Agenda - Planning Commission - 01/07/2010

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November 25, 2009 I Volume 3 I No. 22 Zoning Bulletin ,~ Vested Rights-City rezones property the same ( ) day developer files site plan application for property Developer says its development rights should have vested upon filing of its site plan application Citation: Abbey Road Group, LLC v. City of Bonney Lake, 2009 WL 3210388 (Wash. 2009) WASHINGTON (10/08/09)-Abbey Road Group, LLC sought to. construct a 575-unit multifamily condominium project on over 36 acre~ (the "Property") in the city. On September 13, 2005, Abbey Road submitted a site plan application. A site plan appli- cation.is "part of a preliminary stagein the development process relative to a building permit application phase." Later that same day, the city passed an ordinance, rezoning the Property. Under the rezone, the Property was categorized as "Residential/Conser- vation District." The rezone precluded Abb.ey Road's proposed multifamily development. On October 12, 2005, the city's Planning Director (the "Direc- tor")' denied Abbey Road's site plan application. The Director had determined that Abbey Road's proposed development project had not vested before the rezone because Abbey Road had not filed a building permit application. Washington statutory law (RCW 19.27.095(1)) provided only that development rights vested upon the filing of a complete building permit application. The city had not . adopted a vesting ordinance. Abbey Road appealed the Director's determination to the hearing examiner. Abbey Road maintained that its development rights vested on September 13, 2005, when it filed its completed site plan applica- tion. Abbey Road argued that the vested rights doctrine should be expanded to vest development rights upon the filing of a site plan ap- plication. Such an expansion was warranted, it said, because: (1) the cost to a developer of a site application "represents a level of com- mitment that entitles it to a vested right and is sufficient to deter per- mit speculation"; and (2) in this case, the city's building permit ap- plication process denied applicants of their due process rights because it conditioned submission of a building permit application on prior approval of a site plan application. The hearing examiner affirmed the Director's decision. Abbey Road appealed to the Superior Court. 10 @ 2009 Thomson Reuters 50 (/j (" j) I I I I I I I I I I I I I I