Opinion ID: 2542695
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Second Application

Text: On May 17, 2001, Bawden filed a new application and preliminary plat with Fremont County; this time he sought to subdivide and develop twenty residential lots. The following month P & Z held a hearing to consider Bawden's second application and plat and recommended that the application be approved. Once again, Cowan appealed P & Z's decision to the Board. Bawden then submitted his final plat to P & Z for review. On July 16, 2001, before the Board heard Cowan's appeal of the preliminary plat, P & Z considered and recommended Bawden's final plat to the Board for approval. Cowan then appealed that decision as well. On July 30, 2001, the Board held a hearing on Cowan's appeal of the preliminary plat. Cowan's attorney was present at this meeting and submitted a written brief objecting to the notice the Board had provided for the meeting, indicating that the notice failed to include several items the FCDC requires of all notices. After a work session in August 2001, the Board approved Bawden's preliminary plat and issued a written decision on September 10, 2001. Cowan filed a petition for judicial review of this decision. On September 11, 2001, the Board held a hearing and considered and approved Bawden's final plat conditioned on Bawden entering into a development agreement as the FCDC required. On October 9, 2001 the Board issued a written decision and on October 22, 2001 the Board and the developer executed a development agreement. Cowan once again filed a petition for review, and because all four of the petitions contained common questions of law and fact the district court consolidated the petitions. On August 19, 2003, the district court issued its memorandum decision on Cowan's four petitions for judicial review. The district court determined that Cowan's arguments relating to the first application were moot. As to his arguments regarding the second application, it affirmed the Board's decision in part, but remanded to the Board for a determination of whether Bawden's application complied with the FCDC's provisions concerning state and federal wetlands protection. The district court also awarded Cowan attorney's fees because although the district court found that Cowan had not prevailed on the issues relating to the second application, he had prevailed in forcing the County to follow the law and its own ordinance  something it should have done without Cowan's persistence. Cowan then filed a notice of appeal of the district court's decision and Fremont County filed a cross-appeal. However, on November 18, 2003, this Court suspended Cowan's appeal. Meanwhile, on remand from the district court, the Board held a public hearing in January 2004, to determine whether Bawden's second application complied with the state and federal wetlands protection provisions adopted by the FCDC. After hearing testimony and taking evidence the Board took the matter under advisement pending briefing by the parties. On March 22, 2004, the Board issued written findings and conclusions and found that the proposed subdivision complied with the FCDC's wetlands protection provision. Cowan then filed his fifth petition for judicial review. On June 16, 2005, the district court issued its memorandum decision on this petition for judicial review, affirming the Board's decision. Cowan then proceeded with the instant appeal.