NORTH PACIFIC UNION CONFERENCE ASSOCIATION OF SEVENTH-DAY …

• Decision Date: 12 August 2003
• Docket Number: No. 28364-6-II.,28364-6-II.
• Citation: 74 P.3d 140,118 Wash.App. 22
• Parties: NORTH PACIFIC UNION CONFERENCE ASSOCIATION OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS, Respondent, v. CLARK COUNTY, Washington, a municipal corporation of the State of Washington, Appellant.
• Court: Washington Court of Appeals

74 P.3d 140

118 Wash.App. 22

NORTH PACIFIC UNION CONFERENCE ASSOCIATION OF THE SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS, Respondent, v. CLARK COUNTY, Washington, a municipal corporation of the State of Washington, Appellant.

No. 28364-6-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

August 12, 2003.

Christopher Horne, Clark Cnty Pros Atty Ofc, Vancouver, WA, for Appellant.

Richard T. Howsley and James Denver Howsley, Lane Powell Spears Lubersky LLP, Portland, OR, for Respondent.

ARMSTRONG, J.

North Pacific Union Conference (Seventh Day Adventist Church) applied for a permit to build a 40,000 square-foot church administrative office building in Clark County's agricultural district. Churches are allowed in the agricultural area, but office buildings are not. Although the plans showed a 2,400 square-foot sanctuary, the hearing examiner denied the application, finding that the building was intended primarily for use as an office building rather than a place of worship. The trial court reversed the hearing examiner's conclusions and the County now appeals. We find no error in the hearing examiner's statutory interpretation of a place of worship or in his conclusion that the building is not intended primarily as a place of worship. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court and reinstate the hearing examiner's decision.

FACTS

North Pacific Union Conference (the Church) proposed to build a five-state regional headquarters office in agriculturally zoned land in Clark County. The permit application referred to the three-floor structure as an administrative center of approximately 40,000 square feet. The structure also contains a 2,400 square-foot sanctuary or worship room accommodating 120 people; only building employees would use the room on a regular basis.

The Church's local conference consists of about 3,300 members in Oregon and southwestern Washington. The Church contains approximately 80,000 members in its union conference, which consists of the states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. The proposed church headquarters would be used to enlarge, perpetuate, and strengthen the Seventh-Day Adventist Church on a local as well as a global level. The proposed location was highly visible and would be convenient for office staff. The Church's representatives testified that: (1) a sanctuary can account for less than 25 percent of a church's square footage; (2) administrative functions account for a majority of a church's time; (3) churches consider physical fitness activity, book selling, youth outreach, potluck dinners, child and adult education, counseling, working with foreign governments and regulatory agencies, and church administration as religious activity; (4) the proposed structure was not a business office; and (5) the proposed location would make it easier for church members to get together.

In addition, the Church submitted: (1) transportation calculations based solely on employee trips, (2) a description of the proposed structure as the "North Pacific Headquarters Seventh Day Adventist Church," and (3) a statement in its application that it was proposing to build a "church office building for the Seventh Day Adventist church." Certified Record of Exhibits (CRE) at 717-18.

The hearing examiner denied the Church's conditional use permit after finding that the proposed facility did not meet the County's definition of a church. The hearing examiner specifically found: (1) the building's sanctuary accounted for only 2,400 square feet of the structure's 40,000 square feet; (2) the majority of the structure would accommodate executive and administrative office space, including four tax offices, five treasury offices, and four trust offices; (3) the structure looks and functions like an office building; and (4) the proposed facility was not intended to serve local parishioners.

The Clark County Board of Commissioners upheld the hearing examiner on appeal. But the Clark County Superior Court reversed the hearing examiner, finding that the examiner erred in reasoning that "because a building looks like an office rather than a church, then it must be an office." Clerk's Papers (CP) at 149. The court concluded that "[r]eligious worship can take many forms. Buildings may have sanctuaries, administrative office [sic] and other like facilities." CP at 150. The County appeals.

ANALYSIS

Under Washington's Land Use Petition Act (LUPA), the party seeking relief from an administrative decision bears the burden of proving error. RCW 36.70C.130(1); Wellington River Hollow, LLC v. King County, 113 Wash.App. 574, 579-80, 54 P.3d 213 (2002). When considering administrative decisions on appeal, we review the hearing examiner's findings of fact and conclusions of law, not the trial court's findings and decision. United Dev. Corp. v. City of Mill Creek, 106 Wash.App. 681, 687, 26 P.3d 943 (2001). We review factual findings under the substantial evidence standard and conclusions of law de novo. United Dev. Corp., 106 Wash.App. at 687-88, 26 P.3d 943.

In its appeal to the trial court, the Church cited four grounds under RCW 36.70C.130(1): (1) the hearing examiner erroneously interpreted the law, (2) the evidence did not support the decision, (3) the examiner erred in applying the law to the facts, and (4) the decision violates the Church's constitutional rights.

Grounds (1) and (4) are legal questions, which we review de novo. Friends of the Law v. King County, 123 Wash.2d 518, 523, 869 P.2d 1056 (1994). Ground (2) is a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence. But the Church does not argue sufficiency and we, therefore, decline to address it. United Dev. Corp., 106 Wash.App. at 688, 26 P.3d 943 (unchallenged findings are verities on appeal). Ground (3) requires us to reverse only if the Church can show that the examiner's decision is "clearly erroneous." RCW 36.70C.130(1)(d); Polygon Corp. v. City of Seattle, 90 Wash.2d 59, 69, 578 P.2d 1309 (1978) (a decision is clearly erroneous only when the court is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed).

The Church essentially argues that the hearing officer too narrowly interpreted a place of worship to be only a traditional church with a local congregation. Instead, the Church maintains that worship must be broadly defined to include missionary work, education, charitable giving, communication, publication, and planning and growth activities because these are "a vital part of the Church's worship program." Br. of Respondent at 15-16. Related to this is the Church's argument that the examiner misapplied the law to the facts. The Church criticizes the hearing examiner's reasoning that the building was not a place of worship because of the physical characteristics of the building itself. Thus, according to the Church, the hearing examiner erred by comparing the number of "tax, treasury, trust or paralegal/legal offices" to the amount of space dedicated to the sanctuary. Br. of Respondent at 21. The Church characterizes this as a "quantum of use test." Br. of Respondent at 21.

The Clark County Zoning Code prohibits any land use not "specifically enumerated or interpreted as allowable in that district." CCC 18.104.620. The building site here is zoned agricultural. The Code allows church construction on agricultural land subject to certain conditions. CCC 18.302.030. The Code defines a church as "a permanently located building primarily used for religious worship." CCC 18.104.150. The Code also states, "`Accessory use' or `structure' shall mean one which is subordinate to the principal use of a building on the lot serving a purpose customarily incidental to the use of the principal building." CCC 18.104.025. An office building is prohibited in agriculturally zoned land. CCC 18.302.020.

The Clark County Code does not define "religious worship." Because of this, the parties agree that the hearing officer could use the dictionary to ascertain the common meaning of these undefined terms. Garrison v. State Nursing Bd., 87 Wash.2d 195, 196, 550 P.2d 7 (1976). One dictionary defines "worship" as "the reverence or veneration tendered a divine being or supernatural power," or "an act, process, or instance of expressing such veneration by performing or taking part in religious exercises or ritual," or "respect, admiration, or devotion," for an "object of esteem." WEBSTER'S THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL DICTIONARY 2637 (1969).

I. Statutory Interpretation

In concluding that the proposed structure would be used primarily as an office, rather than as a place of worship, the hearing examiner considered: (1) the structure's physical appearance as compared with 11 other churches presented by the Church; (2) the structure's sanctuary accounted for only 2,400 square feet of the building's 40,000 square feet; (3) the Church intended to serve a five-state region, not local parishioners or a local congregation; (4) two of the proposed structure's three floors were devoted to business and administrative work; and (5) church officials were fully aware the proposed structure did not meet the County's definition of a church because of the building's administrative nature.

The examiner's use analysis is specifically called for by the ordinance, which defines a church as "a ... building primarily used for religious worship." CCC.18.104.150 (emphasis added). The hearing examiner recognized that "religious worship" constitutes more than simple prayer, that parts of the building could fit within the definition of church, and that religious activities would occur within the building. Yet, the examiner found on balance that most of the building would consist of administrative and executive office space for employees to handle the Church's religious and financial affairs. Consistent with the dictionary definition of worship, the examiner found that a church is a place where "an act, process, or instance of expressing such veneration by performing or taking part in religious...