[U] Palmer Coking Coal Co. v. City of Newcastle

Palmer Coking Coal Company sought, in 2001, to modify its permit application for an apartment complex first proposed in 1993. The City of Newcastle decided that Palmer would have to submit a new application in order to be permitted to build the project with proposed modifications. Palmer appealed this decision, and a hearing examiner determined that the modifications were too substantial to be encompassed within the rights to which Palmer was vested by virtue of its completed 1993 application. Palmer then appealed to the superior court under the Land Use Petition Act, and the superior court reversed the hearing examiners decision. The case comes before this court upon appeal by the City. Palmer defends the superior courts decision on the basis that amended applications for building permits, no matter how substantial the modifications, must be considered under the ordinances that were in effect at the time of the original application. Because this position is unsupported by legal authority, we reinstate the decision of the hearing examiner.