Littlefield v. Inhabitants of Town of Lyman

• Decision Date: 22 July 1982
• Citation: 447 A.2d 1231
• Parties: Richard LITTLEFIELD v. INHABITANTS OF the TOWN OF LYMAN and Planning Board for the Town of Lyman.
• Court: Maine Supreme Court

Page 1231

447 A.2d 1231

Richard LITTLEFIELD v. INHABITANTS OF the TOWN OF LYMAN and Planning Board for the Town of Lyman.

Supreme Judicial Court of Maine.

Argued May 4, 1982.

Decided July 22, 1982.

Waterhouse, Carroll & Cyr, Erland B. Hardy (orally), James F. Molleur, Robert N. Cyr, Biddeford, for plaintiff.

Nicholas C. Scaccia (orally), Sanford, for defendant.

Before McKUSICK, C. J., and NICHOLS, ROBERTS, CARTER, VIOLETTE and WATHEN, JJ.

CARTER, Justice.

This case involves the issue of whether the passage of a moratorium on subdivision applications and a subsequent enactment of a zoning ordinance affecting lot size requirements are applicable to a subdivision proposal that is submitted to the Planning Board of the municipality prior to the passage of such ordinances. We conclude that the instant case is controlled by 1 M.R.S.A. § 302 and agree with the Superior Court that the application at issue was pending as that term is used in section 302. We are compelled, however, to vacate the grant of injunctive relief and to direct the entry of a judgment modified in accordance with this opinion.

I.

The plaintiff, Richard Littlefield, proposed a subdivision to be located in the Town of Lyman (Town). He first appeared before the Town Planning Board in October of 1978 to offer for submission a preliminary plan for the subdivision. ¹ The Board did not accept the plan "as Mr. Littlefield did not have the soil report to submit." The Board also requested that several additional items be noted on the plan and advised the plaintiff to submit his plan at the next meeting. Mr. Littlefield again appeared before the Board on December 21, 1978, with a preliminary plan. Two copies of the plan, soil tests and a fee of $85 were submitted. The minutes of that meeting state: "The Board accepted his [Littlefield's] preliminary plan."

On January 9, 1979, the Planning Board imposed a moratorium on the review and consideration of subdivision plans until January 9, 1980. In apparent compliance with the moratorium, no further action has been taken by the Town on Littlefield's plan. In March of 1979, the Town amended the local zoning ordinance to require a minimum per-lot area of five acres in general purpose districts. Littlefield's proposal was for such a district but his plan consisted of two acre lots, the minimum permitted prior to the amendment.

The plaintiff commenced the instant suit by bringing a complaint in Superior Court. In essence, the plaintiff sought relief from the defendants' failure to process and determine plaintiff's request for subdivision approval under the zoning ordinance as it existed prior to its amendment in March 1979. The Superior Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff and the defendants appealed.

II.

Title 1 M.R.S.A. § 302 provides in pertinent part:

Actions and proceedings pending at the time of the passage or repeal of an Act or ordinance are not affected thereby. For the purposes of this action, a proceeding shall include but not be limited to petitions or application for licenses or permits required by law at the time of their filing.

In Cardinali v. Planning Board of Lebanon, Me., 373 A.2d 251 (1977), we held that an application for subdivision approval was encompassed by the terms of section 302 and therefore a subdivision application is not affected by a moratorium if the application was pending at the time of the moratorium's enactment. The Cardinali court also noted that no special savings clause need be inserted in the ordinance enacting the moratorium. We see no reason to depart from this interpretation of section 302 in either a subdivision or zoning context, and therefore reaffirm and apply the principles of Cardinali in the instant case.

Indeed, a number of jurisdictions have reached a similar result without the benefit of legislative enactment of the content of section 302. The rationale of these courts for such a rule in the context of zoning cases is persuasive. The Vermont Supreme Court has recently stated:

We are fully cognizant that the majority rule, so-called, supports appellant's position that neither the filing of an application for a permit nor issuance of the permit, even though valid and conforming to regulations, vest rights in the applicant against future changes in zoning regulations. Two major exceptions seem to be recognized, the first where there has been a substantial change of position, and the second where the amendment was enacted primarily to thwart the applicant's plans for development. Both exceptions involve a factual determination virtually impossible to arrive at short of litigation, a feature which, in our view, emphasizes the undesirability of the rule generally. The minority rule, vesting rights under the then existing regulations as of the time when proper application is filed, is not without substantial support. The minority rule is, we feel, the more practical one to administer. It serves to avoid a great deal, at least, of extended litigation. It makes for greater certainty in the law and its administration. It avoids much of the protracted maneuvering which too often characterizes zoning controversies in our communities. It is, we feel, the more equitable rule in long run application....

Smith v. Winhall Planning Commission, Vt., 436 A.2d 760, 761 (1981). (Citations omitted.) See Western Land Equities, Inc. v. City of Logan, 617 P.2d 388 (Utah 1980); Mercer Enterprises, Inc. v. City of Bremerton, 93 Wash.2d 624, 611 P.2d 1237 (1980); Annot., 50 A.L.R.3d 596 (1973). ²

The Town asserts, however, that even though section 302 is applicable, the Superior Court erred in its determination that Littlefield's application was "pending" as that term is used in section 302. The Town submits that in order for an application for approval of a subdivision plan to be pending, the application "must be complete and include all information required by the applicable development and subdivision standards." Since Littlefield's plan fails to fulfill several informational requirements specified by the ordinance, the Town contends that the application is not "pending" within the meaning of section 302.

The Town in effect poses two questions--when is a subdivision proposal an application under section 302 and when is a proposal or application "pending" under that section. To a limited extent, the Court in Cardinali addressed these issues. In that case, we intimated that specific guidelines set forth by the municipality as to what documents constitute an application could have a significant bearing on the application of section 302. Cardinali, 373 A.2d at 255. We also noted that the completed application contemplated by 30 M.R.S.A. § 4956(2) ³ was not a necessary prerequisite to satisfaction of section 302. The Cardinali court stated: "We are not called upon to decide whether Cardinali has filed a completed application, but only whether any application, completed or not, was pending." Id. at 254 n.4.

In applying these principles to the case at bar, we note at the outset that no allegation is made as to a lack of good faith on the part of Littlefield in pursuing his proposal or on the part of the Town in receiving or rejecting Littlefield's application. The Town simply asserts that failure to satisfy the ordinance dictating the information to be contained in a preliminary plan thereby precludes a finding that an application is pending.

We think the Town too narrowly circumscribes the impact of section 302 on the application process. Neither Article III of the ordinance ⁴ nor section 4956(2) bars discussion, evaluation or modification of a subdivision plan by the parties involved until a plan can be deemed "preliminary", "complete" or "final." Since a municipality can begin to act on a proposal before the fruition of these characterizations, the applicant should not be barred from the protections of section 302 when the municipality acts in this manner. We hold, therefore, that when a municipality takes the threshold step of acting on the substance of a proposal, the application process has commenced and an application is pending for purposes of section 302. However, presentment of a plan to a municipal clerk or board may not, in and of itself, result in a pending application under this section. When the municipality accepts the plan for the purpose of evaluating the substance of the proposal, manifests that the plan is adequate to begin the review process, or fails to advise an applicant of any restriction on the significance of acceptance of the plan, an application can be said to be pending. ⁵

This distinction between presentment and acceptance is exhibited by the facts of this case. At the October meeting, the Board did not accept the plan because certain informational items were missing. In December, the Board accepted both the plan and the filing fee. We find incongruous the control exercised, in fact, by the Board over the submission and acceptance of applications at Board meetings and the contention on appeal that the application was not pending because of the failure to meet certain informational prerequisites. The Board's actions made clear that it need not accept every plan offered for submission and that its acceptance in this case manifests commencement of the evaluation process.

Inasmuch as the plaintiff had an application pending for subdivision approval at the time of the enactment of the moratorium and the zoning change, we hold that Littlefield is entitled to have the Board evaluate his subdivision...