Zuni Indian Tribe v. McKinley County Board of County Commissioners

2013 NMCA 41, 2013 NMCA 041, 3 N.M. 606
CourtNew Mexico Court of Appeals
DecidedJanuary 24, 2013
DocketDocket 31,496
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 2013 NMCA 41 (Zuni Indian Tribe v. McKinley County Board of County Commissioners) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New Mexico Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zuni Indian Tribe v. McKinley County Board of County Commissioners, 2013 NMCA 41, 2013 NMCA 041, 3 N.M. 606 (N.M. Ct. App. 2013).

Opinion

OPINION

VANZI, Judge.

{1} The New Mexico Subdivision Act (the Act), NMSA 1978, §§ 47-6-1 to -29 (1973, as amended through 2009), governs the subdivision review and approval process by counties. The appeals provision of the Act, Section 47-6-15(B), provides that a party adversely affected “by a decision of the board of county commissioners may appeal to the district court pursuant to the provisions of [NMSA 1978, §] 39-3-1.1 [(1999)]” — the statute governing administrative appeals. In this case, we address whether a county’s approval or disapproval of a preliminary subdivision plat application constitutes a final, appealable decision for purposes of Section 47-6-15(B) of the Act. We also decide whether a timely filed appeal from a decision on a preliminary plat application is rendered moot simply because the county proceeded to approve the final plat application during the pendency of the appeal.

{2} We hold that a party adversely affected by a county’s decision on a preliminary plat application can appeal the decision to the district court and that this appeal, if timely filed, is not rendered moot by the county’s decision to approve the final subdivision plat application during the pendency of the appeal. Accordingly, we reverse the district court’s ruling to the contrary and remand for the district court to consider the merits.

BACKGROUND

{3} On January 8, 2008, the McKinley County Board of County Commissioners (the County) approved a preliminary plat application submitted by Tampico Springs Ranch 3000, LLC (Tampico) for a proposed 490-home phased subdivision development. On February 7, 2008, the Zuni Tribe (the Tribe) appealed the County’s approval of the preliminary plat application to the district court. Tampico filed a motion to intervene in the case, which the district court granted.

{4} Shortly thereafter, the Tribe filed a motion to stay enforcement of the County’s decision approving the preliminary plat application to prevent Tampico from proceeding further in the subdivision development process during the pendency of the Tribe’s appeal. See Rule 1-074(Q) NMRA (permitting the district court to stay enforcement of the agency decision under review). The district court denied the Tribe’s motion, and the County then proceeded to approve Tampico’s final plat application.

{5} Subsequently, Tampico filed a motion to dismiss the Tribe’s appeal on two grounds, arguing that: (1) the district court lacked jurisdiction because the County’s decision on the preliminary plat application was not a final, appealable order; and (2) the Tribe’s appeal from the preliminary plat approval was rendered moot by the County’s approval of Tampico’s final plat application during the pendency of the appeal. The district court granted Tampico’s motion, finding that the Tribe’s appeal “puts forth a moot question and the action complained of does not constitute a final decision.” We granted the Tribe’s petition for writ of certiorari to review the district court’s ruling.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

{6} The parties agree that this case presents pure questions of law, which we review de novo. See Santa Fe Pac. Trust, Inc. v. City of Albuquerque, 2012-NMSC-028, ¶ 10, 285 P.3d 595 (“Finality is a question of law we review de novo.”); Baber v. Desert Sun Motors, 2007-NMCA-098, ¶ 9, 142 N.M. 319, 164 P.3d 1018 (providing that “[wjhéther a lower court properly dismissed a case as moot presents a question of law, which we review de novo”). To the extent that this appeal requires this Court to interpret provisions of the Act, we also engage in de novo review. Hovet v. Allstate Ins. Co., 2004-NMSC-010, ¶ 10, 135 N.M. 397, 89 P.3d 69 (providing that “[sjtatutory interpretation is a question of law, which we review de novo”).

DISCUSSION

A. Finality

{7} The first issue we address on appeal is whether the County’s approval of a preliminary plat application is a final, appealable order within the meaning of Sections 47-6-15(B) and 39-3-1.1. The Tribe argues that the district court erred in concluding that a county’s approval or disapproval of a preliminary subdivision plat application does not constitute a final decision that is appealable to the district court. Section 47-6-15(B) reads:

A party who is or may be adversely affected by a decision of the board of county commissioners may appeal to the district court pursuant to the provisions of Section 39-3-1.1.

(Emphasis added.) The Act does not define the term “decision” in Section 47-6-15(B), and here, the parties disagree as to whether a county’s approval or disapproval of a preliminary plat application is a decision from which an aggrieved party can seek judicial review. The Tribe contends that the County’s approval of Tampico’s preliminary plat application in this case constituted a “decision” under Section 47-6-15(B) of the Act and that this is a “final decision” within the meaning of Section 39-3-1.1. For the reasons that follow, we agree.

{8} In interpreting Section 47-6-15 oftheAct, “we seek to give effect to the Legislature’s intent, and in determining intent we look to the language used and consider the statute’s history and background.” Key v. Chrysler Motors Corp., 121 N.M. 764, 768-69, 918 P.2d 350, 354-55 (1996); see State v. Nick R., 2009-NMSC-050, ¶ 11, 147 N.M. 182, 218 P.3d 868 (stating that in interpreting statutes, “we examine the plain language of the statute as well as the context in which it was promulgated, including the history of the statute and the object and purpose the Legislature sought to accomplish” (internal quotation marks and citation omitted)). “We must take care to avoid adoption of a construction that would render the statute’s application absurd or unreasonable or lead to injustice or contradiction.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted).

{9} “The primary indicator of legislative intent is the plain language of the statute.” State v. Johnson, 2009-NMSC-049, ¶ 10, 147 N.M. 177, 218 P.3d 863. When a term is not defined in a statute, we must construe it, giving words “their ordinary meaning absent clear and express legislative intention to the contrary.” State v. Ogden, 118 N.M. 234, 242, 880 P.2d 845, 853 (1994). Although the term “decision” is not defined in the Act, it is ordinarily defined as “[a] judicial or agency determination after consideration of the facts and the law[.]” See Black’s Law Dictionary 467 (9th ed. 2009); see also Armijo v. Armijo, 77 N.M. 742, 744, 427 P.2d 258, 259 (1967) (defining “decision” as “a determination arrived at after consideration, an opinion formed, or a course of action decided upon”). As the Tribe points out, the review and approval process for preliminary plats set forth in the Act requires a formal review process by a board of county commissioners or its delegate. See § 47-6-11. The Act specifically requires the sub divider to furnish documentation of various matters, such as water availability and road access, along with its preliminary plat. Section 47-6-11(B).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2013 NMCA 41, 2013 NMCA 041, 3 N.M. 606, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zuni-indian-tribe-v-mckinley-county-board-of-county-commissioners-nmctapp-2013.