Re: latah county commission reconsideration

[gregb@corecom.net (Greg Brown)]

At 06:37 PM 12/13/98 -0800, Tom Lamar wrote:
>Another questions:  Is it possible for the new County Commission to simply
>overturn this decision in January?

   Yes...but they won't.  Bill London had asked what course of action is
possible.  I can speak in generalities...

   The decision to split the parcel (did the decision also
involve a rezone?), as are most commissioner decisions,
is subject to judicial review.  There is a window of 
opportunity (usually some multiple of 30 days)  to file a legal 
complaint that the decision rendered failed to follow prescribed
procedure--i.e, the decision is arbitrary and capricious and
not rationally based on the facts and findings (evidence) presented 
in the hearing process.

   You can never *win* a case like this based on the issue
itself--the commissioners, as elected officials, have the legal 
authority to make this decision.  However, they must support
their decisions based on the evidence presented in the 
hearing process.  To prevail, one must show that the commissioners
erred in following procedure and that the resulting decision 
does not follow from the evidence presented.  The most the 
judge will do is remand (send back) the decision to the 
commission...i.e., do it right this time.

   Recall, that this was the same pattern experienced by 
Mary Butters over the Paradise Ridge radio tower issue.  
She prevailed in court only to have the decision handed back 
to the commission.  The commission went through the same
process again (after passing an unfriendly ordinance that took
the bite out of her original legal complaint) and once again 
approved the radio tower. 

   The commission will not reverse its decision because
that opens the possibility for a lawsuit from the individual
who was granted the split.  The rule of government is 
that it is better to live with mistakes than to try to correct
the mistake and end up in legal trouble.  I would almost
call this an iron rule of local government--it will *never*
reverse a prior land use or zoning decision unless specifically
requested by the land owner themselves.  Of course, that
never happens because zoning changes are designed
to benefit the landowners in the first place.

   So, Bill, to answer your question, you cannot reverse
a bad decision without a tireless, personal crusade,
and even then, you will still lose.  Witness Mary Butters.
The best course of action is that if you feel wronged
by a decision, call the officials on it.  Embarass them.
Put them in the spotlight.  At least this will 
increase the public scrutiny on the next parcel split.
----------
Greg Brown (gregb@corecom.net)
Asst. Professor, Environmental Science Dept.
Alaska Pacific University
Home: (907) 346-2777
Work: (907) 564-8267
Fax: (907) 562-4276