Northwestern National Life Insurance Company v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, Etc., and James J. Jordan

Northwestern National Life Insurance Co. and other bondholders appeal the dismissal for failure to state a claim of their complaint which alleged that the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s land use plan and ordinance impaired the assessment bonds issued by Round Hill General Improvement District in violation of Article 1, section 10, clause 1 of the United States Constitution. Northwestern argues that the land use ordinance violated the contract clause because it deterred payment of the underlying assessments and effectively destroyed the lien securing the bonds’ indebtedness. We affirm.

I. FACTS

The Round Hill General Improvement District is a municipal corporation encompassing 643 acres on the south shore of Lake Tahoe in Douglas County, Nevada. The district was created on May 22, 1964, for the purpose of providing streets, water, sewer, drainage, and other facilities for a real estate development within the district, called Round Hill. See generally General Improvement District Law, Nev.Rev.Stat. §§ 318.010-.535 (1973, 1975 & 1977).

Pursuant to statutory authority, the district issued assessment bonds in 1964 and 1965 in order to construct the necessary support facilities for…