Community Builders, Inc., an Arizona Corporation v. The City of Phoenix, a Municipal Corporation, and the City of Scottsdale, a Municipal Corporation

Community Builders, Inc. appeals from a judgment below granting the motions of the defendant Cities for summary judgment and denying Community Builders’ dross-motion for summary judgment. The district court dismissed with prejudice Community Builders’ complaint seeking relief under the Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., against the Cities for a number of alleged antitrust violations arising from the provision of municipal water services. We affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

Community Builders is the successor in interest to David R. Johns, Inc., an Arizona corporation. Sometime during the 1970’s, Johns became interested in developing a tract of land located within the City of Scottsdalé as an apartment complex. After securing financing for the project in a manner to be described in greater detail infra, Johns sought to make arrangements for the provision of water service to the complex. Scottsdale charged a water hookup fee of $400 per apartment unit, for a total fee of $137,600 for the entire 344-unit project. Scottsdale required payment of the total hookup fee as a condition precedent to the issuance of a building permit.

Upon further investigation, the president of Johns discovered…