Court Opinion

ID: 9790289
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 01:50:08.20552+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:46:51.250445
License: Public Domain

BURKE, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent.
According to the borough’s own ordinances, when a final subdivision plat is disapproved, “The [planning] commission . . . shall transmit to the subdivider a copy of the minutes containing the commission’s action and the commission's official statement of findings and reasons for [the] denial.” KPC § 20.16.170(A) (emphasis added). The commission is also required to “note in its motion those sections of [the borough subdivision ordinances] with which the proposed final plat does not comply and the grounds for finding noncompliance.” Id. (emphasis added). These requirements, I believe, are both procedural and substantive in nature. The procedural requirements are those requiring notice of the reasons for disapproval; they are obviously intended to inform the subdivider of what he must do in order to present an acceptable plan. The substantive requirement that I see is that the proposed plat must be approved unless it is found not to comply with some specific provision of the borough’s subdivision ordinances. This, I believe, is reflected by the procedural requirement of notice of such non-compliance in every case where approval is denied.
In the case at bar, the planning commission largely ignored these requirements, as did the borough assembly when it heard Ryherd’s application de novo.
Ryherd was notified, in writing, of the planning commission’s disapproval of the final plat that he had submitted. Such notice, however, stated only: “Disapproved for the reasons listed in the attached minutes.” The minutes attached to the notice were those of the commission’s meeting at which final approval had been denied. Although they appear to reflect generally what took place at that time, including statements by several commission members of their individual reasons for voting against approval, they contain nothing that, in my opinion, could be considered an “official statement,” by the commission of the commission’s “findings and reasons [for] the denial.” Nor do they note “those sections of [the borough’s subdivision ordinances] with which the proposed final plat [failed to] comply” or any “grounds for finding noncompliance.” Thus, the planning commission failed to comply with the procedural requirements of KPC § 20.16.170(A).
When the matter came before the borough assembly, a majority of the members present voted not to approve the final plat, thereby affirming the planning commission’s action. Again, however, there was no compliance with the requirements of KPC § 20.16.170(A).
*565Another provision of the borough’s subdivision ordinances provides that if an application for approval of a final plat is “not acted upon within [a specified number of days] of receipt, the plat shall be deemed to have been approved and a certificate to the [sic] effect shall be issued by the commission on demand; provided, however that the applicant for plat approval may consent to the extension of such period.” KPC § 20.16.170(B) (emphasis added). I interpret the foregoing section to mean that the plat shall be deemed to have been approved unless acted upon, within the time permitted, in accordance with the requirements of KPC § 20.16.170(A).1 In the case at bar, those requirements appear to have been violated in the following respects. Procedurally, the borough failed to give notice of the findings and reasons for the denial, notice of those particular sections of the subdivision ordinance with which the plat failed to comply, and a statement of the grounds for the finding of non-compliance. This left the subdivider with no clear indication of what he was required to do in order to present an application that would be acceptable to the borough. Substantively, there is no indication that the disapproval was based upon the plat's failure to comply with any particular provision of the borough’s subdivision requirements.
Thus, I conclude that Ryherd was entitled to have his final plat “deemed approved.” KPC § 20.16.170(B).
I would affirm the judgment of the superior court.

. It should be emphasized that only “the applicant for plat approval may consent to the extension of such period.” KPC § 20.16.170(B) (emphasis added).