressly stated and clearly intended in the Code provision creating
it.
Section 3. That Section 19-3 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 19-3. - Rules of procedure.
(a) The Colorado Municipal Court Rules of Procedure, as amended, the rules for traffic
infractions contained in Article IV of this Chapter, the provisions of this Chapter, and the
procedures adopted by the Municipal Judge which are not inconsistent therewith, shall govern
the procedures in the Municipal Court in all cases arising from misdemeanor, traffic, parking and
civil violations, offenses and infractions under the Charter and Code.
(b) The Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure, as amended and applicable, shall govern the
procedures in Municipal Court in all civil actions for a cause arising under the Charter or Code
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and as needed for the Municipal Court to determine whether it has jurisdiction over a cause in
a civil action, but not for actions for violations, offenses and infractions of the Charter or Code
which are to be governed by the procedures established in Subsection (a) of this Section. In
civil actions for a cause arising under the Charter or Code, the Municipal Court shall be vested
with the full authority to provide civil remedies, including, without limitation, equitable,
injunctive and declaratory relief and to award costs and attorney fees to the full extent
permitted by law. It shall also have the power in those actions to compel the attendance of
witnesses, to punish for contempt of court and to enforce any award of equitable, declaratory
or injunctive relief through its contempt power in accordance with the applicable provisions of
the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure, as amended.
Section 4. That the rules of procedure adopted in Code Section 19-3(b) of this
Ordinance shall be applicable to all civil actions filed in Municipal Court on or after January 1,
2017.
Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 21st day of
March, A.D. 2017, and to be presented for final passage on the 18th day of April, A.D. 2017.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
City Clerk
Passed and adopted on final reading on the 18th day of April, A.D. 2017.
__________________________________
Mayor
ATTEST:
_______________________________
City Clerk