Opinion ID: 877492
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: the developers' appealthe building permit

Text: As mentioned, the Developers, although disagreeing with the trial court's decision enjoining the county commissioners from zoning Cameron Tract for commercial use, concentrate on the argument that the court had no right to enjoin the City of Kalispell from issuing the building permit. They argue that the plaintiffs had no standing to challenge the issuance of the building permit, and further, assuming that the plaintiffs had such standing, they argue that the laws governing issuance of building permits do not stand in the way of obtaining a permit to build on land that has not been zoned. In effect, the Developers contend they have a right to a building permit, and therefore to build, regardless of any decision enjoining the county commissioners from zoning the land as commercial. As set out in detail before, the situation facing the trial court was that if an injunction was not issued against the City of Kalispell enjoining it from issuing the building permit pending resolution of the lawsuit, construction might have started despite the filing of the lawsuit. So, even if the trial court later ruled that the county commissioners had no right to zone Cameron Tract as commercial, the Developers would nonetheless ask the trial court to dismiss the plaintiffs' lawsuit because the Developers had already spent large sums of money in the preliminary stages of construction. We have no doubt, therefore, that the trial court was correct in enjoining the issuance of the building permit until all the legal questions were resolved. Stopping the City of Kalispell from issuing the building permit until all legal issues were decided was the only way of preserving the status quo. Based on these factors, the Developers are in no position to avail themselves of a technical argument that the plaintiffs did not prove special damage to them if the building permit were to issue and construction to begin. Further, plaintiffs presented evidence that demonstrates they would be more adversely affected by the regional shopping center than would the general public. Although there were other factors involved, we are convinced that the increased traffic alone was sufficient to show that plaintiffs, as adjacent owners, would be injured in a manner that the general public would not. According to the Developers' own studies, the shopping mall would attract 13,000 cars per day. These studies also showed, and the trial court found, that the side streets near the shopping center, which presently bear 3,000 cars per day, would have to bear 13,000 cars per day if the shopping center were built. The studies were completed by the State Department of Highways and Stahly Engineering, at the specific request of the Developers. The Developers now attack these studies, saying that they are mere speculation. The studies were probative on the question of whether the Developers would proceed with building a shopping center and they should be equally probative and available to the plaintiffs to show that their neighborhoods would be adversely affected by the increased traffic flow. We hold, therefore, that the plaintiffs had standing to challenge the issuance of the building permit. Not only was the damage to them different from that of the general publican increase of 10,000 cars per day over their neighborhood streetsbut enjoining the City from issuing the building permit was also necessary for the trial court to assume its equitable power of granting complete relief. It would not have been fair to the plaintiffs had the trial court ruled that the County could not zone Cameron Tract for commercial use, and to hold that the Developers had the right to start construction upon obtaining the building permit from the City.