Opinion ID: 1426903
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: the board's amendment of the comprehensive plan was made upon unlawful procedure, and thus, both the amendment to the comprehensive plan and the rezone decision must be vacated.

Text: Both Price and the Board raise issues on appeal which concern the Board's procedure in amending the Comprehensive Plan. First, Price contends the Board acted unlawfully when it amended the Comprehensive Plan contemporaneously with its decision to rezone Bone's property. The Board contends the Idaho Code does not prohibit consideration of both issues simultaneously. I.C. § 67-6511(c) provides that if a rezone request does not comport with the Comprehensive Plan, as is the case here, the Board should first consider an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan. After the Comprehensive Plan is amended, then the Board may consider a request for an amendment to the zoning ordinance. See I.C. § 67-6511(c). Although these procedures can be done in tandem, the Board should deliberate first on the proposed amendment to the Comprehensive Plan, and consider whether or not a general type of growth should be permitted in a particular area; then, once the Board has made that determination, the Board should decide the appropriateness of a rezone within that area. This procedure ensures that the Board considers the overall development scheme of the county prior to consideration of individual requests for amendments to zoning ordinances. Here, the Board's Order provides no indication that the Board considered Bone's two requests in the appropriate sequence. The Order does not make clear which of the Board's findings relate to the proposed amendment to the Comprehensive Plan and which of its findings relate to Bone's request for an amendment to the zoning ordinance. In fact, in its Order, the Board appears to have granted the rezone first and then amended the Comprehensive Plan accordingly. Second, on cross-appeal, the Board asserts the district court erred in requiring the Board to hold a second hearing on its decision to amend the Comprehensive Plan. The district court, acting in its appellate capacity, considered whether the Board violated I.C. § 67-6509(b) by failing to hold a second hearing prior to its adoption of the amendment to the Comprehensive Plan. If the Board, after a public hearing on a request to amend the Comprehensive Plan, makes a material change in the plan, then the Board must provide notice of, and conduct, a second hearing before the Board adopts the amendment. See I.C. § 67-6509(b). Because the Comprehensive Plan states as one of its goals the avoidance of residential development upon prime agricultural lands, an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan which rezones agricultural property as residential property constitutes a material change for the purpose of I.C. § 67-6509(b). Thus, the Board should have held a second public hearing before it adopted the amendment to the Comprehensive Plan. The district court recognized this deficiency in the Board's procedure and remanded the case for a second hearing by the Board on the proposed amendment; however, the district court's action did not cure the procedural deficiency. The district court should have set aside the amendment to the Comprehensive Plan because it was in violation of I.C. § 67-6509(b) and remanded the case for a new set of hearings on the Comprehensive Plan amendment. In addition, the district court should have set aside the rezone decision because it would no longer comport with the Comprehensive Plan. Only after the Board follows the correct procedures on remand in amending the Comprehensive Plan can the Board consider Bone's request for an amendment to the zoning ordinance. For the above reasons, we find that the Board's amendment of the Comprehensive Plan was made upon unlawful procedure, in violation of I.C. § 67-5279(3)(c). The Board's actions result in a lack of orderly growth within the county, thereby diminishing Price's property value and hampering his use and enjoyment of his land. Thus, we vacate the Board's decision as to the Comprehensive Plan amendment and the zoning change, and remand the case for further proceedings.