Campus Crest at Tuscaloosa LLC; Bvshssf Tuscaloosa LLC; Ctc Pov Associates LLC; Core Tuscaloosa 519-613 Red Drew…

Summary

The court held that the taxpayers sufficiently pleaded equal-protection, due-process, and dormant-Commerce Clause claims challenging Tuscaloosa's increased business-license fee for large student-oriented housing developments. Those claims should not have been dismissed before discovery because the complaint alleged facts that could establish irrational classification, unconstitutional vagueness, and discriminatory effects on out-of-state interests. The court affirmed dismissal of the claim that the fee ordinance was effectively a zoning ordinance subject to statutory notice and hearing requirements, reversed the dismissal of the three constitutional claims, and remanded.