Boyce v. City of Scottsdale
| Decision Date | 19 May 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 1,CA-CIV,1 |
| Citation | 157 Ariz. 265,756 P.2d 934 |
| Parties | Barbara BOYCE, Petitioner-Appellant, v. CITY OF SCOTTSDALE, a political subdivision of the State of Arizona; Board of Adjustment of the City of Scottsdale; and Ann Arthur, Joyce Hall, Matt Ringer, Lloyd H. Robertson, William Crawford, Norval Tyler, David Van Ness, as members of and constituting the Board of Adjustment of the City of Scottsdale, Respondents-Appellees. 9471. |
| Court | Arizona Court of Appeals |
The sole issue considered in this appeal is whether the trial court erred in concluding it had no jurisdiction to review rulings of Scottsdale's Board of Adjustment.
Appellant Barbara Boyce (Boyce) is the owner of a single-family residence located at 7248 East Wilshire in Scottsdale, Arizona. The property is zoned R1-7, which requires a minimum front yard setback of 20 feet pursuant to the Scottsdale City Ordinance.
In January, 1986, Boyce applied for and received a building permit from the city to construct an addition of two bathrooms to her house. After construction of the bathrooms was well underway, a city zoning inspector visited the property and discovered that the addition violated the city's front yard setback requirements by a measurement of six feet six inches. Boyce was ordered to stop construction until a zoning variance could be obtained.
Boyce applied to the Scottsdale Board of Adjustment for a variance to permit a modification of the required setback. When her request came before the board for hearing on May 21, 1986, the board denied the application.
Boyce filed a request for reconsideration of the board's denial of the variance within fourteen days after its decision in accordance with § 901(C) of the board's rules of procedure, which provides for a rehearing procedure. City of Scottsdale Board of Adjustment, Rules of Procedure (1981). Section 901(C) also provides that when a request for rehearing is filed, each board member shall be polled by the secretary of the board within seven days on the question of whether to grant review, with four votes necessary for approval. In ruling on the request for rehearing, the board did not follow these requirements. The members were not polled until the board met on July 16, 1986, and only the five members present of the seven-member board were polled. Three of the five voted to rehear the case, but, since a fourth vote for rehearing was lacking, Boyce's request for rehearing was denied.
The city wrote a letter to Boyce on July 17, 1986, advising her that she had 30 days from July 16, 1986, to seek review in the superior court. A.R.S. § 9-462.06(J) provides that a person aggrieved by a decision of a board of adjustment may seek review in the superior court by filing a complaint for special action within 30 days after the board's decision. On August 15, 1986, Boyce filed a complaint for special action in the superior court requesting relief from the board's denial of her request for reconsideration. Thus, Boyce's complaint was filed within 30 days from the denial of the motion for reconsideration but not within 30 days from the date of the board's original decision denying the variance.
The city filed a motion to dismiss the complaint for special action for lack of jurisdiction, arguing that the board had no authority to reconsider its decision and that the complaint must have been filed within 30 days from the board's original decision to deny the request for variance. The trial court dismissed the petition on the grounds that the application for review to the superior court had been untimely filed, and therefore, it had no jurisdiction to consider the merits.
In deciding whether the trial court ruled correctly, the issues to be determined are (1) whether A.R.S. § 9-462.06, the statute governing municipal boards of adjustment, grants authority to the board to rehear a matter decided previously and, (2) whether, even if a board has authority to rehear a matter previously decided, a timely request for rehearing extends the time to file a complaint for special action in superior court.
It is undisputed that Scottsdale's Board of Adjustment had promulgated Rule 901 allowing reconsideration of its decisions and providing a procedure by which an aggrieved party could request reconsideration. Boyce argues that since the board provided a means for further review, the doctrine of exhaustion of administrative remedies required her to seek reconsideration from the board before turning to the superior court for relief. See, e.g., Campbell v. Chatwin, 102 Ariz. 251, 257, 428 P.2d 108, 114 (1967); Foremost Life Ins. Co. v. Trimble, 119 Ariz. 222, 224, 580 P.2d 360, 362 (App.1978). Her argument is premature, however, because if the board in fact had no authority to reconsider, any administrative remedies were exhausted with the board's initial denial.
Nowhere in A.R.S. § 9-462.06 is there any express authority for a board to reconsider its decision. The statute provides for the establishment of a board, identifies the matters over which the board shall have jurisdiction, and specifies review of the board's decision by the superior court. Subsection (J) states in relevant part:
A person aggrieved by a decision of the board ... may, at any time within thirty days after the board has rendered its decision, file a complaint for special action in the superior court to review the board's decision.
The city argues that, under the circumstances, the board had no jurisdiction to consider a rehearing of the case despite the adoption of rules setting forth a rehearing procedure.
Since the early days of statehood, it has been firmly established in Arizona that inferior tribunals acting judicially have no powers other than those given them by the legislature. For example, in State v. Bd. of Supervisors, 14 Ariz. 222, 127 P. 727 (1912), the Arizona Supreme Court addressed the power of a county board of supervisors, sitting as a board of equalization, to reassess an earlier tax assessment. The court held the following:
Boards of equalization are quasi judicial bodies, but inferior in their nature, and, in the exercise of the powers granted them by law, they must scrupulously limit their acts to doing those things that the law directly empowers them to do. They may not revoke, set aside, modify, or annul an order or decision of their own without the law grants [sic] them that right.
Id. at 228, 127 P. at 730. See also Hunt v. Schilling, 27 Ariz. 1, 229 P. 99 (1924) ().
In Magma Copper Co. v. Arizona State Tax Comm'n, 67 Ariz. 77, 191 P.2d 169 (1948), the question for the court was whether the Arizona State Tax Commission, which had been granted power to make tax assessments, also had the power to correct a previous decision. The court identified no supporting intent in the language of the applicable statute either express or implied. Rather, it found that the legislature, in enacting the Income Tax Act of 1933, was so meticulous in detailing the powers and duties of the commission and the procedures to be followed in the administering and enforcing of the income tax law, there could be no doubt as to the extent of the powers granted. 67 Ariz. at 85, 191 P.2d at 174. The court further stated that since the legislature provided for appeal from the decision of the commission, the rendering of a decision exhausted the jurisdiction of the commission, and appeal to the court was an aggrieved party's exclusive remedy. Id. at 86, 191 P.2d at 175.
The rule that the powers and duties of administrative agencies and other inferior tribunals are strictly limited by the statute creating them continues to the present time as the rule of law in Arizona. In the recent case of Arkules v. Board of Adjustment, 151 Ariz. 438, 728 P.2d 657 (App.1986), Division 2 of this court summarized the rule and noted its application to boards of adjustment. The court stated the following:
The Board of Adjustment derives its powers from A.R.S. § 9-462.06, the statute under which it is created.... Courts have uniformly held that a board of adjustment has no powers except those granted by the statutes creating it; its power is restricted to that granted by the zoning ordinance in accordance with the statute. The board must act in accordance with the law or it is without jurisdiction.
Courts have termed any decision made by a board of adjustment beyond these restrictive powers as ultra vires and void, a nullity and of no force and effect, and legally meaningless.
It is well settled in Arizona that the powers and duties of an administrative agency are measured and limited by the statute creating it.
151 Ariz. at 439-40, 728 P.2d at 658-59 (citations omitted). 1
The Arkules case deals with a departure from a specific provision of the statute. The city urges that this authority requires the court to find that the Scottsale board's authority ended when it denied the variance and that, therefore, filing a complaint for special action in the superior court within 30 days from that ruling was Boyce's exclusive remedy. Further, the city cites Magma as controlling.
A critical distinction exists, however, between the statute considered in Magma and the one relevant to this case. The former meticulously details the powers and duties of the tax commission and the procedures to be followed. 67 Ariz. at 85, 191 P.2d at 174. On the other hand, A.R.S. § 9-462.06, merely outlines the powers and duties of the board of adjustment and, importantly, authorizes the board to fill in the details by granting...
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