Laserfiche WebLink
Zoning Bulletin February 10, 2012 I Volume 6 I No. 3 <br />Case Note: The court noted that "{a111 of the circuits [as well as the <br />Ninth Circuit's district courts] ... have applied the final decision re- <br />quirement to RLUIPA claims, ... reasoning that the requirement of <br />a final decision ... served the purposes of the ripeness doctrine ...." <br />Case Note: The Church had argued that the Use Permit applica- <br />tion (specifically the costs associated with the application) itself was <br />a substantial burden on the church in violation of RLUIPA. The <br />court found the record here "insufficient" to reach the merits of this <br />"cost -as -a burden" claim. Thus, it could not "determine whether <br />this permit application process itself constitute[d] a substantial bur- <br />den on the Church, and [it determined that it] need not pass judg- <br />ment on the broader question of whether costs of some magnitude <br />alone can ever constitute a substantial burden for the purposes of <br />RLUIPA claims." <br />Proceedings — Citizens Group Challenges City's <br />Approval of Two Master Planned Development <br />Permits <br />Parties dispute whether regional growth management <br />hearings board has jurisdiction over challenge <br />Citation: BD Lawson Partners, LP v. Central Puget Sound Growth Man- <br />agement Hearings Bd., 2011 WL 6778803 (Wash. Ct. App. Div. 1 2011) <br />WASHINGTON ( 12127111) This case addressed the issue of the <br />jurisdiction of regional growth management boards. Specifically, it ad- <br />dresses whether such a board has j urisdicti&n over the challenge of a <br />city's grant of master planned development permits by ordinance. <br />The .Background/Facts: In 2009, the City of Black Diamond (the <br />"City ") adopted a new comprehensive plan. That comprehensive plan <br />included a Future Land Use Map, which designated large areas of the <br />City broadly for Master Planned Developments ( "MPDs "). The City also <br />enacted development regulations in the form of a 2009 MPD ordinance. <br />The ordinance created an MPD zoning district and set the standards and <br />the permit process for the review of future MPD permit applications. <br />These 2009 ordinances were not appealed to the Central Puget Sound <br />Region Growth Management Hearings Board (the "Board ") under the <br />state of Washington's Growth Management Act (the "GMA"). <br />© 2012 Thomson Reuters 5 <br />