Castaneda v. Brighton Corp.

• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Idaho
• Citation: 130 Idaho 923,950 P.2d 1262
• Docket Number: No. 23017,23017
• Parties: Janet CASTANEDA, an individual, Morgan Masner, an individual, and The City of Eagle, an Idaho municipal corporation, Petitioners-Appellants, v. BRIGHTON CORPORATION, an Idaho corporation, and The City of Boise City, an Idaho municipal corporation, Respondents. Boise, September 1997 Term
• Decision Date: 09 January 1998

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950 P.2d 1262 130 Idaho 923 Janet CASTANEDA, an individual, Morgan Masner, an individual, and The City of Eagle, an Idaho municipal corporation, Petitioners-Appellants,
v.
BRIGHTON CORPORATION, an Idaho corporation, and The City of Boise City, an Idaho municipal corporation, Respondents. No. 23017. Supreme Court of Idaho, Boise, September 1997 Term.
Jan. 9, 1998.

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Moore & McFadden, Boise, for petitioners-appellants. Mona L.D. Mack argued.

Holland & Hart, Boise, for respondent Brighton Corp. Murray D. Feldman argued and Walter H. Bithell appeared.

Margery W. Smith, Assistant Boise City Attorney, argued for respondent Boise City.

WALTERS, Justice.

This is an appeal from an order of the district court affirming three decisions of Boise City approving subdivision, rezone, and annexation applications filed by the respondent Brighton Corporation (Brighton). The approvals were for an area approximately 188 acres in size located south of Chinden Boulevard and east of North Eagle Road. For the following reasons, we affirm.

I.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Brighton owned an approximate 188-acre parcel of land at the southeast corner of the intersection of Chinden Boulevard and North Eagle Road on which it wished to develop The Hobble Creek Subdivision, renamed Dallan's Hobble Creek. At the time of initiation of the challenged applications in this case, approximately 160 acres of the property were

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located in the unincorporated area of Ada County and within the Boise City Area of Impact, while the other twenty-eight acres were located within the City of Boise (the City).

In furtherance of its plans, Brighton filed an application with the City on September 9, 1993, for annexation of the 160 acres; then on September 20, requested rezoning of the remaining twenty-eight acres; and a week later on September 28, filed the subdivision application. The Boise Planning and Zoning Commission reviewed the applications and recommended approval of the annexation and rezoning applications on October 18. On November 1, the Commission recommended approval of the preliminary plat of Hobble Creek Subdivision to the Boise City Council (the Council).

On November 23, 1993, the Council voted to approve the subdivision based on the preliminary plat, but conditioned the final approval of the subdivision upon subsequent annexation of the site by the City and that the area would be properly zoned. The Council scheduled a public hearing on the annexation and zoning applications for December 7. On that date, the mayor of the City of Eagle requested that the hearing be continued until he could participate. Pursuant to this request, the Council deferred the decision on the zoning and annexation applications until January 11, 1994. At the meeting the Council voted to approve both the annexation and zoning applications. Brighton filed its final plat application for Hobble Creek Subdivision with the City on March 30, 1994. The Council approved the final plat at its April 19, 1994, meeting. Thereafter, the Council enacted Ordinance No. 5536 to implement the rezone on April 26, and adopted Ordinance No. 5544 to implement the annexation and zoning on May 17. Following annexation, the city engineer certified the final plat on July 21, 1994.

In the meantime, the appellants (Castaneda) filed a complaint in the district court on May 24, 1994, for declaratory judgment, asking the district court to hold the Council's approval of the preliminary plat, the rezone, and the annexation null and void for various reasons. When Brighton responded with a motion to dismiss the complaint, the district court determined that the proceeding should be treated as a petition for judicial review. Ultimately, the district court affirmed the Council's November 23, 1993, and April 19, 1994, subdivision approvals, and the Council's action on January 11, 1994, approving the annexation and rezone applications. Castaneda then pursued this appeal.

II.

ISSUES

Castaneda asserts that (1) the district court erred in holding that the Council acted legally when it conditionally approved the preliminary and final subdivision plats for Brighton's property which was located outside of the incorporated area of the City; (2) the district court erred in determining that the City complied with all notice requirements of state and local law; (3) the district court erred in holding that Brighton's appearance before the City asking for subdivision approval did not constitute ex parte contact; (4) the district court erred in holding that the hearing records developed before the Council for Brighton's rezoning and zoning actions contained substantial evidence supporting each criteria for changing, or creating upon annexation, a new zoning designation; (5) the district court erred in determining that the findings of fact and conclusions of law provided by the City were adequate. We affirm the order of the district court upholding the City's actions for the following reasons.

III.

DISCUSSION

A. Standard of Review

This action initially was filed as a request for a declaratory judgment. However, by order of the district court, the action was permitted to proceed as a petition for judicial review under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), in accordance with the provisions of the Local Land Use Planning Act relating to judicial review of an administrative decision of a local zoning board, I.C.

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§ 67-6521. The standard of review for such a proceeding is well settled. In a subsequent appeal from the district court's decision where the district court was acting in its appellate capacity under the APA, the Supreme Court reviews the agency record independently of the district court's decision. Ferguson v. Board of County Comm'rs for Ada County, 110 Idaho 785, 718 P.2d 1223 (1986).

In a judicial review proceeding under the APA, neither the district court nor this Court may substitute its judgment for that of the agency as to the weight of the evidence presented. I.C. § 67-5215(g). The court will defer to the agency's findings of fact unless those findings are clearly erroneous; the agency's factual determinations are binding on the reviewing court, even when there is conflicting evidence before the agency, so long as the determinations are supported by evidence in the record. South Fork Coalition v. Board of Comm'rs of Bonneville County, 117 Idaho 857, 860, 792 P.2d 882, 885 (1990). A city council's zoning decision may only be overturned where its findings: (a) violate statutory or constitutional provisions; (b) exceed the agency's statutory authority; (c) are made upon unlawful procedure; (d) are not supported by substantial evidence; or (e) are arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion. I.C. § 67-5279(3). The party attacking a zoning board's action under I.C. § 67-5279 must first illustrate that the zoning board erred in a manner specified in I.C. § 67-5279(3), and then that a substantial right of the party has been prejudiced. Angstman v. City of Boise, 128 Idaho 575, 578, 917 P.2d 409, 412 (Ct.App.1996).

B. Extraterritorial approval of the preliminary plat before annexation.

Castaneda asserts that because Brighton's preliminary plat was conditionally approved on November 23, 1993, and the final plat was approved on April 19, 1994, while the subject property was not annexed until May, 1994, the...