Opinion ID: 1386623
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Kletter Cases

Text: Through its order of July 12, 2004, the circuit court issued rulings in a consolidated matter comprised of four separate appeals from the Board. The four separate rulings involved three proposed residential developments in the rural district of Jefferson County where each developer [7] was seeking a conditional use permit through the DRS process to gain approval for high density development in an area zoned for rural use. On September 9, 2003, the circuit court issued an eighty-eight page ruling concerning these matters through which it ruled that the Board erred in finding that certain support data submitted by the developers in support of their conditional use permit applications was sufficient and consequently remanded the cases for further proceedings. In addition, the trial court concluded that the Board erred in ruling that section 5.7(d) of the Ordinance permitted development of a non-residue rural parcel. Based on the pending nature of this Court's decision in Corliss v. Jefferson County Board of Zoning Appeals, 214 W.Va. 535, 591 S.E.2d 93 (2003), the circuit court reserved discretion to reconsider its ruling upon motion of either party following the issuance of the Corliss opinion. [8] Both Buckeye Development and the Board filed motions seeking reconsideration of the trial court's September 9, 2003, ruling following the issuance of the Corliss decision. [9] By order entered on July 12, 2004, the circuit court responded to the motions for reconsideration by upholding its decision to reverse and remand. Rather than turning its decision on the insufficiency of the support data as it had initially held in its September 9, 2003, order, the trial court adopted a new tack by concluding that the zoning administrator was a ministerial employee with no authority to exercise any discretion. Reasoning that the Board had applied an improper standard of review in deferring to any decisions reached by the zoning administrator with regard to the sufficiency of the support data, the circuit court concluded that reversible error had been committed. [10] Remand was ordered for further proceedings and to require the Board to adopt its own rules of procedure that would be patterned after standard trial procedures. Through this appeal, both Buckeye Development and the Board seek a reversal of the July 12, 2004, ruling and affirmance of the Board's rulings authorizing the issuance of the conditional use permits sought by Buckeye Development to proceed with its proposed development of the Daniel's Forest and Forest View subdivisions. [11]