McCall Idaho Headline News

A court ruling in Sun Valley on that city's affordable housing law could affect a lawsuit involving McCall's law.

Last week, Fifth District Court Judge Robert J. Elgee ruled the city of Sun Valley's fees for community housing was unconstitutional and ordered the return of $11,989.97 to the plaintiffs, Phil and Lynn Schaefer, because the city has "been unjustly enriched."

"The city of Sun Valley fails to point to any language in the Local Land Use Planning Act that specifically grants authority to assess fees or taxes," Elgee said in his ruling.

The ruling came just days before attorneys for the city of McCall and the Mountain Central Board of Realtors face off in court over the city's affordable housing laws.

The city also charges a fee on building permits to be dedicated to affordable housing, and requires developers to allocate 20 percent of their projects to worker housing.

The McCall case is scheduled to be argued in court in Boise on Friday. "We are studying the decision carefully," city attorney Bill Nichols, of the Nampa law firm White Peterson said. "The Sun Valley decision does not have any precedential value because it is a trial court decision and not an appellate court decision."

"The decision only affects Sun Valley's linkage ordinance and does not affect that city's ordinance which requires developers to set aside a percentage of their lots for affordable housing," Nichols said. .

The Mountain Central Board of Realtors sued the city of McCall last fall, claiming that McCall's in lieu fee and 20 percent on-site community housing was an illegal tax. "Basically, our argument is that the in lieu fee is a revenue raising measure and not a fee that can be collected is an unauthorized tax," said Mountain Central Board of Realtors attorney Victor Villegas of Boise.

"At least one court has held that way,"' Villegas said. "And obviously, we hope the judge rules the same in our case. Though it is not a binding decision for the judge."

The Realtors' case also challenges the city's zoning power, saying the 20 percent rule "exceeds the police powers and their zoning powers."

"Our case is different than the Sun Valley case, and we will argue our position vigorously this week," city manager Lindley Kirkpatrick said.

Christopher Meyer, a Boise attorney for the Schaefers, said the Sun Valley case was "not about whether the city should or should not provide for workforce housing."

"It should," Meyer said. "This case is about who pays for it." "The district court got it exactly right." he said. "Cities have the power to impose taxes only to the extent authorized by the legislature. This was an unlawful exaction."

"The Schaefers encourage the city to pursue other means of providing workforce housing," Meyer said. "Doing so will benefit everyone. And everyone should pay for it. It is not fair to shift this burden to newcomers."