Opinion ID: 1251866
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the board decision

Text: Oceanview contends that the Board's decision to revoke the enforcement orders issued by the Zoning Enforcement Office was erroneous. The standard for judicial review of Board decisions is set forth in AMC 21.30.190, which states: The findings of ... the Zoning Board of Examiners and Appeals ... shall not be reversed if, in the light of the whole record, they are supported by substantial evidence. See also City of Fairbanks v. Alaska Public Utilities Commission, 611 P.2d 493, 495 (Alaska 1980); Galt v. Stanton, 591 P.2d 960, 962-963 (Alaska 1979); Keiner v. City of Anchorage, 378 P.2d 406, 411 (Alaska 1963) (applicable standard for reviewing agency findings). The Board was called upon to decide whether the activities addressed by the Zoning Enforcement Office orders violate the zoning laws. In concluding that they did not, the Board found that the Flying Crown airstrip was used as a landing area for airplanes prior to zoning, and that the use has been continuous since 1972. The Board also found that the airstrip use had intensified, in that greater numbers of airplanes were using the airstrip, but found no evidence to show that the airstrip had been expanded. This finding was based on an application of the test used in Town of Bridgewater v. Chuckran, 351 Mass. 20, 217 N.E.2d 726 (1966). The Chuckran test consists of three questions: (1) is the current use of the same nature and character as the pre-zoning use? (2) is there a difference in the quality, character and degree of the use? (3) is there a difference in the kind of effect the use now has on the neighborhood? Id. at 727-28. The Board concluded that (1) there was no significant difference in character and purpose between the use of the airstrip in 1972 and at present; (2) there had been no significant physical changes in the airstrip since 1972; and (3) there was no significant difference in impact on the surrounding property owners of the current use of the landing strip over that which existed in 1972. Since the Anchorage Zoning Laws prohibit only expansion or extension, see, e.g., AMC 21.55.010, the Board concluded that intensification was permissible. [1] The Board reasoned that in view of this continuous pre-zoning use, and the expectations created in airplane owners who moved into Flying Crown after 1972, more harm would result from halting the airstrip use than from permitting it to continue. Our review of the record indicates that the Board's findings are supported by substantial evidence. The Board based its findings on evidence presented in two nights of hearings. A surveyor testified that he staked and graded the property in 1963 in order to make it suitable for use as an airstrip. Long-time residents testified before the Board that the airstrip had been in use since the 1960s. Other evidence, offered by affidavit, showed that at least six planes regularly used the airstrip between 1970 and 1975. There was also testimony from airplane owners who lived in the Flying Crown subdivision regarding the investments they had made in airstrip improvements, and regarding their expectations upon purchasing lots in the subdivision that they would be able to use the airstrip. Although there was some evidence to contradict the Board's findings, the weight of the testimony supports the Board's decision. In any event, it is not our function to evaluate the strength or weakness of evidence presented to administrative agencies. As we stated in Anderson v. Employers Liability Assurance Corp., 498 P.2d 288, 290 (Alaska 1972): It is not important that the particular situation before the board is subject to more than one inference. What matters is whether the determination of the board is supported by substantial evidence on the whole record. (footnote omitted). Our role in reviewing administrative agency decisions is limited. Within the confines of this role, we hold that there was substantial evidence to support the Board's decision to set aside the enforcement orders. [2]