Mutton Hill Estates, Inc. v. Town of Oakland
| Decision Date | 15 December 1983 |
| Citation | 468 A.2d 989 |
| Parties | MUTTON HILL ESTATES, INC. v. TOWN OF OAKLAND, et al. |
| Court | Maine Supreme Court |
Nale & Nale, John E. Nale (orally), Waterville, for plaintiff.
Daviau, Jabar & Batten, Joseph M. Jabar (orally), George M. Jabar II, Waterville, for defendants.
Before McKUSICK, C.J., and NICHOLS, ROBERTS, WATHEN, GLASSMAN and SCOLNIK, JJ.
The Town of Oakland, the Oakland Planning Board, and the Oakland Board of Appeals appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court, Kennebec County, vacating and reversing the Planning Board and Board of Appeals' denials of an application for subdivision approval submitted by Mutton Hill Estates, Inc., and remanding for the approval of such application. We affirm the Superior Court's finding that the appellants violated Mutton Hill's right to due process by unlawful preparation of the findings of facts supporting denial of Mutton Hill's application. However, because of this violation, there is no determination of the merits of Mutton Hill's application. We therefore vacate the Superior Court's order reversing the appellants' denial of Mutton Hill's application, and remand the case to that court for its determination whether Mutton Hill's proposal complies with local ordinances and state law.
In 1979 Mutton Hill Estates, Inc., pursuant to 30 M.R.S.A. § 4956, first sought approval from the Oakland Planning Board of its plan to develop a twelve-lot residential subdivision off the McGrath Pond Road in Oakland. Although the proposal was given preliminary approval, and the Department of Environmental Protection reviewed and approved it, the Planning Board, by a 3 to 2 vote, refused to grant final approval of the plan. A timely appeal was filed with the Oakland Board of Appeals. The June 2, 1980 decision of the Board of Appeals stated:
Now therefore, Appellant's appeal is denied in so far as it argues that the Oakland Planning Board was required by the Subdivision Ordinance to grant Final Approval because of its conditional Preliminary Approval or because of any estoppel argument and Appellant's appeal is granted on the ground that at the time of its denial of Final Approval the Oakland Planning Board made no written findings of fact establishing that the proposed subdivision did not meet the requirements of the Subdivision Ordinance and 30 M.R.S.A., Section 4956.
On June 30, 1980, Mutton Hill, pursuant to 30 M.R.S.A. § 2411(3)(F), filed a complaint in the Superior Court, seeking review of the Board's action, in accordance with M.R.Civ.P. 80B.
On January 2, 1981, the Superior Court, on "the very sparse record supplied" to it, found the Planning Board had "failed to make any substantial findings of fact to support its conclusions." The court, apparently intending to retain jurisdiction over the matter, remanded the case to the Board of Appeals:
Because the Oakland Board of Appeals failed to decide the matter one way or the other, the case must be remanded to that Board. Because plaintiff has already expended a substantial amount of money, the defendants are estopped from any de novo further proceedings. The Board of Appeals must either sustain or deny the appeal to it, or in the alternative, remand the case to the Oakland Planning Board for findings of fact to support the action it took on April 15, 1980 denying final approval. If the latter proceeding is adopted, the Planning Board may not initiate de novo proceedings. It must find facts already before it on the record.
On February 19, 1981, the Oakland Board of Appeals remanded the matter to the Planning Board for findings of fact. That Board did not act on the remand order. Approximately three months later, Mutton Hill filed a motion to reopen its Rule 80B complaint. On May 11, 1981, the Superior Court issued a protective order which provided: "Unless the Oakland Planning Board responds to the remand to it by the Oakland Board of Appeals within fifteen (15) days, plaintiff may move this Court to show cause why the permits applied for should not be granted forthwith."
At its May 19, 1981, meeting, the Planning Board, without discussion adopted prepared findings of fact. Complaining, inter alia, that such findings were violative of due process rights, Mutton Hill filed a timely appeal to the Oakland Board of Appeals which was denied on July 2, 1981.
On July 24, 1981, Mutton Hill filed another Rule 80B complaint, objecting to ex parte meetings held between members of the Planning Board and opponents to Mutton Hill's application and asking the court to reverse the Boards' decisions and order issuance of the subdivision approval permits. 1
At hearing in the Superior Court, when questioned about the alleged improprieties that occurred in the preparation of the findings, counsel for the town readily conceded that between May 11 and 19, members of the Planning Board invited opponents of Mutton Hill's proposal to assist in the preparation of findings of facts necessary to support the denial of Mutton Hill's application. No representative of Mutton Hill was given notice of, or attended these meetings.
The court found the Board's action violated Mutton Hill's due process rights. Because of "the unique circumstances of this case," where it was apparent "the findings of the Planning Board were irreversibly tainted by this procedural impropriety," the court expressed grave doubts that Mutton Hill could ever get "a fair, impartial, and expeditious hearing and decision from the Planning Board." By judgment entered December 30, 1982, the court reversed the decisions of the Board of Appeals and the Planning Board, directing the Planning Board to issue its order approving Mutton Hill's proposed subdivision.
The appellants first contend the Superior Court erred in deciding Mutton Hill's procedural due process rights were violated when members of the Planning Board prepared the findings of fact in concert with opponents of Mutton Hill's application. The appellants argue that because the April 30, 1980 decision to deny Mutton Hill's application was made at an open meeting of the Planning Board, the opponents' participation in the May 1981 factfinding sessions was of no consequence. We disagree.
In general, the Superior Court on review determines only whether factual findings prepared by an administrative board are appropriately supported by evidence and the law is correctly applied. Thornton v. Lothridge, 447 A.2d 473, 475 (Me.1982); Lippoth v. Zoning Board of Appeals, City of South Portland, 311 A.2d 552, 557 (Me.1973). When a Planning Board denies approval, as in this case, the reviewing court determines whether the negative decision is supported by substantial evidence on the record as a whole. Bruk v. Town of Georgetown, 436 A.2d 894, 898 (Me.1981). In Frank v. Assessors of Skowhegan, 329 A.2d 167 (Me.1974), however, we cited several instances in which a decision of an administrative agency, although supported by substantial evidence on the record to which the law has been correctly applied, is not final. Among these, we included agency action "taken without according procedural and substantive due process." Id. at 170.
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