Abbey Road Group, LLC v. City of Bonney Lake

167 P.3d 1213, 141 Wash. App. 184
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedSeptember 18, 2007
Docket35383-1-II
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 167 P.3d 1213 (Abbey Road Group, LLC v. City of Bonney Lake) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Abbey Road Group, LLC v. City of Bonney Lake, 167 P.3d 1213, 141 Wash. App. 184 (Wash. Ct. App. 2007).

Opinion

167 P.3d 1213 (2007)

ABBEY ROAD GROUP, LLC, a Washington limited liability company; Karl J. Thun and Virginia S. Thun, husband and wife; Thomas Pavolka; and Virginia Leslie Revocable Trust; and William and Louise Leslie Family Revocable Trust, Respondents,
v.
CITY OF BONNEY LAKE, a Washington municipal corporation, Appellant.

No. 35383-1-II.

Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 2.

September 18, 2007.

*1214 Jeffrey Ganson, Lisa M. Worthington-Brown, Dionne & Rorick, Seattle, WA, for Appellant.

Loren Dee Combs, Gregory Francis Amann, McGavick Graves PS, Tacoma, WA, for Respondents.

VAN DEREN, A.C.J.

¶ 1 The City of Bonney Lake asks us to reverse the superior court's decision reversing a hearing examiner's decision denying vested development rights to the Abbey Road Group, LLC[1] for a 575-unit condominium project within Bonney Lake. Bonney Lake contends that Abbey Road's site plan review application did not vest development rights under Washington's vested rights doctrine based on: (1) Erickson & Associates, Inc. v. McLerran, 123 Wash.2d 864, 872 P.2d 1090 (1994) and (2) Abbey Road's failure to file an application for a building permit as required by RCW 19.27.095(1). We agree with Bonney Lake, reverse the superior court, and affirm the hearing examiner's decision that development rights did not vest because Abbey Road failed to file a building permit application before Bonney Lake adopted new zoning and permit standards applicable to Abbey Lake's property within its city limits.

FACTS

¶ 2 Abbey Road proposed to build a 575 unit condominium project on 36.51 acres within the City of Bonney Lake. In Bonney Lake, Title 14 of the Bonney Lake Municipal Code (BLMC)[2] governs development procedures. Title 14 does not articulate a vesting scheme nor specifically state that a building permit is required for development project rights to vest. Generally, review and approval of a proposed development plan is separate and apart from review and approval of a building permit application, although both parts of a project require city approval. See BLMC 14.50.060(C).

¶ 3 On June 15, 2005, Abbey Road representatives attended a pre-application meeting with Bonney Lake.[3] At the meeting, Bonney Lake distributed a nine-page letter containing a paragraph entitled, "Land Use Review Process," that stated:

The zoning of the subject site is Commercial (C-2). Pursuant to BLMC Section 18.26.020, the C-2 zoning district permits multi-family development, subject to a Type 3 permit under BLMC Chapter 14.50, and environmental review under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) [of 1971, RCW 43.21C], if applicable. All application material is included and all information requested on the application forms (Building Permit and Planning Department) shall be submitted in order for a complete application. A Type 3 permit is approved by the [Director of the Bonney Lake Planning and Community Development Department (Director) ] and can be appealed to the Bonney Lake Hearing Examiner.

Administrative Record Exhibit (AR Ex.) 15 at 1-2.[4] The letter generally reviewed the information required for the site development plan review and indicated that the land use application fees for the review were *1215 $3,674, but it noted that "other fees for building permits" were also required.[5] AR Ex. 15 at 2.

¶ 4 The letter also listed the following requirements for the site development plan review: SEPA checklist, public notification, preliminary storm water report, traffic impact analysis, various site plan versions, landscape and road/pedestrian plan, geotechnical report, and hydrogeologic impact study. The closing paragraph of the letter stated:

This letter reflects the information provided at the preapplication meeting and is intended to assist you in preparing plans and materials for formal application. We hope you found the comments useful to your project. We have made every effort to identify major issues to eliminate surprises during the City's review of the formal application. The completion of the preapplication process in the content of this letter does not vest any future project application. Comments in this letter are only valid for one year.
As you know, this is a preliminary review only and does not take the place of the full review that will follow submission of a formal application. Comments provided in this letter are based on preapplication materials submitted.

AR Ex. 15 at 9. (emphasis added).

¶ 5 Abbey Road embarked on the development process, expending some $96,500[6] in the process and, on September 13, 2005, it submitted its application for the site development plan review. Later that day, the Bonney Lake City Council passed an ordinance rezoning the subject property to Residential/Conservation District (RC-5), a zoning category that precludes the multifamily development Abbey Road envisioned. Bonney Lake rezoned 65 acres, including Abbey Road's property, to bring the area into compliance with Bonney Lake's Future Land Use Map.

¶ 6 In a letter dated October 12, 2005, the Director notified Abbey Road that its project was not vested under the prior ordinance because Abbey Road had not filed a building permit application. Abbey Road appealed the Director's determination.

¶ 7 The parties disputed the testimony before the hearing examiner about whether the city officials who attended the pre-application meeting also orally advised the Abbey Road representatives that vesting occurred only with the building permit application. City officials all agreed that there was no ambiguity about the necessity of a building permit application to vest Abbey Road's development rights to this project, while the Abbey Road participants claimed that the City did not give them a direct answer to their questions. But the evidence included the June 15 letter informing Abbey Road that "[i]n addition to this preapplication letter, please examine the complete BLMC and other relevant codes carefully," and that completion of the preapplication process "does not vest any future project application." AR Ex. 15 at 9.

¶ 8 The hearing examiner found that the Director correctly determined that:

The submittal of a completed application for a Type 3 permit pursuant to Chapter 14.50 BLMC does not vest a multi-family or commercial project allowed outright by the applicable C-2 zone classification. An applicant must submit a completed application for a building permit to vest the project. Erickson [ & Associates] v. McLerran, 123 Wash.2d 864[, 872 P.2d 1090] (1994); Noble Manor Company v. Pierce County, 133 Wash.2d 269[, 943 P.2d 1378] (1997).

Clerk's Papers (CP) at 37.

¶ 9 Abbey Road filed a petition under the Land Use Petition Act (LUPA), chapter 36.70C RCW, seeking to reverse the hearing examiner's decision. And the superior court reversed the hearing examiner's decision, concluding:

2. [Abbey Road] was required by [Bonney Lake] to submit a Type 3 site development permit application . . .

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167 P.3d 1213, 141 Wash. App. 184, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/abbey-road-group-llc-v-city-of-bonney-lake-washctapp-2007.