ID Supreme Court Holds City Was Not “Affected Person” Allowed to Seek Judicial Review Under Local Land Use Planning Act

This post was authored by Matthew Loescher, Esq.

The Jefferson County Board of Commissioners granted Appellant Tina Gilgen a conditional use permit that allowed her to place a mobile home on real property she owned with her husband, Kelly Gilgen, in Jefferson County. As the Gilgen property fell within the City of Ririe’s area of ​​impact (“AOI”), the City of Ririe petitioned for judicial review, asserting that the County erroneously approved Gilgen’s application by applying Jefferson County zoning ordinances within the AOI instead of City ordinances, which would have resulted in a denial of Gilgen’s application. The district court entered an order granting the City’s petition, reversing the County’s original decision, and remanding the matter to the County. On remand, the County issued an amended decision that denied Gilgen’s application for a conditional use permit. Gilgen then filed three motions for consideration from the district court’s order remanding the case, alleging the district court did not have jurisdiction to consider the City’s petition. These motions were denied, and Gilgen appealed.

On appeal, Gilgen argued that the district court erred as a matter of law in determining that it had subject matter jurisdiction over the City’s petition for judicial review. Instead, the City contended that the district court had jurisdiction to grant the declaratory relief it sought by virtue of the Local Land Use Planning Act (“LLUPA”). Here, the record reflects that the City failed to include LLUPA as a statutory basis for its appeal of the County’s decision in its petition filed with the district court. The court found that even if the City’s petition had pleaded LLUPA, that statute did not offer any support to the City. The court noted that LLUPA limits judicial review to “affected persons”, which it defines as “one having a bona fide interest in real property” which could be adversely impacted by a land-use decision. Nevertheless, the district court agreed with the City, holding that because Gilgen’s property was located within the “area of ​​impact” controlled by the AOI Agreement between the City and the County, and because Gilgen’s property was subject to the City’s ordinance, the City was an affected person with an interest in real property that might be adversely impacted.

The court noted on appeal that the AOI Agreement between Jefferson County and the City of Ririe required the County to apply the City’s ordinances outside its city limits, but within the AOI. Here, Jefferson County conceded it did not apply the City’s ordinances when it originally granted Gilgen’s conditional use permit. As such, the County erred in its application of the AOI Agreement. The proper avenue for relief would have been for the City to file an original action seeking declaratory relief under Idaho Code section 10-1201, or pursuing injunctive or other appropriate relief under the APA as provided in section 67-6527. Accordingly, the court vacated the district court’s judgment, finding the City lacking standing to file a petition for judicial review.

City of Ririe v Gilgen, 515 P.3d 25 (ID 8/9/2022)