Opinion ID: 2377915
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The County's Decisions to Deny Gillmor's Applications Adversely Affected Gillmor's Interests

Text: ¶ 20 The County rendered land use decisions that adversely affected Gillmor's interests when it rejected Gillmor's Amendment and Plat Applications. Before the right to district court review under section 801(2)(a) may be invoked, a County must render a final land use decision that adversely affects the interests of the party seeking review. [9] In the instant case, the County rendered land use decisions that adversely affected Gillmor's interests when it rejected Gillmor's applications. In each of her applications, Gillmor made requests to develop her property in ways that would have been financially beneficial to her. Although it may have been within the County's discretion to deny these applications, by doing so the County adversely affected Gillmor's ability to develop or potentially sell her property. Because these decisions adversely affected Gillmor, and because section 801(2)(a) expressly states that it is applicable to any final decision adversely affecting any party, we conclude that the County's decisions constitute reviewable land use decisions under section 801(2)(a). ¶ 21 The County contends that its decisions to deny Gillmor's applications were not reviewable land use decisions because Gillmor's applications did not comply with the requirements of the 1997 Plan and 1998 Code. Following this reasoning, the district court concluded that [h]owever characterized or labeled, [Gillmor's] claims are not really an appeal from a land use decision because her applications did not comply with the requirements of the 1997 Plan and 1998 Code. We find these arguments unpersuasive. There is certainly no dispute concerning whether or not Gillmor's applications complied with the requirements of the 1997 Plan and 1998 Code. Indeed, Gillmor concedes that her applications were noncompliant. But the noncompliance of Gillmor's applications does not determine whether the decisions to deny those applications constitute reviewable land use decisions. This is because the noncompliance of Gillmor's applications does not render the County's rejections nondecisions and does not shield these rejections from judicial review. Instead, the noncompliance of Gillmor's applications relates solely to the question of whether the County's decisions were arbitrary, capricious, or illegal-the exact question a district court will consider on review. [10] Whether or not the applications complied with the requirements of the 1997 Plan or 1998 Code, the County's decisions to deny Gillmor's requests adversely affected her interests. Because this is what section 801(2)(a) requires to entitle a petitioner to district court review, we hold that the County's decisions qualify as reviewable land use decisions under section 801(2)(a).