Hildenbrand v. City of Adair Village

JT Smith, Inc. sought to develop high-density residential housing and a school athletic field on agricultural land that was located south of the City of Aldair Village (the city). JT Smith, Inc. applied to the city and Benton County (the county) (defendants) for comprehensive plan amendments to expand the city’s urban-growth boundary and to enact plan-designation changes and zoning changes to accommodate for the proposed developments. The city and county approved the application and expanded the urban-growth boundary, changed the plan designation of the property from an exclusive farm zone to high-density residential and open-space designations, and amended zoning for the property from an exclusive farm zone to zoning districts for urban residential and open-space uses. The city and county permitted these changes to accommodate compact community development and plan growth to encourage a village center because development in higher priority land was not economically practical or feasible. Hildenbrand and others (plaintiffs) appealed the city and county ordinances approving the application to the Land Use Board of Appeals (the board). Hildenbrand argued that the city and the county failed to comply with the requirements of the comprehensive plan to limit urban-growth boundary expansions if there was underdeveloped or open land already within the boundary that could be developed for the desired uses. Hildenbrand also argued that the city and county incorrectly calculated the expected growth of the city and underestimated the density of the residential development allowed in the expansion area and thus added too much land to the expansion. The board agreed with Hildenbrand that the city and county improperly discounted the availability of vacant or underdeveloped land for the desired use contrary to the comprehensive plan and remanded the ordinances to the local governments. The board rejected Hildenbrand’s claims of error, and Hildenbrand appealed, seeking further review of the board’s rulings approving the government’s quantity-of-land and boundary-location findings.