How the legal process works (Isthmus)

author : WIP topic : Olympia City Council | rezone

by WIP

The legal battle will begin if and when the City adopts an amendment to its Comprehensive Plan and Shoreline Master Program (SMP) raising the height limits on the isthmus. The SMP amendment would be sent by the City to the Department of Ecology for its review. In the meantime, the Comp Plan amendment could be appealed to the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board (WWGMHB). If and when Ecology approved the SMP amendment, that approval could be appealed to the WWGMHB, which would probably consolidate the two cases into one for purposes of briefing and hearing. The WWGMHB would then set up a briefing schedule and a hearing date. The hearing is based on the written record and testimony before the City; legal briefs and oral argument would set forth the rezone opponents' legal argument, based on the Sato case (Sato Corporation v. Olympia, 1982), that the rezone would violate the Growth Management Act and the Shorelines Management Act. After the hearing, the WWGMHB would submit a decision. The process would take several months, so a decision on the rezone would not be issued before the fall of 2009. That decision would be appealable into the court system, which could take two years if the case went to the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court.

If the courts upheld the amendments to the Comprehensive Plan and the SMP, then permits for buildings would need to be obtained. Any permit issued by the City would be appealable to the Shorelines Hearings Board (SHB.) The SHB is different from the WWGMHB and would hold a de novo review of the permit, which means a completely new hearing on the issues with witnesses and exhibits. A SHB decision would be appealable into the courts which, again, could take two more years. All told, this process is anticipated to take four to six years.