Opinion ID: 2542695
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Relative performance standards

Text: The FCDC encourages developers to provide open space on slopes between fifteen and thirty percent. The Administrator awarded Eagle's Nest a score of +12 because the use of building envelopes, areas where land owners cannot build, would protect slopes. Cowan argues the Board should have accepted his expert's score of zero, but this request is nothing more than asking this Court to review a factual finding. After the hearing on the final plat, and considering both the Administrator's score and the testimony of Cowan's expert, the Board found that the final plat included slope information and determined that the project proposed building envelopes which prevented the development from disturbing slopes. Since no slopes would be disturbed, the Board concluded, the score given by the Administrator was appropriate. Here, the Board heard and considered conflicting evidence. It chose to rely on the evidence presented by the Administrator, and such evidence is both substantial and competent. That it chose to rely on evidence other than the testimony of Cowan's expert is not error.
Cowan argues that the score of zero for wildlife habitat was error. His expert testified that Eagle's Nest is in critical wildlife habitat. Cowan concedes that the development is not included at all on the natural resource inventory map, but argues that this is because at the time the map was prepared the land was part of a National Forest and only private land was mapped. This, he contends, should have led the Board to conclude that the land was critical wildlife habitat because had the land been privately owned when the map was prepared it would have been included as critical wildlife habitat. The FCDC defines critical wildlife habitat as [a]ny area that provides the environmental factors required for the survival of a particular species of wildlife. Critical wildlife habitat includes all important habitat areas shown on the natural resource inventory maps prepared for the county, or other areas so identified by the Idaho Fish and Game Department. FCDC Ch. XIV (DDDD) (emphasis removed). After holding a hearing on the final plat for the second application, the Board determined that Eagle's Nest was not included on the map when the natural resources inventory maps were prepared and for that reason the development was not scored. It then determined that the development was not in a critical wildlife area. Once again, the Board's decision is supported by substantial and competent evidence. Neither the existing maps nor letters from the Fish and Game Department place the development in critical wildlife habitat. While Cowan's expert opined differently, it was not error for the Board to rely on the existing maps and letters from the Fish and Game Department when making its determination that the development was not in critical wildlife habitat. [14]
Finally, Cowan argues that the proposed development will diminish the visual appeal of the Shotgun Valley. Rather than the zero awarded by the Administrator on this standard, Cowan contends Eagle's Nest should have received a negative score because Bawden did not propose clustered development as the FCDC encourages and because the development violates the policy contained in the Comprehensive Plan to direct development away from visually sensitive areas. The FCDC defines visually sensitive areas as those areas containing certain designations and broadly delineated . . . by the U.S. Forest Service. This delineation is based on the view from major public roads and bodies of water. FCDC Ch. XIV (AAAA). The Board determined that because the development was not included on the forest service maps showing visually sensitive areas, the standard was not relevant and accepted the Administrator's score. As before, Cowan is simply displeased with the Board's decision and asks this Court to review a factual finding. However, the Board's decision is supported by substantial and competent evidence. There was conflicting evidence presented as to whether the area would be visually sensitive if the maps were redrawn. Moreover, it was not error for the Board to rely on the maps as they existed at the time Bawden filed his application. The Board did not err in approving Bawden's application based on the scores given for relative performance standards. Each of its decisions is supported by substantial and competent evidence. Therefore, this Court is bound by the Board's factual findings and we affirm the Board's decisions relating to relative performance standards. Since we affirm each individual score, we need not reach Cowan's argument relating to the overall relative score.