Marcia T. Turner v. City of Twin Falls

• Decision Date: 27 April 2007
• Docket Number: No. 32884.,32884.
• Citation: 159 P.3d 840,144 Idaho 203
• Parties: MARCIA T. TURNER, L.L.C., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF TWIN FALLS, Defendant-Respondent.
• Court: Idaho Supreme Court

159 P.3d 840

144 Idaho 203

MARCIA T. TURNER, L.L.C., Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF TWIN FALLS, Defendant-Respondent.

No. 32884.

Supreme Court of Idaho, Boise, March 2007 Term.

April 27, 2007.

Clark Law Office, Eagle, for appellant. Eric R. Clark argued.

Wonderlich & Wakefield, Twin Falls, for respondent. Fritz Wonderlich argued.

EISMANN, Justice.

This is an appeal of a decision by the city council denying the request for a special use permit to construct a television transmission tower. We affirm the decision of the city council.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Marcia T. Turner, L.L.C., (Turner) desired to operate a primary television station on Blue Lakes Boulevard in the City of Twin Falls. In conjunction with the proposed television station, Turner wanted to build a 120-foot-tall, lattice transmission tower. The property on which Turner desired to operate the television station was zoned C-1, Commercial Highway District. The permitted uses in that zone included "television stations without transmission and receiving towers." Twin Falls Code § 10-4-8.2(A). A special use permit could be granted to operate "television stations with wireless communications facilities" if such use was "not in conflict with the comprehensive plan." Twin Falls Code § 10-4-8.2(B). In addition, Twin Falls Code § 10-13-2-2 required that the requested special use at the proposed location comply with nine standards.¹

On May 13, 2003, Turner filed an application for a special use permit to do so. That application was initially heard by the Twin Falls Planning and Zoning Commission (P & Z Commission). After a public hearing on July 8, 2003, it voted to grant Turner's request for a special use permit to construct the transmission tower. It issued its written findings and decision on July 29, 2003.

At the City Council's regularly scheduled meeting on July 21, 2003, the Planning and Zoning Director informed the members of the Council of the Commission's decision regarding the transmission tower. The Council voted to exercise its authority to review and hear that decision. On August 18, 2003, the City Council held a public hearing on Turner's application for the special use permit. At the conclusion of the hearing, the Council voted to deny the application. It issued its written findings of fact and decision on September 18, 2003.

On September 15, 2003, Turner filed a petition for judicial review. The matter was heard by the district court, which affirmed the decision of the City Council. Turner then appealed to this Court.

II. ISSUES ON APPEAL

1. Did the Twin Falls Code require the City Council to make specific factual findings in order to review the decision of the Commission?

2. Did the City Council violate due process by failing to limit its review to the record generated before the P & Z Commission?

3. Was the City Council's decision supported by substantial evidence?

4. Is either party entitled to an award of attorney fees on appeal pursuant to Idaho Code § 12-117?

III. ANALYSIS

A person aggrieved by a city or county land-use decision may seek judicial review of that decision in the district court under the Idaho Administrative Procedures Act (IAPA). County Residents Against Pollution from Septage Sludge v. Bonner County, 138 Idaho 585, 67 P.3d 64 (2003); Idaho Code § 67-6521(1)(d). On an appeal from the district court acting in its appellate capacity under the IAPA, this Court reviews the record independently of the district court's opinion. Sanders Orchard v. Gem County ex rel. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 137 Idaho 695, 52 P.3d 840 (2002). This Court will not consider issues that were not raised before the district court even if those issues had been raised in the administrative proceeding. Cooper v. Bd. of Prof'l Discipline of the State Bd. of Med., 134 Idaho 449, 4 P.3d 561 (2000).

When reviewing a land-use decision, this Court does not substitute its judgment for that of the decision maker as to the weight of the evidence presented on questions of fact. Id.; Idaho Code § 67-5279(1). Rather, this Court defers to the findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous. Likewise, in matters involving the exercise of discretion, this Court does not substitute its discretion for that of the decision maker. Sanders Orchard v. Gem County ex rel. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 137 Idaho 695, 52 P.3d 840 (2002). The land-use decision may be overturned only where it: (a) violates statutory or constitutional provisions; (b) exceeds statutory authority; (c) was made upon unlawful procedure; (d) is not supported by substantial evidence in the record as a whole; or (e) is arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion. Id.; Idaho Code § 67-5279(3). In addition, the land-use decision must be upheld if substantial rights of the appellant have not been prejudiced. Sanders Orchard v. Gem County ex rel. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 137 Idaho 695, 52 P.3d 840 (2002); Idaho Code § 67-5279(4) (2001). If the land-use decision is not affirmed, it shall be set aside in whole or in part and the case remanded. Idaho Code § 67-5279(3)(e).

A. Did the Twin Falls Code Require the City Council to Make Specific Factual Findings in Order to Review the Decision of the P & Z Commission?

At the regularly scheduled City Council meeting on July 21, 2003, the Planning and Zoning Director informed the Council members that on July 8, 2003, the P & Z Commission had approved the erection of a 120-foot-tall television transmission tower on Blue Lakes Boulevard. After discussing the tower in general terms, the Council voted unanimously to review and hear the matter. Turner contends that the City Council could not do so unless it made a factual finding, based upon evidence in the record, that the action of the P & Z Commission may have a significant adverse impact.

Section 10-17-2 of the Twin Falls Code² permitted the City Council, on its own motion, to review and hear any action taken by the P & Z Commission if the Council "determines, within fifteen (15) days of Commission action, that there may be significant adverse impact as a result of the Commission action." At its meeting on July 21, 2003, the City Council did not receive evidence as to any significant adverse impact that may result from the erection of the tower, nor did it expressly find that the tower may cause a significant adverse impact. The City Code does not expressly require that it do so.

A city council, as the governing board, may exercise all of the powers required and authorized under the Local Land Use Planning Act, or it may delegate powers to a city planning and/or zoning commission it creates. I.C. § 67-6504. By City Code § 10-17-2, the City Council created the P & Z Commission for the City of Twin Falls. The Council interpreted Section 10-17-2 as reserving to itself the power to review and hear any action taken by the Commission if a majority of the members of the Council believed that such action may have an adverse impact. There is a strong presumption favoring the validity of a governing board's zoning decisions, including its application and interpretation of its own zoning ordinance. Chisholm v. Twin Falls County, 139 Idaho 131, 75 P.3d 185 (2003); Sanders Orchard v. Gem County ex rel. Bd. of County Comm'rs, 137 Idaho 695, 52 P.3d 840 (2002). The City Council's interpretation of its ordinance is reasonable. It therefore had the power to review and hear the action of the P & Z Commission simply by a majority vote without the necessity for hearing evidence or making findings as to whether such action may have a substantial adverse impact.

Turner asserts that interpreting City Code § 10-17-2 in this manner would violate due process. It argues that if the City Council can decide, on its own, to review and hear an action of the P & Z Commission, the City Council cannot be an impartial decision maker.

"The Due Process Clause entitles a person to an impartial and disinterested tribunal. . . . Decisions by a zoning board applying general rules or specific policies to specific individuals, interests or situations, are quasi-judicial in nature and subject to due process constraints." Eacret v. Bonner County, 139 Idaho 780, 784, 86 P.3d 494, 498 (2004) (citations omitted). "When acting upon a quasi-judicial zoning matter the governing board is neither a proponent nor an opponent of the proposal at issue, but sits instead in the seat of a judge." Lowery v. Bd. of County Comm'rs for Ada County, 115 Idaho 64, 71, 764 P.2d 431, 438 (1988). In this context, the Due Process Clause would therefore apply to the zoning board in the same way that it applies to judges.

In Republican Party of Minn. v. White, 536 U.S. 765, 122 S.Ct. 2528, 153 L.Ed.2d 694 (2002), the United States Supreme Court addressed the meaning of "impartiality" as it is used in the context of applying the Due Process Clause to judges. It means "the lack of bias for or against either party to the proceeding. Impartiality in this sense assures equal application of the law. That is, it guarantees a party that the judge who hears his case will apply the law to him in the same way he applies it to any other party." Id. at 775-76, 122 S.Ct. at 2535, 153 L.Ed.2d at 705. In the context of due process, it does not mean "lack of preconception in favor of or against a particular legal view. This sort of impartiality would be concerned, not with guaranteeing litigants equal application of the law, but rather with guaranteeing them an equal chance to persuade the court on the legal points in their case." Id. at 777, 122 S.Ct. at 2536, 153 L.Ed.2d at 706. It also does not mean having "no preconceptions on legal issues, but [being] willing to consider views that oppose his preconceptions, and remain[ing] open to persuasion, when the issues arise in a pending case." Id. at 778, 122 S.Ct. at 2536, 153 L.Ed.2d at 707. Impartiality under the Due Process Clause does not guarantee each litigant a chance of changing the judge's preconceived view of the...