Jefferson County v. Lakeside Industries

23 P.3d 542, 106 Wash. App. 380
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedMay 25, 2001
DocketNo. 25760-2-II
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 23 P.3d 542 (Jefferson County v. Lakeside Industries) 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
Jefferson County v. Lakeside Industries, 23 P.3d 542, 106 Wash. App. 380 (Wash. Ct. App. 2001).

Opinion

Armstrong, C.J.

Jefferson County adopted its first land use code in 1989. The trial court ruled that the code was illegal, but we held that the code was not illegal, simply unenforceable because it was incomplete — the code referred to maps that were never adopted. Instead of completing the 1989 code, the County adopted a new land use code in 1994.

Lakeside Industries, Inc., began batching asphalt at its gravel pit in 1990. The 1989 code would have required a conditional use permit for asphalt batching, but Lakeside claimed it had a “grandfathered” nonconforming use because the 1989 code was unenforceable. In 1998, after neighbors complained, the County brought this action for declaratory relief, contending that Lakeside had no right to continue batching asphalt. The trial court granted summary judgment in the County’s favor, and Lakeside now appeals. We reverse.

FACTS

The J.D. Shotwell Company began operating a gravel pit at Cape George in the 1940s. Shotwell and other companies crushed rock and batched asphalt at the pit until 1984. Lakeside Industries, Inc., purchased crushed rock from the Cape George pit and batched asphalt at the site from 1981 to 1984. In 1990, Lakeside purchased the Cape George pit from Shotwell and began batching asphalt there again.

Meanwhile, Jefferson County adopted its first land use code in 1989. The code required a conditional use permit for all industries associated with resource production. But it allowed “grandfathered” uses to continue. Lakeside considered the gravel pit to be such a grandfathered nonconforming use. In 1991, a superior court vacated the 1989 development code and declared it null and void for violating the [384]*384State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), chapter 43.21C RCW, and the Planning Enabling Act, chapter 36.70 RCW.

Soon thereafter, the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners decided that neither rock crushing nor asphalt batching were grandfathered uses at the Cape George site. Lakeside then applied for a conditional use permit, but the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney advised Lakeside that no permit was necessary because the County had no effective development code. Responding to the superior court’s order vacating the 1989 code, the County passed an interim zoning ordinance in 1992. This code also provided that grandfathered uses could continue.

The County appealed the superior court’s order vacating the 1989 code, and we reversed the order in Leavitt v. Jefferson County, 74 Wn. App. 668, 875 P.2d 681 (1994). But we also held that the code was “incomplete and unenforceable” because the County never adopted maps the code referenced. Leavitt, 74 Wn. App. at 684.

Lakeside has continued to batch asphalt at the Cape George pit since 1990. Rock crushing is now permitted at the Cape George pit under a 1995 ordinance designating the site as a “mineral land of long-term commercial significance.” Clerk’s Papers (CP) at 80. Thus, the only issue is whether Lakeside can batch asphalt at the site.

In 1998, the County required Lakeside to stop batching asphalt until it obtained a conditional use permit, but Lakeside refused to apply for a permit, contending that batching is a legal nonconforming use. The County sought a declaratory judgment. The Jefferson County Superior Court allowed Neighbors Against Asphalt Batching (NAAB) to intervene. The trial court ruled in the County’s favor on cross motions for summary judgment, and Lakeside now appeals.

ANALYSIS

Lakeside continues to argue that asphalt batching at its [385]*385Cape George pit is a legal nonconforming use. Lakeside maintains that it began batching asphalt in 1990 and has continued to do so since then. It argues that the County’s 1989 development code was never effective and, therefore, its asphalt batching was a legal nonconforming use after the County adopted interim zoning in 1992.

The County and NAAB contend that because we vacated the trial court’s ruling that the 1989 code was “null and void,” the code had some effect and, thus, Lakeside’s batching in 1990 was not a legal nonconforming use. The County and NAAB also argue that the County Commissioners’ 1991 decision, which Lakeside did not appeal, bars Lakeside from litigating whether it has a legal nonconforming use.

We review a summary judgment de novo. Kruse v. Hemp, 121 Wn.2d 715, 722, 853 P.2d 1373 (1993). Summary judgment is proper when no genuine issues of material fact exist and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. CR 56(c); Kruse, 121 Wn.2d at 722.

I. Establishing a Legal Nonconforming Use

Lakeside argues that its asphalt batching at the Cape George pit is a legal nonconforming use. To establish such use, a landowner must show that (1) the use began before the applicable zoning ordinance was adopted, (2) the use was lawful before the ordinance was adopted, (3) the landowner did not abandon the use after the ordinance was adopted, and (4) the use was continuous, not occasional or intermittent. N./S. Airpark Ass’n v. Haagen, 87 Wn. App. 765, 772, 942 P.2d 1068 (1997). Lakeside argues that when it reestablished asphalt batching at Cape George in 1990, the County had no enforceable development code and, therefore, the use was legal. Lakeside further argues that the first valid code was the 1992 interim zoning code.

Lakeside’s argument arises from the maps issue in Leavitt. The County’s published proposed code contained a [386]*386map that was not parcel-specific, and the adopted 1989 code did not contain a map. Leavitt, 74 Wn. App. at 684. We held that the County did not violate the Planning Enabling Act by failing to include a parcel-specific map with the code because the Act specifically allows, but does not require, adopting maps as part of a land use code. Leavitt, 74 Wn. App. at 684. We concluded that “the absence of a map simply makes the Code incomplete and unenforceable until the Board adopts the map referenced by the Code.” Leavitt, 74 Wn. App. at 684 (emphasis added).1

But the County never adopted the maps associated with its 1989 development code. Instead, the County adopted an interim zoning code in 1992 and a new land use code in 1994. In the meantime, Lakeside reestablished asphalt batching at Cape George in 1990.

Lakeside argues that because we ruled that the 1989 code was incomplete and unenforceable without parcel-specific maps, the 1989 code was never effective. If the 1989 code was never effective, the County had no valid development code in effect when Lakeside reestablished asphalt batching at Cape George, and Lakeside can establish the first two legal elements required to establish a legal nonconforming use.

In response, the County points out that the Planning Enabling Act does not require maps. Further, the County argues that it did not need maps to enforce the code against Lakeside because the code required a conditional use permit for all heavy industrial uses. These arguments ignore our holding in Leavitt. When we filed Leavitt, we were aware that the Planning Enabling Act did not require maps. See Leavitt, 74 Wn. App.

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Related

McMilian v. King County
161 Wash. App. 581 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2011)
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146 Wash. App. 606 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
23 P.3d 542, 106 Wash. App. 380, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jefferson-county-v-lakeside-industries-washctapp-2001.