Opinion ID: 889830
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Review of the City's Decision

Text: ¶ 80 The stipulated record fully supports the District Court's conclusion that the City did not substantially comply with the Rattlesnake Valley plan. Indeed, many of the city officials involved in approving Muth-Hillberry's application were openly contemptuous of the plan. Some second-guessed its goals and recommendations, others downplayed its relevance, and one bluntly characterized growth policies in general as a waste of time. OPG cautioned at the outset that the subdivision, as proposed, could have deleterious effects on the neighborhood. Neighbors and two members of the City Council pointed out repeatedly that the subdivision did not honor the plan. Nevertheless, the City Council granted approval under the rationale that the City is growing and Rattlesnake Valley is not exemptregardless of what the neighborhood plan might recommend. ¶ 81 The City's findings of fact and conclusions of law bear this out. By law, the City was required to be guided by and give consideration to the general policy and pattern of development set out in the Rattlesnake Valley plan. Section 76-1-605(1), MCA. Yet, there are numerous components of the plan that the City did not give any consideration to in its findings and conclusions. Moreover, while the City states that it did consider other parts of the plan, there is little indication that the City was guided by them. ¶ 82 The plan's central component is its density recommendations. The plan divides Rattlesnake Valley into three regions (upper, middle, and lower) and recommends that development in each region be at a scale which is compatible with the development patterns of existing Rattlesnake neighborhoods and the natural ecosystem which underlies and surrounds the entire study area. The plan carves up the valley into roughly a dozen density zones and then assigns a recommended density for each zone. The area proposed for Sonata Park is currently semirural with widely dispersed houses amidst open grassy hillside. The property is assigned the two lowest densities in the plan one dwelling unit per two acres, and one dwelling unit per five to ten acreswhich translates to seven or eight dwelling units. [8] The City, however, approved a 37-lot subdivision, roughly five times the recommended density. We agree with the District Court that this is a significant deviation from the plan. Not only that, it is the most important deviation because it undermines all other goals and objectives. As OPG explained, [t]he recommended land use designations included in the applicable plan are a mechanism that can help ensure that goals and objectives for the plan area are met. Development at densities higher than what is recommended in the applicable plan can have a significant negative impact on the natural resources, neighborhood character, and transportation capacity of the plan area as well as the health, safety and welfare of the Rattlesnake Valley residents. ¶ 83 Besides density recommendations, the Rattlesnake Valley plan lists other goals and guiding principles, followed by recommended policies and actions. The District Court reviewed the Sonata Park subdivision in light of these goals and recommendations and found that the City had ignored or failed to substantiate its findings on a number of them. For example, Sonata Park is located within the City's Air Stagnation Zone, and the plan recommends limiting traffic congestion and encouraging pedestrian, bicycle, and transit use in order to minimize air pollution. The City, however, approved a subdivision that will nearly double the number of houses in the neighborhood and create 259 to 370 additional vehicle trips per day, without addressing the impact the resulting emissions will have on air quality. The plan also identifies the goal of preserving scenic views, including Waterworks Hill. The construction of 37 homes on 34 acres which, at present, consist mostly of open space bordering Waterworks Hill and are visible from the middle to upper Rattlesnake Valley will degrade the scenic views, not preserve them. The plan encourages the highest density of residential development in the southern portions of the valley and gradually lower density in the northern portions of the valley. The density of Sonata Park is more appropriate for the south valley, not the middle valley. ¶ 84 Three further goals stated in the plan are land preservation, wildlife protection, and protection of natural resources, including wildlife corridors and habitat. In this regard, there is a woody draw running east-west through Sonata Park. It is a significant natural feature and an important wildlife corridor between the North Hills open space and Rattlesnake Creek. The Sonata Park project, however, will put a road across the corridor and generate hundreds of vehicle trips per day. Furthermore, the plan calls for providing connections between neighborhoods to parks, opens spaces, churches, commercial areas, and schools. The City purports to accommodate this goal by requiring Muth-Hillberry to dedicate a 20-foot-wide public pedestrian easement through the woody draw. In addition, to meet the parkland dedication requirement of its own subdivision regulations, the City approved a 16-acre common areawithin which the woody draw is located. As the District Court noted, however, the City cannot use the woody draw to satisfy all three goals of providing a wildlife corridor, a public thoroughfare, and parkland. For one thing, the area is supposed to remain undisturbed to facilitate wildlife movement through the area. Moreover, there are riparian resources within the woody draw, and locating a public easement through what purports to be the common area, the wildlife corridor, and the riparian-protection zone conflicts with the goals of the Rattlesnake Valley plan. As the court observed, The common area cannot be all things. ¶ 85 The District Court identified additional areas in which Sonata Park is contrary to the goals and recommendations of the plan. The court also noted numerous goals and recommendations that the City had simply not addressed, or that the City had addressed but in conclusory fashion. The court ultimately concluded that while the valley can support additional incremental development, the current proposal for Sonata Park fails to recognize, in large part, the semirural character of the area. The court observed that the subdivision, as proposed, exists on a scale that is incompatible with the development patterns of the neighborhoods in the area and especially with the natural ecosystem that underlies the area. Hence, the court ruled that the City had failed to substantially comply with the plan. ¶ 86 On appeal, the City and Muth-Hillberry fail to present cogent arguments in support of their contention that the District Court erred. Instead, they quibble at length with various aspects of the court's decision and complain, in conclusory fashion, that the court simply got it wrong. First, Muth-Hillberry asserts that the District Court ignored certain factors weighing in the subdivision's favor, while the City contends that the court made unlawful or incorrect findings. We have considered these arguments and found them to be without merit. The City also asserts that the 34 conditions placed on the subdivision approval demonstrate substantial compliance with the Rattlesnake Valley plan, but the City provides zero analysis showing this to be the case. ¶ 87 Next, the City accuses the District Court of wrongly faulting it for not addressing various elements of the Rattlesnake Valley plan in its findings and conclusions. The City claims that under SB 326, the extent to which it had to address the elements of the plan was at the full discretion of the governing body. This argument, however, is misplaced for the reasons already discussed. See ¶ 75, supra. Also, it should be noted that a governing body is not entitled to rely on an it's okay because we said it's okay approach when developing the record underlying its decision. North 93 Neighbors, ¶ 29. As we have previously indicated, the governing body must develop a record that fleshes out all pertinent facts upon which its decision was based in order to facilitate judicial review. North 93 Neighbors, ¶¶ 29-30. For purposes of evaluating substantial compliance, that includes all pertinent elements of the growth policy. ¶ 88 Finally, Muth-Hillberry attacks the Rattlesnake Valley plan for recommending too low of a density for Sonata Park and criticizes Neighbors for refus[ing] to accept their fair share of the exploding growth in the City. Yet, while Muth-Hillberry may disagree with the Rattlesnake Valley plan, that is not grounds to flout it. As we have said, changes in the [growth policy] may well be dictated by changed circumstances occurring after the adoption of the plan. If this is so, the correct procedure is to amend the [growth policy] rather than to erode [it] by simply refusing to adhere to its guidelines. Little, 193 Mont. at 354, 631 P.2d at 1293. ¶ 89 The City reaffirmed the Rattlesnake Valley plan in 2006, and it thus continues to have full force and effect as part of the City's growth policy. Yet, notwithstanding that growth policy, the City approved a development which, as the District Court observed, exists on a scale that is incompatible with the development patterns of the neighborhoods in the area and especially with the natural ecosystem that underlies the area. While it is not necessary for the Sonata Park zoning to be consistent with every goal and objective expressed in the Rattlesnake Valley plan, Citizen Advocates, ¶ 30, it is necessary for the zoning to substantially comply with the plan. It does not, as established by the stipulated record and the City's findings of fact and conclusions of law. ¶ 90 We hold that the City's decision was unlawful due to the City's failure to comply with the mandates of §§ 76-1-605(1) and 76-2-304(1)(a), MCA, and was arbitrary and capricious because it was not based on all the relevant factors set out in the Rattlesnake Valley plan. The District Court correctly granted summary judgment to Neighbors.