WHATCOM FIRE DIST. NO. 21 v. Whatcom County

256 P.3d 295
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedMay 5, 2011
Docket83611-6
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 256 P.3d 295 (WHATCOM FIRE DIST. NO. 21 v. Whatcom County) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
WHATCOM FIRE DIST. NO. 21 v. Whatcom County, 256 P.3d 295 (Wash. 2011).

Opinion

256 P.3d 295 (2011)
171 Wash.2d 421

WHATCOM COUNTY FIRE DISTRICT NO. 21, Petitioner,
v.
WHATCOM COUNTY, a municipal corporation, Defendant,
Birch Point Village, L.L.C., a Washington corporation; Schmidt Constructing, Inc., a Washington corporation; Bright Haven Builders, LLC, a Washington corporation; Mayflower Equities, Inc.; Lisa Schenk and Mike Sumner, Respondents.

No. 83611-6.

Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc.

Argued January 18, 2011.
Decided May 5, 2011.

*296 Philip Albert Talmadge, Talmadge/Fitzpatrick, Tukwila, WA, Jonathan Kolb Sitkin, Chmelik Sitkin & Davis PS, Bellingham, WA, for Petitioner.

Karen Frakes, Whatcom County Prosecutor's Office, Thomas Gregory Greenan, Zender Thurston, PS, Philip James Buri, Buri Funston Mumford, PLLC, Bellingham, WA, for Respondents.

Brian K. Snure, Snure Law Office, PSC, Des Moines, WA, amicus counsel for Washington Fire Commissioners Association.

OWENS, J.

¶ 1 In 2006, Whatcom County (the County) approved three land use applications for development in the Birch Bay urban growth area. Whatcom County Fire District No. 21[1] (the Fire District) filed a Land Use Petition Act (LUPA), ch. 36.70C RCW, petition challenging the approvals. At bottom, this case is a dispute between two independent municipal corporations over whether completion of the proposed developments would reduce fire protection services below an adequate level of service. Because we find that the County assigned responsibility for assessing the adequacy of fire protection services to the Fire District, we grant the Fire District's LUPA petition and reverse the County's approval of the land use applications at issue in this case.

FACTS

¶ 2 In 2006, the County approved the three development applications at issue in this case: Horizons Village at Semiahmoo, Harborview Road, and the Birch Bay Center. Because it believed it would not be able to provide an adequate level of service upon completion of the proposed developments, the Fire District refused to issue to the developers letters stating that adequate capacity to serve the developments existed or would exist. Despite the absence of such letters, the Whatcom County hearing examiner recommended approval of the three development applications, finding

on a more likely than not basis, that the Fire District will be able to continue to provide an adequate level of fire protection and emergency response services to the district, even with significant new growth, based on the currently authorized funding mechanisms available to the Fire District and the increased taxes and fees paid by the new growth.

¶ 3 Clerk's Papers (CP) at 343, 364, 413, 459-60. The hearing examiner also determined that

Whatcom County addressed fire protection concurrency when it adopted the Birch Bay Comprehensive Plan and concluded that the funding needs of Fire District No. 13 could adequately be met by taxes generated by the new growth.

*297 Id. at 345, 364, 413, 460. The Whatcom County Council adopted the hearing examiner's recommendations and approved all three development applications.

¶ 4 The Fire District then filed LUPA petitions challenging approval of all three developments in the superior court. These petitions were consolidated into a single proceeding. The Whatcom County Superior Court granted the Fire District's LUPA petition. The Court of Appeals reversed the superior court, finding that the County's comprehensive plan definitively established the adequacy and availability of fire protection, and reinstated the County's approval of the development applications. Whatcom County Fire Dist. No. 21 v. Whatcom County, 151 Wash.App. 601, 612, 614, 215 P.3d 956 (2009). We granted the Fire District's petition for review. Whatcom County Fire Dist. No. 21 v. Whatcom County, 168 Wash.2d 1005, 226 P.3d 782 (2010).

ISSUE

¶ 5 Did the County err by approving the development applications at issue absent a concurrency letter from the Fire District?

ANALYSIS

A. Standard of Review

¶ 6 Judicial review of land use decisions is governed by LUPA. Griffin v. Thurston County Bd. of Health, 165 Wash.2d 50, 54, 196 P.3d 141 (2008). Appellate courts sit in the same position as the superior court and apply the standards set forth in RCW 36.70C.130(1) to the administrative record that was before the body responsible for the land use decision. Id. at 54-55, 196 P.3d 141 (citing Isla Verde Int'l Holdings, Inc. v. City of Camas, 146 Wash.2d 740, 751, 49 P.3d 867 (2002)). In order to set aside a land use decision, the party seeking relief must establish one of the following standards:

(a) The body or officer that made the land use decision engaged in unlawful procedure or failed to follow a prescribed process, unless the error was harmless;
(b) The land use decision is an erroneous interpretation of the law, after allowing for such deference as is due the construction of a law by a local jurisdiction with expertise;
(c) The land use decision is not supported by evidence that is substantial when viewed in light of the whole record before the court;
(d) The land use decision is a clearly erroneous application of the law to the facts;
(e) The land use decision is outside the authority or jurisdiction of the body or officer making the decision; or
(f) The land use decision violates the constitutional rights of the party seeking relief.

RCW 36.70C.130(1). "Standards (a), (b), (e), and (f) present questions of law, which we review de novo." Abbey Rd. Grp., LLC v. City of Bonney Lake, 167 Wash.2d 242, 250, 218 P.3d 180 (2009). An application of law to the facts is "`"clearly erroneous" when although there is evidence to support it, the reviewing court on the entire evidence is left with the definite and firm conviction that a mistake has been committed.'" Norway Hill Pres. & Prot. Ass'n v. King County Council, 87 Wash.2d 267, 274, 552 P.2d 674 (1976) (internal quotation marks omitted) (quoting Ancheta v. Daly, 77 Wash.2d 255, 259-60, 461 P.2d 531 (1969)).

¶ 7 Interpretation of statutes and ordinances is a question of law reviewed de novo. In re Pers. Restraint of Cruze, 169 Wash.2d 422, 426, 237 P.3d 274 (2010); Griffin, 165 Wash.2d at 55, 196 P.3d 141.

B.

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Bluebook (online)
256 P.3d 295, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/whatcom-fire-dist-no-21-v-whatcom-county-wash-2011.