Bontrager Auto v. Iowa City Bd. of Adjust.
| Decision Date | 07 March 2008 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-1064.,05-1064. |
| Citation | 748 N.W.2d 483 |
| Parties | BONTRAGER AUTO SERVICE, INC.; Skay Automotive Service, Inc.; Brian K. Decoster; Rogers Rental, LLC; Marlys Breese; The Breese Co. Inc.; Gregg R. Redlin; Eugene F. Fisher; Erin K. Fisher; Edward I. Schmucker; K & G; Michael A. McNiel, Todd Davis, Carmen Davis, Sand Road Investors; Keith L. Miller; Debra S. Miller; Paul M. Kennedy, Jr.; Mary Frances Kennedy; William B. Kron, Jr.; and Derrold M. Foster, Appellees v. The IOWA CITY BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT, Appellant. Hilltop Mobile Home Court, Appellee, v. The Iowa City Board of Adjustment and Shelter House Community Shelter and Transition Services, Appellants. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Sarah E. Holecek, First Assistant City Attorney, Iowa City, for appellant Iowa City Board of Adjustment.
Timothy J. Krumm and Anne E. Daniels of Meardon, Sueppel & Downer P.L.C., Iowa City, for appellant Shelter House Community Shelter and Transition Services.
Gregg Geerdes, Iowa City, for appellees Bontrager Auto Service, Inc. et al.
Raymond M. Tinnian, Kalona, for appellee Hilltop Mobile Home Court.
The appellant, Iowa City Board of Adjustment, approved the application of appellant, Shelter House Community Shelter and Transition Services, for a special exception to a local zoning regulation to allow Shelter House to construct transient housing in a commercial district. The appellees, opponents of Shelter House's application, successfully challenged the board's decision in district court. Although the district court rejected the objectors' contention the board had failed to make the necessary factual findings, the court ruled there was not substantial evidence to support the board's finding that the proposed transient housing would not substantially diminish or impair property values in the neighborhood. The court also determined the board had improperly interpreted and applied the parking-space requirements governing transient housing.
The board and Shelter House appeal the district court's reversal of the board's approval of Shelter House's application. We agree with the district court that the board made sufficient factual findings, but conclude error was not preserved on the adequacy of the parking spaces. Because we think there was substantial evidence to support the board's finding that property values would not be adversely affected, we reverse the judgment of the district court and remand this case for entry of a judgment affirming the board's decision.
Shelter House is a nonprofit corporation that has operated transient housing on North Gilbert Street in Iowa City for approximately twenty years. The facility on Gilbert Street is approved for housing twenty-nine transient persons at one time. It was undisputed the shelter has to turn homeless persons away due to a lack of space.
In 2004 Shelter House sought to build a new two-story facility at 429 Southgate Avenue that would provide transitional housing for up to seventy people. This site is zoned intensive commercial, which permits transient housing by special exception. In order to approve a special exception, the board must find the applicant meets the standards set forth for the specific proposed exception, as well as seven general standards to the extent they are applicable.
The Iowa City Department of Planning and Community Development reviewed Shelter House's application and recommended approval. Subsequently, the board held a well-attended meeting at which approximately thirty-seven persons spoke. The main concern of objectors was the possibility of increased criminal activity in the neighborhood, a concern the proponents of the special exception attempted to refute. There was also some evidence elicited relating to property values, with the witnesses for and against the application disagreeing on whether property values would decrease due to the construction of transient housing in the affected neighborhood. Following public comments, the board approved the special exception on a vote of three to one. A written decision granting the application was filed several days later.
Thereafter, neighboring landowners filed petitions for writ of certiorari in the district court, which were consolidated.1 They claimed the board acted illegally for several reasons, three of which are pertinent to this appeal:
a. The Board of Adjustment acted arbitrarily and capriciously when it granted the application even though the evidence before the Board was that the requested special use would substantially diminish or impair the property values in the neighborhood of the requested special exception and that the proposed special exception would be injurious to the use and enjoyment of other property in the area. Under these circumstances the actions of the Board are a violation of Iowa City Ordinance 14-6W-2(B)(2)(b).
....
f. The property which is the subject of the special exception does not comply with various provisions of Iowa City zoning law ...:
a) There is insufficient parking under Ordinance 14-6N-1....
g. The Board has made inadequate findings of fact and conclusions of law, contrary to Ordinance 14-6W-3(D).
The last allegation of illegality — that the board's findings of fact were inadequate — was based on the board's alleged failure to specifically find in its written decision that the proposed exception would not substantially diminish or impair property values in the neighborhood.
In response to the petitions, the board submitted its records to the court, including the application for special exception, the staff report recommending approval of the special exception, written materials and comments received by the board, a transcript of the public hearing, the board's minutes, and the board's written decision. In addition, at the trial on the objectors' petitions, the district court heard further testimony from Robert Miklo, city planner for the City of Iowa City. Miklo testified with respect to the staff report and the board's findings of fact. No other evidence outside the board's records was offered or received.
The court subsequently issued a ruling reversing the board's decision. Although the court decided the board had sufficiently complied with the requirement for written findings of fact, it concluded Shelter House had failed to present substantial evidence the proposed special exception would not substantially diminish or impair property values in the neighborhood. The court also held the board had not correctly interpreted the parking-space requirements of its ordinance.2 The board had approved the special exception on the basis that eighteen parking spaces would be sufficient; whereas, under the district court's interpretation, the ordinance would require twenty-two parking spaces.
The board and Shelter House filed timely appeals from the district court's decision. For convenience, any references in this opinion to the board include Shelter House unless the context indicates otherwise.
On appeal, the board contends there was substantial evidence to support its determination that property values would not be substantially diminished or impaired by the location of transient housing at the proposed site. With respect to the court's ruling on the required parking spaces, the board asserts that it correctly interpreted the parking-space requirements of its ordinance.
The objectors disagree, of course, with the arguments asserted by the board on appeal. In addition, they claim that, even if the district court's decision on these issues was incorrect, its ruling can nonetheless be upheld on the basis that the board did not make an adequate factual finding on the property-values issue.
In our review of the record, we have discovered a preliminary issue that must be addressed: whether any error with respect to the board's determination of the required number of parking spaces was preserved by the objectors. See Top of Iowa Coop. v. Sime Farms, Inc., 608 N.W.2d 454, 470 (Iowa 2000) (). We will address that issue first.
The objectors argued in the district court and again on appeal that the board failed to properly interpret the parkingspaces requirement of the applicable city ordinance and, consequently, acted illegally in approving a special exception that did not propose an adequate number of parking spaces. In reviewing the record certified by the board to the district court, we are unable to find any discussion of this issue before the board. The application for special exception stated that the plot plan "shows 18 spaces." The staff report also reflected this fact and stated, "Eighteen parking spaces are required...." The petitions signed by the opponents to the special exception did not raise any concerns with respect to the parking requirements. At the board's meeting, city staff presented its report and again specifically informed the board and those present that the property would be required to have eighteen parking spaces. No one at the meeting challenged the legality of the proposed exception on the basis that it did not comply with the applicable standard for parking spaces.
4 Kenneth H. Young, Anderson's American Law of Zoning § 27:37, at 633-34 (4th ed. 1996); accord 83 Am.Jur.2d Zoning & Planning § 957, at 791 (2006) (). Our court has...
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