Foster v. City of St. Anthony

• Decision Date: 28 October 1992
• Docket Number: Nos. 19675,19866,s. 19675
• Citation: 841 P.2d 413,122 Idaho 883
• Parties: Blaine FOSTER and Votis Foster, husband and wife, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CITY OF ST. ANTHONY, a municipal corporation, Defendant-Respondent. Steve ZUNDEL and Judy Zundel, husband and wife; and David Murdoch and Yvonne Murdoch, husband and wife; as representative parties of the property owners of the City of St. Anthony, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The CITY OF ST. ANTHONY, a municipal corporation, Defendant-Respondent, v. The STATE of Idaho, By and Through the DEPARTMENT AND BOARD OF CORRECTIONS, Defendant-Intervenor-Respondent. Idaho Falls, September 1992 Term
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

Page 413

841 P.2d 413

122 Idaho 883

Blaine FOSTER and Votis Foster, husband and wife, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CITY OF ST. ANTHONY, a municipal corporation, Defendant-Respondent.

Steve ZUNDEL and Judy Zundel, husband and wife; and David Murdoch and Yvonne Murdoch, husband and wife; as representative parties of the property owners of the City of St. Anthony, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The CITY OF ST. ANTHONY, a municipal corporation, Defendant-Respondent, v. The STATE of Idaho, By and Through the DEPARTMENT AND BOARD OF CORRECTIONS, Defendant-Intervenor-Respondent.

Nos. 19675, 19866.

Supreme Court of Idaho,

Idaho Falls, September 1992 Term.

Oct. 28, 1992.

Rehearing Denied Dec. 15, 1992.

[122 Idaho 884] Daniel L. Hawkley, Boise, for plaintiffs-appellants.

Hoopes & Thomson, Chtd., Rexburg, for defendant-respondent City of St. Anthony. Karen L. Rogers argued.

Larry EchoHawk, Atty. Gen.; and Robert R. Gates and Michael R. Jones, Boise, for defendant-intervenor-respondent State of Idaho. Michael R. Jones argued.

JOHNSON, Justice.

The two cases that are before us in this appeal are primarily zoning cases. We are also required to address questions of municipal law, administrative law, claim preclusion, and the award of attorney fees.

I. BACKGROUND AND PRIOR PROCEEDINGS

On December 20, 1989, the City of St. Anthony leased an unused hospital owned by the city to the State of Idaho for use as a correctional facility. The city contends When the city leased the hospital to the state, the property was zoned as a "conditional use district." The city's zoning ordinance listed a hospital as a permitted conditional use. The city took the position that a correctional facility was allowed in a conditional use district without the issuance of a "special use permit."

[122 Idaho 885] that the mayor and the city council approved a resolution authorizing the lease in a preliminary oral vote on December 12, 1989, and in a final oral vote on December 20, 1989. The mayor signed the resolution on December 22, 1989.

THE FOSTER CASE

In the first case that is before us in this appeal, the owners of property across the street from the hospital, Blaine and Votis Foster (Foster), applied for a writ of mandamus requiring the city to put the question of leasing the hospital to a popular vote. Later, by amendment Foster sought declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent the city from allowing the hospital to be used as a correctional facility. Foster asserted that the lease was invalid because: (1) the city did not follow procedural and technical formalities required to approve a resolution, (2) a correctional facility was not allowed in a conditional use district without a special use permit, and (3) the failure of the city to give public notice and conduct public hearings violated Foster's procedural due process rights.

The trial court granted summary judgment (Foster I) permanently enjoining the city from using the hospital as a correctional facility until the city fully complied with the procedural due process requirements set forth in the city's zoning ordinance and in Cooper v. Board of County Comm'r, 101 Idaho 407, 614 P.2d 947 (1980).

The state then applied for a special use permit to permit the use of the hospital as a correctional facility. Following public hearings the city approved the permit. Foster requested that the trial court review the administrative proceedings. Following a hearing, the trial court found that the city violated I.C. §§ 67-6535 and 67-6536 by its failure to: (1) keep the required transcribable record of the hearings required under I.C. § 67-6536, (2) have standards and criteria within its zoning ordinances by which to evaluate the merits of issuing a special use permit as required by I.C. § 67-6535, and (3) provide meaningful discussion to support its findings as required by I.C. § 67-6535. The trial court remanded the matter to the city for further proceedings.

Both the city's planning and zoning commission and the city council held public hearings to consider amending the city's comprehensive land use plan and zoning ordinance. The city council approved the amendments, which provided for the creation of "public service districts," and authorized the planning and zoning commission to rezone any area as a public service district that was determined to be of local or state importance.

The state then withdrew its application for a special use permit and applied for a building permit authorizing the repair of the hospital roof. The planning and zoning commission held a hearing and approved the building permit.

The trial court then granted the state's motion to dissolve the injunction, denied relief to Foster on other issues, and denied Foster attorney fees (Foster II). Foster appealed.

THE ZUNDEL CASE

In the second case that is before us in this appeal, Foster, Steve and Judy Zundel, and David and Yvonne Murdoch (referred to collectively as Zundel), as representative parties of the property owners in the city, brought a class action against the city. By this action Zundel sought: (1) declaratory judgment that the city's amended comprehensive land use plan and zoning ordinance were invalid, and (2) an injunction enjoining the city from permitting any use of property within the city except as permitted before the attempted amendment of the zoning ordinance. Later, Zundel amended the complaint to delete Foster as a party and to eliminate the request for injunctive relief. The amended complaint alleged that the amended zoning ordinance did not conform to state law.

The trial court allowed the state to intervene as a defendant in the Zundel case. The city moved to dismiss Zundel's claim on the ground it was precluded under the doctrine of res judicata by the final judgment in the Foster case. The state moved to dismiss, asserting that Zundel had failed to exhaust administrative remedies and that the claim was barred by the doctrine of collateral estoppel.

The trial court granted the motions and dismissed Zundel's claim. Zundel appealed.

This Court has consolidated the cases for appeal.

II.

THE ORAL MOTION PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL WAS A RESOLUTION WITHIN THE MEANING OF I.C. § 50-902.

Foster asserts that the lease between the city and the state is invalid because the mayor lacked authority to sign it. Foster argues that the resolution authorizing the lease was not adopted as required by I.C. §§ 50-902 and 50-1409. We disagree.

I.C. § 50-1409 provides that the mayor and city council, by resolution, may authorize the lease of any property not needed for city use. I.C. § 50-902 provides that the passage of every resolution by the city council to enter a contract requires a majority vote by a recorded oral roll call.

The Foster court heard testimony from several officials, including the city clerk. The city clerk testified that the city council took a vote to approve the lease conditionally on December 12, 1989, and that she took handwritten notes of the vote. The clerk also testified that a motion authorizing the lease was presented at the December 20, 1989 meeting of the city council and that the city council took a final vote at that time. The clerk testified that she did not record this vote because she believed that she was only required to record the vote taken on December 12, 1989. The clerk testified that the correction of typographical errors delayed the mayor signing the resolution until December 22, 1989.

The Foster court admitted as an exhibit a copy of the resolution signed by the mayor on December 22, 1989, on the ground that the document fell within the public records exception, I.R.E. 803(8), to the hearsay rule. A trial court has broad discretion to decide questions regarding the admissibility of evidence at trial, and its decisions will not be overturned absent clear abuse. State v. Tierney, 109 Idaho 474, 477, 708 P.2d 879, 882 (1985). Applying the three-step analysis stated in Sun Valley Shopping Ctr. v. Idaho Power Co., 119 Idaho 87, 94, 803 P.2d 993, 1000 (1991), we conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the copy of the resolution in this case.

The trial court concluded that "the oral motion made and passed by the City Council on December 20, 1989 amounted, in substance, to a 'resolution' within the meaning of I.C. § 50-902" prior to execution of the lease. We agree.

III.

THE CITY COUNCIL WAS ENTITLED TO AMEND ITS ORDINANCES SO THAT A SPECIAL USE PERMIT BECAME UNNECESSARY.

Foster asserts that Idaho law does not allow the city to legislate away impediments to the approval of a pending application for a permit. In the context of this case, we disagree.

When the trial court permanently enjoined the city from allowing the hospital to be used as a correctional facility, the city responded by amending its comprehensive land use plan and zoning ordinance, which placed the hospital in a zone that did not require a special use permit for it to be used as a correctional facility. The Foster court held that the city had complied with its new ordinance and that the property could be used as a correctional facility.

Foster argues that South Fork Coalition v. Board of Comm'r, 117 Idaho 857, 860-62, 792 P.2d 882, 885-87 (1990), requires this Court to apply the city's original zoning ordinance to the state's application for a building permit. In South Fork, this Court considered whether to apply the ordinance in effect at the time an application for a development was filed, or whether to apply the ordinance as amended before a final decision on the application was made. The Court stated that an applicant's rights are determined by the ordinances in existence at the time of filing an application for the permit. Id. at 861, 792 P.2d at 886. The rationale for this rule is that permitting a city to apply an amendment to a previously filed application would allow a city to withhold action on a permit, amend its ordinances to defeat the application, and...