Agenda Item Title:
Title
Firefly Forest Subdivision - Final Review - Alleged Error Review
3392 E. Deer Hollow Circle
[Community #29 - The Dell]
Body
Presenter:
Mike Wilcox
Body
Description/Background:
The Appellants (Kelly Powers, Trent Pearce, and Kirk Olsen) have filed an appeal. They have filed an Alleged Error with the Sandy City Board of Adjustment to review a claim that the Sandy City Planning Commission erred in their decision to determine that Final Review of the Firefly Forest Subdivision is complete. One of the original appellants, Zhibin Guo, has rescinded his interest in this appeal. The attorney that wrote the Appellants’ Letter has also removed himself from this matter. These Appellants are property owners that are immediately adjacent to the proposed subdivsion.
On September 12, 2019, the Board of Adjustment held a meeting to hear the arguments both for and against. The Board did determine that the record on this decision is complete and not deficient as demonstrated in the referenced Staff Reports, Planning Commission Minutes, Findings and Conditions, and available recordings of the Planning Commission meetings, and therefore, that the matter can be reviewed on the record, and not de novo. However, they could not arrive at a conclusive motion on a decision to determine if the Planning Commission erred in their determination that Final Review was complete. That decision will need to be made during this upcoming meeting. The Board does not need to receive new information from either party before making a decision, but the Chair may allow for the parties involved to articulate any new arguments based on the existing record (no new information that is not part of the record may be presented). It is not necessary to hear the previous arguments made, since a full recording of the previous meeting is available. The Board of Adjustment members are asked to watch the recording of the September 12th meeting and review the minutes from that meeting to avoid the need to redo the previous meeting.
Since the time of the original Board Meeting, a few items of note have occured. As discussed in the staff reports, the Guo's property is part of the proposed Firefly Forest Subdivision. The Guo's have signed the final plat that has been reviewed and approved by staff (the proposed plat has not yet been signed by the city, but only approved to it's form). That is why the Guo's have removed themselves from this appeal and no longer oppose the decision to approve the subdivision.
See the original detailed staff report, appellant's letter, and link to the previous meeting (including meeting minutes) to provide additional information and background on this matter.
Recommended Action and/or Suggested Motion:
Recommendation
The Board should carefully consider and follow the statutory requirements for an appeal (set out and referenced in the staff report) before rendering a decision. As stated in the ordinance cited, the Appellants bear the burden of proving that the land use authority erred. It is not enough to show that one could reasonably reach a different conclusion on the facts; as long as there is a reasonable basis for the decision reached by the Planning Commission.
Based upon our analysis of the Appellants’ Letter requesting the appeal and the standard of review required, Staff recommends the following:
That the Board of Adjustment determine that the Planning Commission did not err in making its decision to determine that the Final Review of the Firefly Forest Subdivision (revised) was complete, based upon the following findings:
Findings:
1. The Appellants have not shown that there was no reasonable basis to justify the action taken, and therefore, the determinations made were so unreasonable as to be arbitrary and capricious; in other words, the Planning Commission decision was correct in its interpretation and application of the Land Development Code.
2. (If applicable) The Planning Commission decision was reasonable and based on substantial evidence, including the following:
a. (The Board will need to further cite and articulate the evidence, if applicable)