107 Wn.2d 621 (1987) 733 P.2d 182

VALLEY VIEW INDUSTRIAL PARK, Respondent,
v.
THE CITY OF REDMOND, Appellant.

No. 50990-5.

The Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc.

February 12, 1987.

*623 Ogden, Ogden & Murphy, by Larry C. Martin, James E. Haney, and Mark A. Eames, for appellant.

Bogle & Gates and Elaine L. Spencer, for respondent.

CALLOW, J.

This appeal involves the vested rights doctrine as it pertains to property zoning changes and the question of compensation for damages caused by a zoning change. The property involved is located as shown on the map on page 624.

Valley View Industrial Park is a general partnership formed in 1978 to develop this specific parcel of land. Following a protracted interchange between the partnership and the City of Redmond, within whose boundaries the property lies, the partnership initiated this action against the City seeking (1) a writ of mandamus ordering the City to proceed with site plan review of its light industrial development in the Sammamish River Valley; (2) a declaration that the City's decision to change the zoning of its property from light industrial to agricultural use was an uncompensated taking that violated federal and state constitutions; and (3) damages and attorney's fees it incurred from the time of the zoning change.

The City denied the complaint and interposed the following defenses: (1) that Valley View had failed to meet procedural prerequisites to suit, including (a) conformance with the applicable statute of limitations, (b) exhaustion of administrative remedies, and (c) laches; (2) that the zoning change represented a valid exercise of police power; (3) that even if an unconstitutional taking had occurred, Valley View was not entitled to interim damages and attorney's fees.

The trial court dismissed Valley View's claim for interim damages but conducted a trial to the court on the remaining

*624

issues. Following trial, the court found for Valley View. It held that the zoning change was unconstitutional and ordered the City to proceed with the site plan review. The City appealed the decision on the grounds it had asserted *625 at trial. On Valley View's motion, the case was transferred here from the Court of Appeals pursuant to RAP 4.3.

We affirm the trial court's judgment which holds that Valley View acquired vested rights to have five building permit applications processed under the City of Redmond's light industrial use zoning classification in effect at the time of filing, we affirm the court's order retaining upon the property the light industrial use zoning classification, and we affirm the denial of damages and deny the request for attorney fees in the cross appeal.

FACTS

Valley View intends to develop an industrial park on a 26.71-acre parcel of property in the Sammamish River Valley. The valley historically was an agricultural area; the soil is some of the richest in King County. In recent years the agricultural character of the Sammamish River Valley has changed drastically. The population has increased significantly. Commercial and residential development has replaced many of the farms and the accompanying agricultural support services, including feed and fertilizer dealers, farm equipment sellers, and grain elevators. The area around the Valley View parcel reflects this transition. The property immediately to the north remains zoned for agricultural uses. To the northwest, across the road from Valley View, are three large industrial developments. Puget Sound Power and Light holds a 250-foot right of way on Valley View's south border. South of that right of way is another industrial park and property zoned for expected commercial and residential development. The Sammamish River marks the east edge of the Valley View property. Across the river, to the southeast, is the site of a proposed regional shopping center.

The City of Redmond annexed the Valley View parcel from King County in 1964, and changed the zoning of the parcel from agricultural to "light industrial." In 1970, the City adopted a comprehensive land use plan setting forth *626 the City's official policies and goals for future regulation and use of property.

The City began revising and updating its land use regulations to achieve conformity with the 1970 comprehensive plan. Concurrently, the farmlands preservation movement became a force in King County and applied pressure for agricultural zoning of the parcel. In 1977, a citizens' advisory committee was formed for the purpose of formulating recommendations on the land use plan and regulatory revisions. The committee conducted numerous public hearings and meetings, culminating in an official committee proposal which was forwarded to the city council. Following receipt of the proposal, the city council conducted extensive deliberations, including additional public hearings upon the proposal. On June 5, 1979, the council passed ordinance 875, which adopted the City's revised land use goals, policies, plans, regulations and procedures in a volume entitled Community Development Guide.

The Community Development Guide included an amended zoning map which adjusted the boundary between the agricultural and industrial zones in the Sammamish Valley. The citizen advisory committee recommended that the council shift the boundary between the agricultural and light industrial uses to the south, in alignment with a 250-foot-wide power transmission line right of way, thereby providing a visible and spatial separation of the agricultural and industrial uses. The city council adopted this recommendation as a part of its comprehensive zoning revisions. With adoption of the revised zoning map, the boundary line was extended to the southern boundary of the Valley View property to adjoin the 250-foot power line right of way. The zoning of the Valley View property thus was revised from light industrial to agricultural use.

Valley View formulated and proceeded with plans to develop an industrial park on the tract. Valley View intended the industrial park to consist of 12 buildings, developed in phases. In the first phase, it intended to build the infrastructure (i.e., the road, utilities, etc.) and the shell *627 of the first building. It then intended to market the project and construct additional buildings as it found tenants for those buildings. The cost of the infrastructure was projected to be so high that the cost would not be recovered, and the project would not be profitable until several of the buildings were completed.

Valley View first initiated contact with the city planning department on September 3, 1978, by submitting a preliminary site plan for the proposed development. A city planner informed Valley View representatives that the proposed industrial park would be subject to site plan review under Redmond ordinance 733, which provided that no building permit could be issued for a commercial or industrial development without prior site plan approval.

Although the preliminary site plan did not contemplate construction that would require a shoreline development permit, the city planner incorrectly informed Valley View that the proposed industrial park would require a shoreline substantial development permit due to the proximity of the Sammamish River.

During the conversation on September 3, Valley View was requested to file, and as a result on September 7, 1978, Valley View did file, a more detailed site plan, a SEPA environmental checklist, a shoreline substantial development permit application and plans for the first of 12 buildings to be constructed in the industrial park. As a result of the discussion on September 3, in which it was informed that the City would require a shoreline substantial development permit, Valley View amended the site plan to include a building which came within 200 feet of the Sammamish River.

On September 7, 1978, the head of the City's building department refused to proceed on the single building permit application until site plan review had been completed on the project.

In a September 18 letter, city officials wrote Valley View for additional information. In response, Valley View provided some information on sewers and storm drainage, as *628 well as a revised SEPA checklist, a revised site plan and a proposed protective covenant. These documents were filed on October 18.

The City requested no additional information for 3 months. In the interim, it approved a plan to connect the Valley View property to the storm sewer system in place at the industrial park to the south. The City collected $2,500 from Valley View to pay for the extension. On January 22, 1979, the City informed Valley View that an environmental impact statement was necessary.

On February 2, Valley View submitted the names of three consultants to prepare the EIS. The City responded on March 6, by selecting a consultant not on the Valley View list. Attempting to avoid further delay, Valley View sought an appeal of the EIS decision on March 7. The City stated that no appeal was possible, but suggested a modification of the project proposal to obviate the need for an EIS. Valley View submitted a new proposal according to the City's suggested modifications.

In early 1979, Redmond officials informed Valley View that it would have to file additional building permit applications in order to vest its rights to construct the entire project if the City downzoned the property. At that time, the City's site plan review process for the project had not been completed. Valley View then filed four additional building permit applications. The five buildings, for which building permit applications were filed, totaled approximately 108,000 square feet of space out of the 466,914 square feet contemplated by the site plan as a whole. Five was the maximum number of buildings which Valley View concluded it was feasible to build prior to obtaining tenants for them.

On May 22, 1979, Valley View submitted an enlarged site plan and revised protective covenants and offered to negotiate with the City concerning dedication to the City of a buffer zone to the north of the Valley View property. On June 5, 1979, the Redmond City Council enacted the revised zoning code which downzoned the Valley View *629 property from light industrial to agricultural use. By letter dated June 6, 1979, the City rejected Valley View's modification of its proposal. Valley View did not appeal the development plan rezone as allowed by the Redmond ordinance.

The City's 1976 version of the Uniform Building Code called for building permits to lapse after 180 days unless the permits were renewed for another 180 days. The City notified Valley View in a May 20, 1980 letter that the building permit applications were deemed abandoned. City officials, however, later assured Valley View that it still could proceed under the permits.

After the downzoning, the City took the position that if Valley View agreed to limit development to the five filed building permit applications no EIS would be required. Valley View contended it could not proceed without an EIS. The City agreed to proceed with an EIS, but later reversed itself and refused to proceed. Thereafter, in response to the City's change in position, Valley View filed an application to change the city land use plan and zoning for the property from agricultural to light industrial use. The City then began preparation of an EIS for the Valley View project, and on January 23, 1981, issued a final impact statement for the project. After issuance of the final impact statement, the City refused to further process Valley View's five building permit applications until the city council had acted on Valley View's rezone application.

On April 7, 1981, the city council denied the Valley View rezone request. Valley View did not appeal this decision. Thereafter, the parties engaged in further discussion in which Valley View sought to proceed with a modified proposal. When the City refused to allow Valley View to proceed with the modified development, this suit was commenced on July 10, 1981. We have set forth in the appendix the pertinent trial court findings of fact for two reasons. First, because a number have been challenged, and second, because a reading of those findings is extremely helpful in acquiring an understanding of the factual situation.

*630 I

FINDINGS AS VERITIES ON APPEALS

[1] The City challenged the trial court's findings of fact. It assigned error to 21 of the findings entered and to the trial court's failure to enter a number of findings the City had submitted but which the trial court rejected. However, in its opening brief the City mentioned only two of the findings to which it had assigned error. Such discussion is inadequate for all except the two mentioned findings. A party abandons assignments of error to findings of fact if it fails to argue them in its brief. Seattle Sch. Dist. 1 v. State, 90 Wn.2d 476, 585 P.2d 71 (1978); Lassila v. Wenatchee, 89 Wn.2d 804, 809-10, 576 P.2d 54 (1978); State v. Wood, 89 Wn.2d 97, 569 P.2d 1148 (1977); Dickson v. United States Fid. & Guar. Co., 77 Wn.2d 785, 787, 466 P.2d 515 (1970). The two remaining findings will not be disturbed if supported by substantial evidence. Thorndike v. Hesperian Orchards, 54 Wn.2d 570, 343 P.2d 183 (1959). We find ample evidence on which to premise the two challenged findings and we note that in two findings which we have not recounted, the trial court found that the testimony of the City's witnesses lacked credibility. We have set forth in the appendix the trial court's findings as our recital of the factual situation to accentuate them, to stress the protracted nature of the dealings between the parties and to underscore the establishment of the findings as verities on appeal.

II

PROCEDURAL CHALLENGES

The City raises a number of procedural challenges to Valley View's ability to pursue its claim in superior court. In examining these issues, we note that Valley View actually instituted two actions in this case: (1) a petition for a writ of mandamus to order the City to proceed with processing of building applications and site plan review, and (2) a claim for interim damages for an unconstitutional taking without just compensation. The two claims merge *631 later, but for the discussion of procedural questions, the distinction is important.

A

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS

The first issue is whether the City's statute of limitations for the appeal of a zoning action bars Valley View's claim of an unconstitutional taking.

The city council's enactment of the Community Development Guide (hereinafter cited as CDG) changed Valley View's zoning to agricultural use on June 5, 1979. The City's municipal code requires that all appeals of zoning decisions be brought within 30 days. CDG 20F.20.140(10). The City argues that Valley View's failure to appeal within 30 days of the zoning change bars the claim for an unconstitutional taking. We do not agree.

It is well settled in Washington that where a taking occurs by eminent domain or by inverse condemnation, a landowner's right to seek just compensation may not be barred merely by the passage of time. Petersen v. Port of Seattle, 94 Wn.2d 479, 483, 618 P.2d 67 (1980); Highline Sch. Dist. 401 v. Port of Seattle, 87 Wn.2d 6, 15, 548 P.2d 1085 (1976). In both Petersen and Highline, we held that the government must prove all the elements of adverse possession including the 10-year prescription period, before a claim for compensation would be barred.

The City argues that the rule from Petersen and Highline should not apply to takings resulting from police power regulations such as the zoning action in question. We recognize that, unlike eminent domain and inverse condemnation, regulatory takings do not involve actual appropriation of property, and therefore could never meet the elements of adverse possession. Thus, if we applied the Petersen rule to a regulatory taking, there would be no time bar whatsoever on a claim for compensation. Moreover, if regulatory takings merit the imposition of damages, the Petersen approval would put a premium on letting property owners wait to challenge zoning ordinances until their temporary *632 damages became impressively large. Williams, Smith, Siemon, Mandelker & Babcock, White River Junction Manifesto, 9 Vt. L. Rev. 193, 223 (1984). This prospect is a troubling possibility. However, because under the facts at hand we find the City's 30-day appeal rule inapplicable, we need not reach the issue of what statute of limitations, if any, applies in a regulatory taking.

[2] Valley View did not challenge the downzone within the 30 days because it had a good faith belief, based on discussions with city officials, that it had a vested right to develop its industrial park. Finding of fact 34. Had Valley View been allowed to construct its industrial park in accordance with its site plan, it would not have been adversely affected by the downzoning. Finding of fact 39. After the City rejected the modified site plan, Valley View continued to work with the City in an attempt to get its permits issued. City officials continued to assure Valley View that it could still proceed under its permit applications, even after sending notification that the City viewed the applications as abandoned. Valley View continued to exhaust its remedies, filing an application for a rezone from agricultural back to a light industrial designation. It was only after the city council denied the rezone request on April 7, 1981, that Valley View terminated its attempts to work with the City and filed this action. Under this set of facts, Valley View cannot be said to have lost its right to challenge the zoning ordinance simply because it took more than 30 days to seek some accommodation from the City. Valley View does not forgo its right to attack the validity of the zoning ordinance by having sought a variance from its operation. Lange v. Woodway, 79 Wn.2d 45, 49-50, 483 P.2d 116 (1971).

B

EXHAUSTION OF ADMINISTRATIVE REMEDIES

The second issue is whether Valley View failed to exhaust its administrative remedies before instituting its action in superior court.

*633 The City argues that Valley View failed to follow statutorily prescribed administrative procedures. The City first alleges that Valley View did not appeal the zoning change to superior court pursuant to CDG 20F.20.140 and the superior court, therefore, lacked jurisdiction to hear the taking claim. Second, the City asserts that Valley View failed to appeal the City's decision to lapse the building permit applications and is thereby prohibited from requesting an order for processing of its permit applications or site plan review. We do not accept either argument.

[3] The nature of Valley View's constitutional taking claim rendered the exhaustion requirement inapplicable. First, Valley View's right of appeal was to the superior court, not to an administrative agency. Washington courts distinguish between administrative agency proceedings and "resort to the courts." See Ackerley Communications, Inc. v. Seattle, 92 Wn.2d 905, 908-09, 602 P.2d 1177 (1979), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 804 (1980); Wright v. Woodard, 83 Wn.2d 378, 381, 518 P.2d 718 (1974); State ex rel. Ass'n of Wash. Indus. v. Johnson, 56 Wn.2d 407, 410-11, 353 P.2d 881 (1960); Keller v. Bellingham, 20 Wn. App. 1, 8, 578 P.2d 881 (1978), aff'd, 92 Wn.2d 726, 600 P.2d 1276 (1979). The rationale for the exhaustion requirement is that the administrative officer or agency may possess special expertise necessary to decide the issue, and that an administrative remedy may obviate the need for judicial review. See, e.g., South Hollywood Hills Citizens Ass'n v. King Cy., 101 Wn.2d 68, 73-74, 677 P.2d 114 (1984); Ackerley, at 908-09; Lange v. Woodway, 79 Wn.2d 45, 48, 483 P.2d 116 (1971). That rationale is irrelevant in this case when the superior court was to provide "administrative" review.

Also unpersuasive is the asserted distinction between the superior court review of the CDG zoning change and the adjudication of Valley View's taking claim. The City presented no evidence or authority that Valley View was required to raise, or could have raised, the constitutional taking issue at the June 9 meeting. Without a record on the constitutional taking issue, the Superior Court had nothing *634 to review. Parkridge v. Seattle, 89 Wn.2d 454, 463-64, 573 P.2d 359 (1978). The City responds that judicial review pursuant only to administrative regulations protects it from defending zoning challenges years later, but that argument raises the statute of limitations which, as stated, is not a defense to the claim that there was an unconstitutional taking.

C

DID THE PERMIT APPLICATIONS LAPSE?

[4] We also hold for Valley View regarding the building permit application lapse. No exhaustion requirement arises without the issuance of a final, appealable order. See, e.g., RCW 34.04.130; Bock v. Board of Pilotage Comm'rs, 91 Wn.2d 94, 99, 586 P.2d 1173 (1978). The City presented no evidence that it had entered a final order that the applications had lapsed and all rights were extinguished. It sent the plaintiffs a letter on May 19, 1980, to that effect, but this letter was not the equivalent of a final order. A letter from an agency will constitute a final order if the letter clearly "fixes a legal relationship as a consummation of the administrative process." Such a letter must be so written as to be clearly understandable as a final determination of rights. Bock, at 99. However, doubts as to the finality of such communications must be resolved in favor of the citizen. In Lee v. Jacobs, 81 Wn.2d 937, 506 P.2d 308 (1973), a state agency argued that certain letters denying benefits were final orders in a workers' compensation dispute. The court stated:

That is nonsense. If every letter from every agency of state government which arrives on a lawyer's desk must be scrutinized to determine if it contains an appealable order, indeed a burden of considerable magnitude will have been created by fiction.

Lee, at 940-41.

In this case, the letter did not fix a clear end to the administrative process. First, the City lacked a clear administrative decisionmaking process regarding building *635 permit lapses. Moreover, after the letter was sent, City officials twice assured Valley View that it still had vested rights in the buildings. Because of the unclear and inconsistent nature of the permit lapse process, the letter was insufficient to constitute a final order. No exhaustion requirement arose.

D

WAS THERE AN ADEQUATE REMEDY AT LAW?

The fourth issue is whether Valley View possessed an adequate remedy at law, which rendered a writ of mandamus inappropriate. The City argues that Valley View could have appealed the lapse of its building permits. The appeal process was a remedy that would have obviated the need for mandamus. As stated, Valley View never received a final, appealable order to appeal. It therefore did not possess an adequate remedy at law.

E

LACHES

The final procedural issue is whether Valley View's claim should be barred because of laches.

[5] The City contends that Valley View equitably should be barred from challenging the CDG zoning change. The elements of the doctrine of laches were set forth in Buell v. Bremerton, 80 Wn.2d 518, 522, 495 P.2d 1358 (1972) as follows:

(1) knowledge or reasonable opportunity to discover on the part of a potential plaintiff that he has a cause of action against a defendant; (2) an unreasonable delay by the plaintiff in commencing that cause of action; (3) damage to defendant resulting from the unreasonable delay.

The trial judge properly disallowed laches as a defense. Considering all of Valley View's efforts to proceed with the permit application and site plan review, to comply with SEPA requirements, to prepare the EIS statement, and to comply with the request to modify the CDG rezone, it did not delay unreasonably in challenging the City's action. *636 Valley View sought a declaratory judgment only 3 months after the City had rejected its rezone request. Valley View reasonably waited for the result of its request, which took the City 10 months to process, before it sued in superior court. We reject the City's procedural challenges.

III

VESTING

Due process requires governments to treat citizens in a fundamentally fair manner. West Main Assocs. v. Bellevue, 106 Wn.2d 47, 51, 720 P.2d 782 (1986). Consequently, citizens must be protected from the fluctuations of legislative policy, West Main Assocs., at 51 (citing The Federalist No. 44, at 301 (J. Madison) (J. Cooke ed. 1961)), so that they can plan their conduct with reasonable certainty as to the legal consequences. West Main Assocs., at 51. Property development rights constitute "a valuable property right." West Main Assocs., at 50 (quoting from Louthan v. King Cy., 94 Wn.2d 422, 428, 617 P.2d 977 (1980)). Thus new land use ordinances must satisfy due process standards by meeting a 2-part test: (1) the new regulation must aim at achieving a legitimate public purpose; and (2) the means used to achieve that purpose must be reasonably necessary and not unduly oppressive upon individuals. West Main Assocs., at 52; Norco Constr., Inc. v. King Cy., 97 Wn.2d 680, 684, 649 P.2d 103 (1982).

These due process considerations require that developers be able to take recognized action under fixed rules governing the development of their land. West Main Assocs., at 51. The right of a property owner to use his property under the terms of the zoning ordinance prevailing at the time that he applies for a building permit has been settled for over half a century. State ex rel. Hardy v. Superior Court, 155 Wash. 244, 284 P. 93 (1930). The precept was stated in State ex rel. Ogden v. Bellevue, 45 Wn.2d 492, 495-96, 275 P.2d 899 (1954), which is often quoted as follows:

A property owner has a vested right to use his property under the terms of the zoning ordinance applicable *637 thereto. A building or use permit must issue as a matter of right upon compliance with the ordinance. The discretion permissible in zoning matters is that which is exercised in adopting the zone classifications with the terms, standards, and requirements pertinent thereto, all of which must be by general ordinance applicable to all persons alike. The acts of administering a zoning ordinance do not go back to the questions of policy and discretion which were settled at the time of the adoption of the ordinance. Administrative authorities are properly concerned with questions of compliance with the ordinance, not with its wisdom. To subject individuals to questions of policy of administrative matters would be unconstitutional....

... An owner of property has a vested right to put it to a permissible use as provided for by prevailing zoning ordinances. The right accrues at the time an application for a building permit is made. The moves and countermoves of the parties hereto by way of passing ordinances and bringing actions for injunctions, should and did avail the parties nothing. A zoning ordinance is not retroactive so as to affect rights that have already vested.

(Citations omitted.) We have rejected the rule of many jurisdictions which requires a change of position and a substantial reliance on the building permit before equitable estoppel arises to rescue the by then financially extended landowners. 1 R. Anderson, Zoning § 6.24, at 408-09 (2d ed. 1976). See Hull v. Hunt, 53 Wn.2d 125, 331 P.2d 856 (1958).

Washington's "date certain vesting rights doctrine" aims at insuring that new land-use ordinances do not unduly oppress development rights, thereby denying a property owner's right to due process under the law. See West Main Assocs., at 50-52. Focusing on the date building permit applications are submitted protects development rights and, at the same time, provides two safeguards against developer speculation: (1) once a permit issues, a time limit is imposed on construction; and (2) preparing the detailed plans and specifications required for the application involves a substantial cost to the developer. Hull v. Hunt, at 130. In addition, the permit application date facilitates *638 determining with certainty what the developer has applied for and what specific rights have accrued as a result. See Hull v. Hunt, supra at 130; see also Mercer Enters. v. Bremerton, 93 Wn.2d 624, 633, 611 P.2d 1237 (1980) (Utter, C.J., dissenting).

In the ordinary course of events, a developer's right to develop in accordance with a particular zoning designation vests only if the developer files a building permit application that (1) is sufficiently complete, (2) complies with existing zoning ordinances and building codes, and (3) is filed during the effective period of the zoning ordinances under which the developer seeks to develop. West Main Assocs., at 51; Allenbach v. Tukwila, 101 Wn.2d 193, 676 P.2d 473 (1984). Due process considerations of fundamental fairness require this court to look beyond these four requirements to the conduct of the parties only in the rare case where city officials clearly frustrate a developer's diligent, good faith efforts to complete the permit application process. See Mercer Enters. v. Bremerton, supra; Parkridge v. Seattle, 89 Wn.2d 454, 573 P.2d 359 (1978).

In Parkridge, this court created a limited exception to the requirement of completeness of building permit applications. The issue there was whether a right to develop land could vest despite an incomplete building permit application when the developer's diligent attempts to complete the application prior to the zoning change had been obstructed by the local government. This court held that a development right had vested, notwithstanding the incompleteness of the application, because the developer's good faith conduct merits recognition of the vested right. Parkridge, at 465-66.

This court then applied the Parkridge rule in Mercer Enterprises to hold that a developer's building permit application, including a site plan, can be considered as a whole for the purpose of determining whether a building permit complied with the existing zoning ordinances. Mercer Enterprises, at 633-34. Although standing alone the building permit exceeded the density restrictions of the *639 zoning ordinance, when considered together with the site plan for the total development project, the building permit densities were within the density restrictions. The developer's building permit application was held sufficient to establish vested rights in that portion of the project in which building permit applications were filed.

[6] Here, Valley View argues that it has a vested right to build the five buildings covered under the five filed permit applications. In addition, Valley View contends it has a vested right to build the remaining seven buildings designated in the site plan filed with Redmond, but not covered by any permit application. The City argues that the five permit applications were incomplete and therefore insufficient to vest Valley View's rights in those five buildings, much less the seven buildings for which applications were not filed. As to the five buildings covered by incomplete building permits, we conclude that the Parkridge rule controls. The trial court's findings clearly demonstrate the presence of each of the Parkridge elements: (1) Valley View diligently and in good faith attempted to obtain building permits; (2) Redmond officials explicitly frustrated Valley View's attempts; and (3) as a result, Valley View's building permit applications were incomplete. Thus, Valley View has a vested right to complete the five buildings for which it filed building permit applications under the light industrial zoning classifications.

[7] Whether Valley View's vested right also encompasses the remaining seven buildings is a question of first impression for the court. Like the developer in Mercer Enterprises, Valley View proposed a phased construction scenario. Also similar to Mercer Enterprises, throughout the negotiations between Valley View and Redmond, the 26.71-acre project was considered as a complete whole. 93 Wn.2d at 628. In Mercer Enterprises, however, this court was not asked to determine whether the scope of the vested right encompassed the entire development proposal. As a general principle, we reject any attempt to extend the vested rights doctrine to site plan review. Only where a *640 city's conduct frustrates the permit application process will we consider looking to the entire development proposal contained in a site plan. Because we have held that Valley View has a vested right to build the five permit application buildings, we consider those buildings as having been constructed, and review the validity of Redmond's downzoning of Valley View's property.

[8] To satisfy due process standards, the City's downzoning of Valley View's property decision, like all zoning decisions, must bear a substantial relation to the public welfare. See Cathcart-Maltby-Clearview Comm'ty Coun. v. Snohomish Cy., 96 Wn.2d 201, 211, 634 P.2d 853 (1981). Because Redmond downzoned the property at the specific request of a number of citizens' groups and city officials (finding of fact 50), and because Valley View's property was the only tract downzoned to agricultural zoning (finding of fact 61), Redmond's actions constitute rezoning. Cathcart, at 212. Although Redmond's rezoning decision is granted some deference, Save a Neighborhood Env't v. Seattle, 101 Wn.2d 280, 285, 676 P.2d 1006 (1984), there is no presumption of validity favoring a rezone. Parkridge<