Opinion ID: 2573371
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Vickers have a statutory right to judicial review of the Board's approval of the conditional rezone of Savala's property and corresponding Development Agreement.

Text: Before considering the Vickers' arguments, the Court must determine whether it is free to review the Board's decision to approve the conditional rezone of Savala's property. As aforementioned, the Vickers filed their appeal for judicial review based on I.C. § 67-6521 (LLUPA), I.C. § 67-5270 et seq. (IAPA), and I.R.C.P. 84. Under I.R.C.P. 84(a)(1), there must be a statute authoring judicial review of county actions. Absent a statute invoking IAPA's judicial review provisions, local government actions may not be reviewed under IAPA. Gibson v. Ada County Sheriff's Dept., 139 Idaho 5, 7-8, 72 P.3d 845, 847-48 (2003). Although LLUPA provides the right to judicial review, the person must be an affected person aggrieved by a decision. I.C. § 67-6521(1)(d). The statute defines an affected person as one having an interest in real property which may be adversely affected by the issuance or denial of a permit authorizing the development. I.C. § 67-6521(1)(a). Thus, this Court must determine whether the Board's approval of the conditional rezone constitutes a permit authorizing the development under I.C. § 67-6521(1)(d). Section 07-06-07 of Canyon County Ordinance (CCO) No. 05-002 governs conditional rezones. The term conditional rezone is defined as [t]he rezoning of land with conditions imposed so that if the conditions are not complied with, the rezone may be withdrawn and the land revert back to its former zoning classification. CCO No. 05-002, section 07-02-03. Under section 07-06-07, any conditions imposed on the property in accordance with the conditional rezone must be incorporated into a development agreement. Id. at section 07-06-07(2). The ordinance requires that the applicant execute a written development agreement to implement and be bound by any such condition, and no final conditional rezone action will be taken until such development agreement is recorded in the office of the county recorder. Id. Thus, the development agreement is an integral part of a conditional rezone in Canyon County. [3] Once the applicant meets the conditions set forth in the development agreement, the preliminary conditional rezoning approval becomes final and the property is rezoned on the county rezoning map. Id. at section 07-06-07(5). Even though the developer must still obtain the necessary permits from various agencies in order to begin any physical changes, there is no further action required by the Board before development may commence. In other words, the Board's approval of the conditional rezone and corresponding development agreement is a green light for development to begin. Canyon County Ordinance No. 05-002 also provides for conditional use permits. The term conditional use is defined under section 07-02-03 as follows: A use that would not be appropriate generally or without restriction throughout the zoning district but which, if regulated, would not be detrimental to public health, safety, or general welfare. The term conditional use shall mean a use or occupancy of a structure, or use of land, permitted only upon the issuance of a conditional use permit and subject to the limitations and conditions specified therein. Conditional uses require a permit as provided for in Idaho Code '67-6512 and this ordinance. Although there are notable differences for why an applicant would pursue a conditional use permit versus a conditional rezone  i.e., a conditional use permit is tailored more toward specific uses as compared to a conditional rezone and a conditional use permit expires within three years if not commenced or five years if not completed whereas there is no set expiration for a conditional rezone  the two are functionally equivalent. Both ultimately allow nonconforming uses to occur on the subject property. We find it necessary to clarify two statements listed above. First, although a conditional use permit and a conditional rezone are generally not functional equivalents, they are in this case. The appeal concerns the Board's approval of a conditional rezone and corresponding development agreement in accordance with Canyon County Ordinance 05-002. As set forth above, if the Board determines that conditions are necessary to restrict the use of the rezoned property less than the full use allowed under the requested rezone, then the applicant must execute a written development agreement to implement and be bound by such conditions. CCO 05-002, section 07-06-07. Here, there were conditions attached to the conditional rezone; accordingly, the Development Agreement is integrally tied to our analysis of whether the Board's approval of the conditional rezone constitutes a permit authorizing the development under LLUPA. I.C. § 67-6521(1)(a). In other words, the issue presented on appeal is whether the end result of the Board's approval of the conditional rezone and corresponding Development Agreement is a permit authorizing the development. Because the end result of the Board's approval of the conditional rezone and corresponding Development Agreement is to authorize the development without further approval from the Board, the Board's approval of the conditional rezone and corresponding Development Agreement is the functional equivalent of an approval of a conditional use permit, which as set forth below is a permit authorizing the development. I.C. § 67-6521(1)(a). In fact, counsel for the Board admitted during oral argument that based on the end results, a conditional use permit and a conditional rezone are functionally equivalent in Canyon County. [4] In sum, although the statement that a conditional use permit and a conditional rezone are functional equivalents may be incorrect in the general sense, it is correct under the facts of this case. We also seek to clarify our statement that both a conditional use permit and a conditional rezone ultimately allow nonconforming uses to occur on the subject property. Technically, a conditional rezone does not allow nonconforming uses to occur on the subject property since the land classification changes. This technicality aside, the point we are trying to make is that both a conditional use permit and a conditional rezone coupled with a corresponding development agreement ultimately allow the applicant to use the subject property in a manner that would have not been permitted before the issuance of the conditional use permit or before the approval of the conditional rezone, and in a manner differently than the surrounding property owners are currently permitted to use their property, assuming that no conditional use permits or conditional rezones have been approved in respect to their property as well. Thus, the end result of a conditional use permit as well as a conditional rezone coupled with a development agreement is to allow land to be used in a way that was both nonconforming and unpermitted before the Board's approval. Returning to the facts at hand, Savala requested a conditional rezone from an A (Agricultural) zone to a C-2 (Community Commercial) zone. The Board preliminarily approved Savalas request and imposed various conditions on his property, which included the installation of drinking water and community waste systems; the improvement and paving of a private access road; landscaping, featuring a mix of trees and shrubs; the creation of natural material fence or similar barrier no less than four feet tall on the southern border of the property; and the paving of a parking lot. These conditions were incorporated into the Development Agreement, under which Savala agreed to comply with the conditions of the conditional rezone. The Development Agreement did not contain any standards under which the Board was to determine whether or not the conditions had been met. Once Savala fully complied with these conditions, the preliminary conditional rezone would become final and his property would be rezoned to C-2. At such time, without further approval from the Board, Savala could begin construction of the medical and dental clinics and begin promoting other commercial uses of his property once obtaining the necessary permits. Therefore, we hold that the Board's approval of the conditional rezone of Savala's property and corresponding Development Agreement is a permit authorizing the development under LLUPA that is subject to review by this Court pursuant to the standard set forth in IAPA. Although the word permit is not defined under LLUPA, the Act does make other references to the term. For example, I.C. § 67-6517 refers to a permit as defined by this chapter, which acknowledges that what constitutes a permit is defined by the Act. Chapter 65 mentions various permits, including subdivision permits (I.C. § 67-6513), planned unit development permits (I.C. § 67-6515), variance permits (I.C. § 67-6516), building permits (I.C. § 67-6517), and  most importantly to this case  special use permits (I.C. § 67-6512). See Giltner Dairy, LLC v. Jerome County, 145 Idaho 630, 633, 181 P.3d 1238, 1241 (2008). Although Canyon County employs the term conditional use permit rather than special use permit, the two can be used synonymously. See Black's Law Dictionary 1434 (8th ed.2004). In fact, Canyon County requires that a permit be issued for a conditional use as provided by I.C. § 67-6512, which is the statutory provision governing special use permits. CCO No. 05-002, section 07-02-03. Idaho Code § 67-6512(a) also uses conditional use permit and special use permit interchangeably since the provision applies to special or conditional use permits. (Emphasis added). As set forth above, a conditional rezone and corresponding development agreement is the functional equivalent of a conditional use permit in Canyon County. Thus, it reasonably follows that since the Board's approval of the conditional rezone and corresponding Development Agreement is the functional equivalent of a conditional use permit, which is in essence a special use permit, the Board's approval of the conditional rezone and corresponding Development Agreement is a permit authorizing development under LLUPA. As such, we are statutorily authorized to review the Board's approval of the conditional rezone and corresponding Development Agreement under LLUPA pursuant to the standard set forth in IAPA.