Hanson v. Spokane County

770 P.2d 210, 53 Wash. App. 723, 1989 Wash. App. LEXIS 77
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMarch 28, 1989
DocketNo. 9689-1-III
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 770 P.2d 210 (Hanson v. Spokane County) 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
Hanson v. Spokane County, 770 P.2d 210, 53 Wash. App. 723, 1989 Wash. App. LEXIS 77 (Wash. Ct. App. 1989).

Opinion

Thompson, C.J.

—Allan Hanson brought this action against Spokane County and the Washington State Boundary Review Board of Spokane County (BRB) seeking (1) an injunction barring the BRB from further consideration of the petition for incorporation of the City of Spokane Valley, and (2) an order requiring the County to place the issue of incorporation on the ballot. He appeals from a summary judgment dismissing his action. We affirm.

Mr. Hanson's primary contention is that the Board did not validly act on the petition within the statutory 120-day time limit, and, thus, the petition is deemed approved by [725]*725the Board and must be submitted for a public vote. RCW 36.93.100; RCW 36.93.150.1

On June 11, 1985, a petition for incorporation of a non-charter code city to be named the City of Spokane Valley was filed in accordance with former RCW 35A.03.0202 and thereafter certified as sufficient by the Spokane County Auditor. The original proposal concerned the area east of the city of Spokane to the state line. It was modified by the BRB to exclude the area east of Barker Road. The BRB approved the modified proposal on November 9, 1985. Citizens for the Facts on Incorporation and others, but not Mr. Hanson, appealed that decision to superior court.

The Superior Court remanded the decision to the BRB for consideration of, inter alia, the effect of incorporation on finances, debt structure and contractual obligations. The court's memorandum opinion3 in that appeal noted that under the provisions of RCW 36.93.090, the initiators of a petition for incorporation must file a "notice of intention" with the BRB. The committee for incorporation of the Spokane Valley (initiators) filed its notice of intention on [726]*726July 3, 1985, immediately following a special meeting with the BRB on that date. The court held that the July 3 meeting, although intended as a preliminary meeting, actually turned into a hearing on the initiators' proposal. Therefore, under RCW 36.93.160,4 the BRB should have given at least 30 days' notice of the hearing. The court also held that several subsequent meetings of the BRB on the petition for incorporation violated the statutory notice provisions.

The judgment of remand for further proceedings was entered on November 26, 1986, and specified that "[a]ny party may apply for an order of direction as to time after 120 days". No party applied for such an order, and the BRB did not file its second written decision, this time disapproving incorporation, until December 17, 1987.

Mr. Hanson filed this action in November 1987, alleging that the BRB had failed to take timely action on the original petition for incorporation. The BRB successfully moved for summary judgment and Mr. Hanson appeals.

Under former RCW 36.93.100,
[t]he board shall review and approve, disapprove, or modify . . . [the petition for incorporation] when any of the following shall occur within sixty days of the filing of a notice of intention:
(1) The chairman or any three members of the boundary review board files a request for review;
[727]*727(3) A petition requesting review is filed and is signed by
(a) five percent of the registered voters residing within the area which is being considered for the proposed action . . .
If a period of sixty days shall elapse without the board's jurisdiction having been invoked as set forth in this section, the proposed action shall be deemed approved.
If a review of a proposal is requested, the board shall make a finding as prescribed in RCW 36.93.150 within one hundred twenty days after the filing of such a request for review. If this period of one hundred twenty days shall elapse without the board making a finding . . ., the proposal shall be deemed approved unless the board and the person who submitted the proposal agree to an extension of the one hundred twenty day period.

(Italics ours.) Laws of 1983, ch. 76, § 1.

Both Mr. Hanson and the BRB agree that the Board "formally" invoked jurisdiction on July 12, 1985. However, Mr. Hanson's position is that the 120-day time period began to run no later than the July 3 meeting. That is, the July 3 meeting, which was held before the notice of intention was filed with the Board, amounted to a request for review by either the BRB or the signators of the petition for incorporation. See former RCW 36.93.100(1), (3)(a). Thus, Mr. Hanson contends the 120-day time period of RCW 36.93.100 expired on October 31, 1985. Since the Board made no finding on the petition until November 9, 1985, he claims the proposal is "deemed approved" under RCW 36.93.100 and should be placed on the ballot. In his view, the Board had no jurisdiction over the proposal after October 31, 1985, and all subsequent actions by the Board and appeals therefrom are null and void. Alternatively, he argues that the failure of the Board to comply with the notice requirements for hearings denied him procedural due process as well as his right to petition the government for redress of grievances. Finally, he contends that the 120-day [728]*728time period was applicable to the proceedings on remand. The Board did not enter a finding within 120 days of the order of remand, but, instead, took a year to enter its finding disapproving the petition. On these bases, he contends the court erred in summarily dismissing this action.

We agree with the Superior Court's summary dismissal of Mr. Hanson's action for the following reasons:

First, the 120-day time period in RCW 36.93.100 begins when a request for review is "filed" with the BRB. The term "file” "carries the idea of permanent preservation as a public record". Black's Law Dictionary 755 (4th rev. ed. 1968). The parties agree that the formal request for review by the Board was made July 12. The earlier meeting on July 3 occurred before the initiators of the petition had filed their "notice of intention" with the Board as required by RCW 36.93.090.

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Related

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810 P.2d 84 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1991)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
770 P.2d 210, 53 Wash. App. 723, 1989 Wash. App. LEXIS 77, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hanson-v-spokane-county-washctapp-1989.