Plain Grains Limited Partnership v. Board of County ... - Land Use Law

More documents

Recommendations

Info

2010 MT 155, *P97; 357 Mont. 61, **92;238 P.3d 332, ***352; 2010 Mont. LEXIS 238Page 18Policy reenacted the zoning district amendments viaincorporation and that action was presumed lawful andvalid, absent another challenge. [***353] CountryHighlands, PP 8, 13, 22 (citations omitted). We haverecognized that adoption and revision of zoningregulations are legislative acts, entitled to presumptionsof validity and reasonableness. North 93 Neighbors, Inc.v. Bd. of County Comm'rs., 2006 MT 132, P18, 332 Mont.327, 137 P.3d 557 (citing Schanz v. City of Billings, 182Mont. 328, 335, 597 P.2d 67, 71 (1979)).[*P98] The Court offers that Cascade County's"2009 amendments to the CCZR changed nothing aboutthe 668 acre rezone challenged by Plains Grains. Thezoning designation and map remain unchanged for theSME parcel, [and] [t]he area surrounding the SME parcelretains its A-2 'Agricultural' designation." Opinion, P 31.The Court then concludes that the 2009 amendments "donot purport to repeal the earlier version of the CCZR,"and minimizes the new ordinance as a "mere refinement."Opinion, P 33. 66 As with Povsha, the Court attempts todistinguish Country Highlands by quoting fromthe briefs in that case.[*P99] Giving the Court the benefit of the doubt,the Court may well have been hindered by the lack of afull record about this issue which results from theabsence of a legal challenge to the new zoning ordinance.Nonetheless, the information provided to us by way ofsupplemental briefing demonstrates that the CascadeCounty [**93] Commissioners undertook an extensive,County-wide examination of the zoning districts andgoverning rules and regulations. In the spring of 2008,while this case was pending on appeal, Cascade Countybegan the process of revising its County-wide regulationsand zoning map to satisfy an exhaustive list of objectives,including:. To update the regulations with currentstandard zoning language and practices;. To update and refine definitions;. To alter zoning districts andboundaries (See accompanying proposedzoning map.);. To alter allowed uses in the variouszoning districts;. To zone all properties with a view toconserving the value of buildings andencouraging the most appropriate use ofland throughout Cascade County;. To protect residential, business,commercial, and industrial areas alikefrom harmful encroachment byincompatible uses and to ensure that landallocated to a class of uses shall not beusurped by inappropriate uses;. To avoid the inappropriatedevelopment of lands and provide forreduction of flood damage; . . .. To foster a more rational pattern ofrelationship between residential, business,and industrial uses for the mutual benefitof all; [and]. To isolate or control the location ofunavoidable nuisance producing uses.Ultimately, the County reduced the total number ofzoning districts from 15 to 12, and established a newMulti-Use District. The County then provided theupdated zoning map, along with corresponding identifieduses, development standards and regulations for "each ofthese districts." Obvious from the materials, the Countyreexamined every zoning district in the entire County andadopted a new general zoning structure.[*P100] The Court attempts to distinguish CountryHighlands on the ground that the County's "2009amendments to the CCZR changed nothing about the 668acre rezone challenged by Plains Grains." Opinion, P 31.Of course they didn't; the County had just undergone amonumental effort to address that particular zone.Instead, the County revised the entirety of the remainingareas in the County, reducing the total number of zonesfrom 15 to 12, and enacting new regulations. The rezonedparcel at issue in this case was thus placed within acompletely new zoning context--surrounded bycompletely different zones with different regulations thanwhen the current case was [**94] brought. The Courthere completely misses the point: it has focused solely onthe rezoned parcel without realizing that a spot zoningchallenge requires an analysis of the surrounding zones aswell. A new challenge providing a new record isrequired. This case is thus controlled [***354] by
2010 MT 155, *P100; 357 Mont. 61, **94;238 P.3d 332, ***354; 2010 Mont. LEXIS 238Page 19Country Highlands, and is rendered moot by CascadeCounty's subsequent legislative actions taken to institutea new county-wide zoning plan. This Court cannotprovide effective relief. Country Highlands, PP 22-23.The Court's opinion is nothing more than an advisoryopinion about the spot zoning issue as it existed under theformer zoning plan, not the current one. Plains Grainsmust raise its spot zoning challenge under the new zoningstructure.[*P101] In response to this issue, the Court attachesa map for the purpose of illustrating that, even afterenactment of the 2009 Ordinance, the challenged zone isstill a "black island of industrial land surrounded by a seaof green Agricultural land." Opinion, P 33. I do not knowwhy the Court would draw such a conclusion withoutbenefit of a full record proving it, but the map is clearlymisleading. Within a few miles of the challenged zone isMalmstrom Air Force Base, visible from the property andincluding its own coal-fired heating plant, large hangars,facilities for storage of nuclear weapons and many largebuildings. To the northeast of the parcel is the MaltEuromalting barley plant, with numerous large concrete silosand large buildings. The Great Falls switch yard forelectrical transmission switching is just across theMissouri River and is also visible from the property.Within a few miles of the rezoned property are fivehydroelectric dams on the Missouri River, as well as highcapacity transmission lines, gas pipelines and relatedfacilities, grain silos, elevators, rail lines and numerousother structures. Yet, none of these are included in theCourt's "sea of green" map, and the Court's reliance on itis flawed. This illustrates the need for a proper record tobe developed in response to a challenge to the new,county-wide ordinance--which Plains Grains, again, hasfailed to do. While we have enough information to knowthat the zoning has changed, we do not have a fulljudicial record necessary to adjudicate the spot zoningissues under the new ordinance. For that reason, CountyHighlands controls and this case is moot.[*P102] c. Lohmeier v. State and the Capable ofRepetition yet Evading Review Exception to Mootness[*P103] The Court makes two passing references toour decision in Lohmeier v. State, 2008 MT 307, 346Mont. 23, 192 P.3d 1137, for the propositions that thespot zoning claim remains viable despite no stay orinjunction, and that the transfer of property from theUrquharts to [**95] SME does not constitute a changedcircumstance rendering Plains Grains' appeal moot.Opinion, PP 34, 51 (citing Lohmeier, P 13). Briefly, it iswell settled in our mootness jurisprudence that "[a] partymay not claim an exception to the mootness doctrinewhere the case has become moot through that party's ownfailure to seek a stay of the judgment." Turner, 276 Mont.at 60, 915 P.2d at 803 (citing Gates v. Deukmejian, 987F.2d 1392, 1408 (9th Cir. 1993)); Billings High, PP14-18 (citations omitted). "Thus, where a party has failedto obtain--or at least attempt to obtain--a stay ofproceedings pending appellate review, that party may nottake advantage of the 'capable of repetition, yet evadingreview' exception to the mootness doctrine." BillingsHigh, P 18 (citing Gates, 987 F.2d at 1409).[*P104] 3. The Court's Errors Regarding SME'sRights to Proceed from a Lawful Judgment and to DueProcess of Law; The Court's Rejection of SME'sStatements and its Criticisms of SME.[*P105] In an apparent effort to shift the focus ofthis case from Plains Grains' failures, the Court conjuresup a series of legal claims and aspersions to cast blameupon SME. The Court reasons that this case is not mootbecause "[i]t seems far from clear . . . that SMEpossessed the necessary permits that would have given ita legal right to develop the property . . . ." Opinion, P 46.However, issues regarding what permits were necessaryand whether SME properly possessed them are not beforethis Court and, more importantly, it defies clear legalauthority to suggest that SME could not proceed from theunstayed, legal judgment in its favor. See Rules of CivilProcedure: Title 25, chapter 9, MCA (Judgment); Title25, chapter 13, MCA (Execution of Judgment); Title 25,chapter 20, part VII, MCA (Judgment). SME held thisright regardless of whether it ultimately decided tochange the design of its plant, discussed below. The[***355] effect of the Court's statements to thecontrary--that a prevailing party must necessarily wait forthe outcome of a possible appeal before acting upon avalid, lawful judgment--contradicts our statutory andprocedural framework governing judgments and appeals.See above-referenced statutes and rules of procedure, aswell as M. R. App. P. 22(1)(a)(i) and (iii) (Stay ofJudgment or Order Pending Appeal).[*P106] This undermining of the right to proceedon a property judgment raises the issue of SME'sconstitutional right not to be deprived of its propertywithout compensation or due process of law. Mont.
Page 1 and 2: Page 11 of 1 DOCUMENTPLAINS GRAINS
Page 3 and 4: 2010 MT 155, *P8; 357 Mont. 61, **6
Page 5 and 6: 2010 MT 155, *P23; 357 Mont. 61, **
Page 7 and 8: 2010 MT 155, *P34; 357 Mont. 61, **
Page 9 and 10: 2010 MT 155, *P45; 357 Mont. 61, **
Page 11 and 12: 2010 MT 155, *P58; 357 Mont. 61, **
Page 13 and 14: 2010 MT 155, *P71; 357 Mont. 61, **
Page 15 and 16: 2010 MT 155, *P81; 357 Mont. 61, **
Page 17: 2010 MT 155, *P90; 357 Mont. 61, **
Page 21: 2010 MT 155, *P111; 357 Mont. 61, *

Plain Grains Limited Partnership v. Board of County ... - Land Use Law

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?