Great Cruz Bay Development Co. v. Virgin Islands Board of Land Use Appeals

18 V.I. 536, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9341
CourtDistrict Court, Virgin Islands
DecidedJuly 15, 1981
DocketCivil No. 80-259
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 18 V.I. 536 (Great Cruz Bay Development Co. v. Virgin Islands Board of Land Use Appeals) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, Virgin Islands primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Great Cruz Bay Development Co. v. Virgin Islands Board of Land Use Appeals, 18 V.I. 536, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9341 (vid 1981).

Opinion

CHRISTIAN, Chief Judge

OPINION

This is an appeal from a June 4, 1980, decision by the Board of Land Use Appeals taken by the Great Cruz Bay Development Co. See 12 V.I.C. § 914.

On appeal, Great Cruz Bay contends that the Board of Land Use Appeals (Board) lacked jurisdiction to render its decision and that the action of the Board deprived Great Cruz Bay of due process. Because of procedural irregularities and constitutional infirmities reflected in the record of the proceedings below, the decision of the Board will be vacated and the cause will be remanded.

FACTS

In the fall of 1979, Great Cruz Bay applied to the Coastal Zone Management Committee of St. John (CZMC) for a permit to build a 201-unit condominium development, 50-room hotel and certain commercial facilities. The CZMC allowed 140 condominium units, approved the 50-room hotel and the commercial facilities provided, however, that 12 conditions be met.1

On or about February 25, 1980, a notice of intention to appeal to the Board of Land Use Appeals was filed by the intervenors2 in this action. Great Cruz Bay filed its appeal to the Board of Land Use Appeals on March 28, 1980. In addition, Great Cruz Bay on May 5, 1980, filed an action in this Court seeking to enjoin the Board from hearing the intervenors’ appeal and to declare the actions of the CZMC ultra vires and the underlying legislation unconstitutional. See Great Cruz Bay Development Co. v. Dwight, 1980 St. T. Supp. 238 (D.V.I. 1980). We found the action premature and directed the parties to exhaust administrative remedies, and dismissed the action without prejudice. Id.

On May 14, 1980, a hearing was held before the Board. Great Cruz Bay maintains that its rights to address the Board was unduly limited. On June 4, 1980, the Board rendered its decision. It re[539]*539versed the decision of the CZMC and approved a modification of Great Cruz Bay’s petition. The Board allowed construction of 100 condominium units with recreational facilities as well as the 50-unit hotel. No commercial facilities were approved. Great Cruz Bay then appealed the Board’s decision to this Court. We allowed the St. John environmentalists to intervene in this action on February 27, 1981. Great Cruz Bay and the intervenors filed briefs in support of their contentions. The Board submitted no brief on its own but joined in the intervenors’ brief.

Great Cruz Bay’s first assertion is that the Board lacked jurisdiction to render its decision of June 4, 1980.3 In support of that contention it maintains that the intervenors’ appeal4 to the Board was filed improperly and in an untimely manner. In addition, the Board failed to act in a timely fashion.

Great Cruz Bay’s second assertion is that it was deprived of its due process rights before the Board. In support of its claim, Great Cruz Bay contends that: (1) the absence of a proper record makes the Board’s action legally deficient; (2) the absence of findings of facts and conclusions makes the Board’s decision void; (3) the absence of internal rules and regulations makes the appeal proceeding fatally defective; (4) The Coastal Zone Management Act is constitutionally infirm due to an impermissible delegation of legislative authority; (5) the Board exceeded its authority in imposing some of the CZMC conditions to the permit; and (6) the Board denied Great Cruz Bay the right to adequately defend the permit granted by the CZMC.

Before we address petitioner’s assertions, we will outline our role in this administrative appeal. In our supervisory function, we must first ascertain whether the Board and the CZMC adopted a reasonable procedure with fair notice and opportunity to the parties to present their cause. Goldberg v. Kelly, 397 U.S. 254 (1970). Next we must determine whether the findings and conclusions made below are supported by substantial evidence. Greater Boston Television Corp. v. F.C.C., 444 F.2d 841, 850 (D.C. Cir. 1970); see Permian Basin Area Rate Cases, 390 U.S. 747, 791-92 (1968). Because the issues on this appeal are procedural we need not reach the substantive question.

[540]*540JURISDICTION

Great Cruz Bay contends that the intervenors’ appeal from the CZMC to the Board of Land Use Appeals was untimely filed. Under the Coastal Zone Management Act, 12 V.I.C. § 914(a) “any aggrieved person may file an appeal of an action by the Commission ... within forty-five days thereof with the Board of Land Use Appeals . . . .” Great Cruz Bay maintains that because the time period lapsed on a Saturday and the appeal was not filed until the following Monday, the action is untimely. We disagree.

In Smith v. Kenny, 84 F.R.D. 113 (D.V.I. 1979), we held that Rule 6(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure applies to actions before the District Court.5 Although the federal rules do not apply to administrative proceedings we find that the considerations of liberality and leniency found in Rule 6(a) could be analogously applied. See Union National Bank v. Lamb, 337 U.S. 38, 40-41 (1949). Furthermore, the Board of Land Use Appeals held that Rule 6(a) applied to actions before it. See exhibit 4 of Petition for Writ of Review.6 We find this approach reasonable. A uniform system of time computation throughout the territory would avoid confusion and unnecessary procedural errors. Nonuniform, unpublished procedural rules should not bar review on the merits.

The primary cause for the host of issues in this action is the failure by the Board and the CZMC to promulgate internal rules and regulations. The enabling statute defines the limits of the agency’s power. The rules and regulations are the mechanism by which the Act’s purpose is implemented. See Nicholas v. Kahn, 405 N.Y.S.2d 135 (App. Div. 2d 1978).

Therefore, we disagree with Great Cruz Bay’s contention that because the intervenors filed incorrectly, their appeal should not be allowed. Without having access to internal procedures, intervenors were required to do no more than give notice of their intention to [541]*541appeal. Their decision to file their notice at a Board member’s place of business rather than with the Board itself is not grounds for reversal if no prejudice occurred. Petitioner has not demonstrated that it was injured by the irregular filing.

The last jurisdictional error asserted by Great Cruz Bay is that the Board acted in an untimely manner. 12 V.I.C. § 914(c) provides that a public hearing shall be held sixty (60) days after the appeal is filed. This was not done.7 At this juncture, however, we need not determine the penalty for the Board’s untimely action since we find reversal warranted on due process grounds.

DUE PROCESS

Great Cruz Bay raises several constitutional arguments to support its petition to reverse the decision of the Board of Land Use Appeals.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
18 V.I. 536, 1981 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9341, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/great-cruz-bay-development-co-v-virgin-islands-board-of-land-use-appeals-vid-1981.