DONALDSON, Justice.
Respondents Hills own certain real property in Ada County. On August 26, 1976, they made application for a rezone of this property from D-2 to parcels bearing C-1 and R-5 designations as prescribed by the Ada County Zoning Ordinance. This application progressed through the proper administrative channels and ultimately came before the appellant Ada County Board of Commissioners for determination. Following a public hearing on the matter, the board voted to deny the rezone request and formally advised respondents of their decision by letter. Following this notice, respondents filed a complaint in district court.
The district court, following a pretrial conference and a denial of appellant's motion to dismiss, issued a pretrial order which stated in part: "This case will be heard as an appeal by means of a trial de novo because the record of the hearing before the Board of County COmmissioners is inadequate for an appeal on the record as contemplated by Sections 67-6519 and 67-5215(f), Idaho Code." A memorandum decision subsequently issued which reversed the decision of the board. The board appeals the reversal.
We find that the district court did not err in treating respondents' complaint as an appeal and in citing to I.C. § 67-6519 as controlling statutory authority for its review of the board's zoning decision. As this Court has recently stated in the cases of Walker-Schmidt Ranch v. Blaine County, 101 Idaho 420, 614 P.2d 960 (1980) and Cooper v. Board of County Commissioners, 101 Idaho 407, 614 P.2d 947 (1980):
I.C. § 67-6519 of the Local Planning Act of 1975, provides in pertinent part:
"An applicant denied a permit or aggrieved by a decision may within sixty (60) days after all remedies have been exhausted under local ordinance seek judicial review under the procedures provided by sections 67-5215(b) through (g) and 67-5216, Idaho Code."
I.C. § 67-5216 deals with review by the Supreme Court and is not pertinent to the instant case.
"Pursuant to I.C. §§ 67-6519 through 67-6521 of the Local Planning Act of 1975, which is now in effect, judicial review shall be sought and conducted in accordance with the provisions of I.C. §§ 67-5215(b) through (g) and 67-5216."
Walker-Schmidt, supra 101 Idaho at 422, 614 P.2d at 962;
Cooper, supra 101 Idaho at 411, n. 1,
614 P.2d at 951, n. 1.
However, in looking to I.C. § 67-5215(b) through (g), we find that there is no provision made for a trial de novo. The district court may stay the board decision and admit additional evidence before the board for good cause shown but subsection (g), ultimately limits the court to either affirming the board decision, remanding for further proceedings, or reversing and modifying if substantial rights of the appellant have been prejudiced. I.C. § 67-5215(a), which would permit other means of review, is specifically excluded in I.C. § 67-6519, see footnotes 1 and 2, supra. Thus, a trial de novo is not a possible course of action.
Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the district court and remand with directions for further proceedings in accordance with I.C. § 67-5215(b) through (g).
BAKES, Chief Justice, concurring specially:
I concur with the action of the majority, which necessarily follows given the fact that the Court's dictal footnote in Cooper v. Board of County Comm'rs of Ada County, 101 Idaho 407, 411, 614 P.2d 947, 951 (1980), was elevated to law, with little discussion, in Walker-Schmidt Ranch v. Blaine County, 101 Idaho 420, 614 P.2d 960 (1980). There is no language in the Local Planning Act of 1975 which expressly requires application of I.C. §§ 67-5215(b) through (g) and 67-5216 to rezone applications. Given that fact, it would have been better if sometime we had analyzed this issue before assuming that the appeal provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act applied to rezoning applications.