Hunters Ridge Homeowners Ass'n v. Hicks

818 S.W.2d 623, 1991 Ky. App. LEXIS 135, 1991 WL 236873
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedNovember 15, 1991
DocketNo. 90-CA-2701-MR
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 818 S.W.2d 623 (Hunters Ridge Homeowners Ass'n v. Hicks) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hunters Ridge Homeowners Ass'n v. Hicks, 818 S.W.2d 623, 1991 Ky. App. LEXIS 135, 1991 WL 236873 (Ky. Ct. App. 1991).

Opinion

HOWERTON, Judge.

Hunters Ridge Homeowners Association, the Crowells, and the Edelens appeal from a summary judgment of the Woodford Circuit Court granting a declaratory judgment in favor of Newell G. Hicks and Associated Developers, a Kentucky general partnership. The court also issued a writ of mandamus requiring the Woodford County Fiscal Court to comply with KRS 100.3681 and issue a certificate of land use restrictions pursuant to a zone amendment. We agree with Judge Knox and, in affirming his decision, we could very easily adopt his thorough and excellent opinion as the opinion of this Court. We will nevertheless summarize the facts and address only the issues presented by the appellants.

Newell Hicks owns a tract of land fronting on the south side of Lexington Street in Versailles, Kentucky, which was zoned R-1B. On September 6, 1988, Hicks and Associated Developers filed an application with the Versailles-Woodford County Joint City-County Planning Commission request[625]*625ing that the zoning map be amended to change the zone classification for this property to B-2 and R-4. The planning commission recommended to the Woodford Fiscal Court that the application be denied. On December 12, 1989, the matter was considered by the fiscal court, which consists of eight magistrates and the county judge/executive. Seven magistrates and County Judge Nunnelley were present. A motion was made to override the planning commission; four votes were cast in favor of the motion and three votes were cast against it. Judge Nunnelley did not vote, but declared that the motion passed.

Subsequently, and apparently on the advice of the county attorney, the fiscal court adopted the position that the vote did not authorize the zone change, because KRS 100.211 requires a majority of the entire legislative body to approve overriding a planning commission recommendation. Such would require five affirmative votes. With this in mind, the fiscal court refused to issue the requested certificate of land use restrictions and amend the zone map.

This case was filed on March 1, 1990, by Hicks and Associated Developers against the Woodford County Fiscal Court and its members. Hunters Ridge Homeowners Association, the Crowells, and the Edelens were permitted to intervene. The judgment was entered November 9, 1990, and only the intervening parties have appealed.

The appellants present four allegations of error. They first argue that the trial court erred by allowing Judge Nunnelley’s non-vote to be counted with the four votes to override the planning commission’s recommendation. Secondly, they contend that it was error for the court to issue a writ of mandamus requiring the fiscal court to issue the certificate, claiming that mandamus wrongfully interferes with the judge/executive’s discretion. The appellants next allege that Hicks and Associated Developers did not file a timely appeal from the action of the fiscal court. Basically, they claim that the motion to override failed and that the fiscal court’s action on December 12 was a final action requiring that the planning commission’s recommendation be followed. Therefore, Hicks and Associated Developers had only 30 days in which to file an appeal. Finally, Hunters Ridge argues that the circuit court’s decision should be reversed, because the proposed zone amendment and the issuance of a certificate pursuant thereto is illegal on its face. We have thoroughly reviewed the facts and the law, and we find no reversible error.

As odd as it may seem to some, Kentucky courts for years have followed the rule that members of legislative and administrative bodies who are present at a meeting, but who do not vote on a proposition, are counted with the majority vote of those members present and voting. Ray v. Armstrong, 140 Ky. 800, 131 S.W. 1039 (1910), (State Board of Equalization); Lawrence County v. Lawrence Fiscal Court, 191 Ky. 45, 229 S.W. 139 (1921), (county fiscal court); City of Spring field v. Haydon, 216 Ky. 483, 288 S.W. 337 (1926), (city council); Montgomery v. Claybrooks, 213 Ky. 493, 281 S.W. 469 (1926), (local board of education); Pierson-Trapp Co. v. Knippenberg, Ky., 387 S.W.2d 587 (1965), (city-county planning commission); and Payne v. Petrie, Ky., 419 S.W.2d 761 (1967), (city council). In Lawrence County, supra, 191 Ky. at 51, 229 S.W. 139, we read:

Under these authorities we gather the rule to be that when the requisite number of the body to form a quorum is present and has an opportunity to and does vote upon a proposition, those members who are present and do not vote will be considered as acquiescing with the majority and their silence construed as they voting with the majority.

This general principle has been reiterated in the cases following this rule.

An example of how the rule is applied is clearly presented in Pierson-Trapp Co., supra. A developer petitioned the city-county planning commission for a zone change. The statutes in effect at that time required that to recommend any zone change, it must be first approved “by a majority vote of the entire members of the commission.” KRS 100.420 (repealed 1966). The planning commission had 10 members, and a majority would require 6 favorable votes for any proposed change.

[626]*626Five members voted in favor of the zone change, two voted against it, two were present but did not vote, and one member was absent. On appeal, the opinion reads, in part, “By application of the rule seven of the ten votes should have been considered as favorable to applicant’s petition.” Pierson-Trapp, 387 S.W.2d at 588.

In Payne, supra, the court not only followed the rule, but reinforced the principle by providing:

We adhere to that rule, but amplify it to point out that the word “majority” as used in the rule does not mean a numerical majority of the entire elected membership of the board, but means a majority of those present and voting. In the case at bar, six members voting “yea” constituted a majority of the eleven members who voted. Under the rule as stated, the “pass” vote must be counted as voting with the six, thereby making seven affirmative votes. Seven, of course, is a majority of twelve.

Payne, 419 S.W.2d at 763-64.

It is quite clear that the 4-3 vote of the Woodford Fiscal Court constituted a majority of those present and voting in favor of the motion to override the planning commission’s recommendation. Furthermore, Judge Nunnelley’s vote must be counted with the majority, making it five votes, and a clear majority of the nine-member fiscal court. The motion passed, and it was thereafter incumbent upon the fiscal court to issue the necessary certificate. The action was final and favorable to Hicks and Associated Developers.

Hunters Ridge has cited Pierce v. Board of Adjustments, Ky.App., 616 S.W.2d 800 (1981), and City of Louisville v. McDonald,

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818 S.W.2d 623, 1991 Ky. App. LEXIS 135, 1991 WL 236873, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hunters-ridge-homeowners-assn-v-hicks-kyctapp-1991.