Westway Construction, Inc. v. Benton County

151 P.3d 1005, 136 Wash. App. 859
Court of Appeals of Washington·Decided December 14, 2006·No. No. 23721-4-III·Published·Cited by 14 cases

Opinion

¶1 Westway Construction, Inc., applied for and received a special use permit from Benton County to mine and crush rock on Billy Phelps’s property. The permit prohibited mining or crushing from March 1 through August 15 because of the existence of a ferruginous hawk nest. Westway and Mr. Phelps sued Benton County for damages under chapter 64.40 RCW, as well as tort and due process claims. Benton County’s motion for summary judgment was granted. Westway and Mr. Phelps appeal. We affirm.

Kato, J.

¶2 On March 30, 2000, Westway applied for a special use permit from Benton County to mine 23,000 tons of rock and operate a 200 ton-per-hour rock crusher on Billy Phelps’s property. Westway Constr., Inc. v. Benton County, noted at 117 Wn. App. 1089 (2003). Westway needed the rock to perform on a contract for a Benton County road project.

[863]*863¶3 In considering Westway’s application, the planning department found the site was in a fish and wildlife conservation area. Mark Teske of the Department of Fish and Wildlife told the planning department that a ferruginous hawk nest was adjacent to the site and Westway’s mining and crushing operation would harm the nest.

¶4 On May 16, 2000, the planning department imposed a date restriction on the special use permit barring operations from March 1 through August 15, so as not to disturb the hawk’s nesting in its mitigated determination of nonsignificance (MDNS). Westway disputed the restriction.

¶5 On June 1, 2000, the Benton County Board of Adjustment (Board) held a public hearing on the special use permit and the MDNS. Jason West of Westway told the Board the August 15 date would interfere with at least one of the contract dates. Mr. Teske stated hawks were susceptible to disturbances and would probably abandon their nests and their young if the Board permitted the special use before August 15, when the young would be ready to leave on their own. He also said he had visited the site recently and saw a hawk.

f 6 The Board approved the special use permit with the restrictions and rejected Westway’s appeal of the MDNS. Westway and Mr. Phelps appealed to the superior court. They sought review under chapter 36.70C RCW, the Land Use Petition Act (LUPA), alleging the Board had violated its right to due process and the decision was not supported by substantial evidence. They also included claims for tortious conduct, unlawful governmental acts under chapter 64.40 RCW, and civil rights violations.

f 7 Westway and Mr. Phelps requested the court to stay enforcement of the Board’s special use restrictions pending its decision. The Benton County Superior Court held a hearing. State biologists conducted an inspection of the site and concluded there was no nest on the site. The court granted a stay of the mitigation conditions on July 26, 2000. [864]*864The rock crushing operation began and was completed on time.

f8 Westway nevertheless continued with its appeal seeking reversal of the Board’s decision. On August 20, 2001, the court affirmed the Board because substantial evidence supported its decision. The court rejected Westway’s claim that it had been denied due process in the Board’s hearing. Westway and Mr. Phelps appealed to this court, which found substantial evidence did not exist to support the Board’s findings. The opinion was issued in July 2003; a mandate was thereafter issued.

¶9 On July 9, 2004, Westway and Mr. Phelps filed an amended complaint for damages, alleging the county violated chapter 64.40 ROW because its actions in issuing the permit were arbitrary and capricious. They also sued under various tort theories.

¶10 Benton County filed a motion for summary judgment. Rather than responding to this motion, Westway and Mr. Phelps filed an objection to the motion, claiming it was premature. The motion for summary judgment was granted. Westway and Mr. Phelps filed a motion for reconsideration that included new evidence. The court denied the motion on both substantive and procedural grounds. This appeal follows.

¶11 We review summary judgment rulings de novo. Grundy v. Thurston County, 155 Wn.2d 1, 6, 117 P.3d 1089 (2005). Summary judgment is appropriate only if the pleadings, affidavits, depositions, and admissions in the record on review demonstrate (1) the absence of any genuine issues of material fact and (2) the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. CR 56(c). “ ‘[T]he court must consider all facts submitted and all reasonable inferences from the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party.’ ” Grundy, 155 Wn.2d at 6 (alteration in original) (quoting Highline Sch. Dist. No. 401 v. Port of Seattle, 87 Wn.2d 6, 15, 548 P.2d 1085 (1976)).

¶12 At the threshold, Benton County claims Westway waived any substantive arguments opposing the entry of [865]*865summary judgment dismissal because it failed to raise those arguments at the trial court. A summary judgment argument not pleaded or argued to the trial court cannot be raised for the first time on appeal. Sneed v. Barna, 80 Wn. App. 843, 847, 912 P.2d 1035, review denied, 129 Wn.2d 1023 (1996). Westway did not advance the arguments now made on appeal in any written pleading prior to the summary judgment hearing. The record of the summary judgment arguments, however, establishes that it did make its arguments orally to the trial court. Since the court considered them below, we will consider them on appeal.

¶13 Westway and Mr. Phelps claim the court erred by dismissing their claim under chapter 64.40 RCW. That chapter provides an action for property owners aggrieved by a decision on a permit application. Smoke v. City of Seattle, 132 Wn.2d 214, 221, 937 P.2d 186 (1997). RCW 64.40.020(1) provides:

Owners of a property interest who have filed an application for a permit have an action for damages to obtain relief from acts of an agency which are arbitrary, capricious, unlawful, or exceed lawful authority, or relief from a failure to act within time limits established by law: PROVIDED, That the action is unlawful or in excess of lawful authority only if the final decision of the agency was made with knowledge of its unlawfulness or that it was in excess of lawful authority, or it should reasonably have been known to have been unlawful or in excess of lawful authority.

Any assertion of a claim under this statute must be brought no later than 30 days after the exhaustion of all administrative remedies. RCW 64.40.030.

¶14 The first ground for dismissing the claim under RCW 64.40.020 was that Westway and Mr. Phelps lacked standing. Benton County alleged Westway lacked standing because it was not the property owner and Mr. Phelps lacked standing because he did not file the permit application. To resolve this issue, we engage in statutory interpretation.

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Westway Construction, Inc. v. Benton County, 151 P.3d 1005, 136 Wash. App. 859 (Wash. Ct. App. 2006).

151 P.3d 1005 (Westway Construction, Inc. v. Benton County) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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