Opinion ID: 2743065
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Portland’s Comprehensive Plan

Text: [¶11] We review de novo the court’s entry of a summary judgment. Golder v. City of Saco, 2012 ME 76, ¶ 9, 45 A.3d 697. We will affirm the grant of summary judgment “if the record reflects that there is no genuine issue of material fact and the movant is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.” Id. [¶12] Our review of the City Council’s action must respect that “zoning is a legislative act” and must give deference to the legislative body. Golder, 2012 ME 1 The Superior Court correctly observed that a declaratory judgment, and not a Rule 80B appeal, is the proper procedure for challenging the City’s zoning decision. F.S. Plummer Co. Inc. v. Town of Cape Elizabeth, 612 A.2d 856, 859 (Me. 1992). 6 76, ¶ 11, 45 A.3d 697; Crispin v. Town of Scarborough, 1999 ME 112, ¶ 18, 736 A.2d 241. Judicial review of a conditional rezoning decision is ultimately limited to determining whether the City Council could rationally have adopted the conditional zone in light of the evidence presented to it, the various policies articulated in the comprehensive plan, and the mandate of 30-A M.R.S. § 4352(8). See Golder, 2012 ME 76, ¶ 11, 45 A.3d 697. [¶13] The Portland ordinance explicitly permits conditional or contract rezoning that is “consistent with” its comprehensive plan. Portland, Me., Code § 14-60. By statute, zoning ordinances and subsequent rezoning actions must be “pursuant to and consistent with a comprehensive plan adopted by the municipal legislative body.” 30-A M.R.S. § 4352(2). When considering whether a rezoning action is “consistent with” a city’s comprehensive plan, a court must determine whether the City Council could have, from the evidence before it, found that the rezoning was “in basic harmony with the comprehensive plan.” Adelman v. Town of Baldwin, 2000 ME 91, ¶ 22, 750 A.2d 577; LaBonta v. City of Waterville, 528 A.2d 1262, 1265 (Me. 1987). “[T]he challenger bears the burden of proving that the amendment is inconsistent” with the comprehensive plan. Golder, 2012 ME 76, ¶ 11, 45 A.3d 697. [¶14] A zoning or rezoning action need not perfectly fulfill the goals of a comprehensive plan; it may be in basic harmony with the plan so long as it “strikes 7 a reasonable balance among the municipality’s various zoning goals” or “overlap[s] considerably” with the plan. Nestle Waters N. Amer., Inc. v. Town of Fryeburg, 2009 ME 30, ¶ 23, 967 A.2d 702; Stewart v. Town of Durham, 451 A.2d 308, 312 (Me. 1982). In addition, a comprehensive plan is considered as a whole; a municipality may conclude that a rezoning action is consistent with a comprehensive plan when it is in harmony with some provisions of the plan, even if the action appears inconsistent with other provisions of the plan. See Adelman, 2000 ME 91, ¶¶ 23-24, 750 A.2d 577; LaBonta, 528 A.2d at 1265. [¶15] Portland’s comprehensive plan establishes two main goals that are relevant to this appeal: (1) promoting an economic climate that increases job opportunities and overall economic well-being; and (2) preserving the State’s historic and archeological resources.2 While the comprehensive plan does reference the importance of preserving the “unique character” of the R-4 zone, it does not expressly prohibit any nonresidential uses in the zone. Instead, it lists several examples of conditional nonresidential uses permitted in the zone, 2 The comprehensive plan also sets a goal of “encourag[ing] orderly growth and development in appropriate areas of each community, while protecting the State’s rural character, making efficient use of public services and preventing development sprawl.” Although we reiterate that the Council’s rezoning decision need not perfectly fulfill each goal of the comprehensive plan , see LaBonta v. City of Waterville, 528 A.2d 1262, 1265 (Me. 1987), the Council could have rationally found that this goal was also fulfilled by the CZA’s “neighborhood compatible adaptive reuse of historic religious structures . . . and productive use of such buildings for their long term preservation.” 8 including schools, churches, and day care facilities.3 It also includes group homes that have both a residential and a non-residential component. [¶16] In the approved CZA, the City Council acknowledged the competing goals of the comprehensive plan and that office uses, to the extent permitted at all, must be permitted in the R-4 zone only in very limited and controlled circumstances. Having considered and balanced the goals of the comprehensive plan, the City Council approved the rezoning only after attaching conditions, discussed above, to ensure that the CZA is consistent with the comprehensive plan. [¶17] With regard to economic development, the City Council had evidence that the proposed use would allow Majella Global Technologies to remain in Portland and increase job opportunities in the technology sector, and would strengthen the City tax base and maintain property value for surrounding parcels. As for the City’s goal of historic preservation, the City Council had evidence from a professional architect and a representative from Greater Portland Landmarks to assist in weighing potential costs to the neighborhood against the benefits of allowing 32 Thomas Street to restore the property in order to preserve it. [¶18] The City Council ultimately concluded in the CZA that the office component of the proposed use was a “necessary economic value and program 3 We have held that the absence of language in a comprehensive plan expressly permitting a certain type of development should not be read to mean that that type of development is not permitted. City of Old Town v. Dimoulas, 2002 ME 133, ¶ 19, 803 A.2d 1018. 9 element for the feasibility of the productive use of the building complex and the associated rehabilitation investments.”4 Whatever the property owner’s existing obligation under the Historic Preservation Ordinance, the CZA is in basic harmony with the comprehensive plan’s historic-preservation goals and with upholding the “unique” architectural and aesthetic “character” of the R-4 zone. Additionally, the CZA furthers historic-preservation goals by requiring 32 Thomas Street to rehabilitate, renovate, and maintain the property at higher standards than required under the Historic Preservation Ordinance alone. [¶19] In light of the evidence before the City Council and the various competing goals of the comprehensive plan, the City Council had a rational basis for its conclusion that the CZA was consistent with the comprehensive plan as a whole, and struck a reasonable balance among the competing goals of the plan. See Nestle, 2009 ME 30, ¶ 23, 967 A.2d 702 (a zoning action may be considered as in basic harmony with the plan so long as the action “strikes a reasonable balance among the municipality’s various zoning goals”); LaBonta, 528 A.2d at 1265. 4 To the extent that Remmel and other West End residents wish the Council or this Court to consider other possible uses of the historic buildings as shown by renovated church living spaces in other states or even in Europe, we note that such uses were not in the rezoning application before the Council, and based on the evidence before it, the Council made a balanced decision to permit the use consistent with the overarching goals of the comprehensive plan. 10