City of Cornelius v. Dept. of Land Conservation

CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedMarch 6, 2024
DocketA180037
StatusPublished

This text of City of Cornelius v. Dept. of Land Conservation (City of Cornelius v. Dept. of Land Conservation) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of Cornelius v. Dept. of Land Conservation, (Or. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

No. 156 March 6, 2024 349

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF OREGON

CITY OF CORNELIUS, City of Forest Grove, City of Grants Pass, City of Happy Valley, City of Hillsboro, City of Keizer, City of Medford, City of Oregon City, City of Sherwood, City of Springfield, City of Troutdale, City of Tualatin, City of Wood Village, Marion County, Oregon Home Builders Association, Oregon Business & Industry Association, Oregon Realtors, and Oregon Trucking Associations, Inc., Petitioners, v. DEPARTMENT OF LAND CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT and the Land Conservation and Development Commission, Respondents. A180037 (Control), A180153

Argued and submitted July 12, 2023. David O. Bechtold argued the cause for petitioners City of Cornelius, City of Forest Grove, City of Grants Pass, City of Happy Valley, City of Hillsboro, City of Keizer, City of Medford, City of Oregon City, City of Sherwood, City of Springfield, City of Troutdale, City of Tualatin, City of Wood Village, and Marion County. Also on the briefs were Greg A. Hibbard and Northwest Resource Law PLLC. J. Aaron Landau argued the cause for petitioners Oregon Home Builders Association, Oregon Business & Industry Association, Oregon Realtors, and Oregon Trucking Associations, Inc. Also on the briefs were Julian Marrs and Harrang Long P.C. Robert M. Wilsey, Assistant Attorney General, argued the cause for respondents. Also on the brief were Ellen F. Rosenblum, Attorney General, and Benjamin Gutman, Solicitor General. 350 City of Cornelius v. Dept. of Land Conservation

Stephen L. Madkour and Thomas A. Carr filed the brief amici curiae for Clackamas County and Washington County. Steven G. Liday filed the brief amicus curiae for the League of Oregon Cities. Also on the brief were William L. Rasmussen and Miller Nash LLP. Before Ortega, Presiding Judge, and Powers, Judge, and Hellman, Judge. ORTEGA, P. J. OAR 660-012-0830(1)(c) and OAR 660-012-0920(7)(c) held invalid; otherwise, CFEC rules held valid. Cite as 331 Or App 349 (2024) 351

ORTEGA, P. J. This consolidated proceeding involves rule chal- lenges under ORS 183.400 asserted by two sets of petitioners—13 Oregon cities and Marion County (city peti- tioners), and Oregon Home Builders Association, Oregon Business & Industry Association, Oregon Realtors, and Oregon Trucking Associations, Inc. (industry petitioners) (collectively, petitioners).1 Petitioners challenge the valid- ity of an entire package of 89 administrative rules, some of which are new rules and some of which are amend- ments to existing rules, adopted by the Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC). That package of 89 rules is known as the Climate-Friendly and Equitable Communities rules (CFEC rules). Petitioners raise vari- ous challenges, arguing both that LCDC failed to comply with applicable rulemaking procedures and that LCDC exceeded its statutory authority in enacting the CFEC rules. Petitioners argue that those deficiencies require that we invalidate the entire package of CFEC rules. We reject those omnibus challenges as explained below. Alternatively, city petitioners bring individual challenges to two of the CFEC rules—OAR 660-012-0830(1)(c) and OAR 660-012- 0920(7)(c). We agree with city petitioners as to those two rules. LCDC did not provide sufficient notice of the subject matter of OAR 660-012-0830(1)(c) and LCDC exceeded its statutory authority in enacting OAR 660-012-0920(7)(c). As a result, we hold those two rules invalid, but otherwise hold that the remaining CFEC rules are valid. The CFEC rules represent the culmination of a process that started in 2020 after then-Governor Brown issued Executive Order 20-04, directing state agencies to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. After working with the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) to define the scope of rulemaking, LCDC initiated the rulemaking process in September 2020

1 Clackamas County and Washington County filed an amici brief in support of city petitioners’ challenge to LCDC’s statutory authority to enact the rules. We do not address that brief in our opinion because it raises issues that we cannot consider in a rule challenge under ORS 183.400. The League of Oregon Cities filed an amicus brief also in support of city petitioners’ challenge to LCDC’s stat- utory authority. We discuss that briefing in our analysis of that issue. 352 City of Cornelius v. Dept. of Land Conservation

with a rulemaking charge to DLCD to draft rules. Also, a Rulemaking Advisory Committee met several times to dis- cuss draft rules and policy approaches. On February 24, 2022, LCDC filed its “Notice of Proposed Rulemaking” (the notice) with the Secretary of State. On May 19, 2022, LCDC adopted temporary rules. Finally, on July 21, 2022, LCDC adopted the permanent CFEC rules, which are at issue in this proceeding and which took the place of the temporary rules. The CFEC rules amend three existing divisions in the LCDC rules—housing, OAR 660-008, transportation planning, OAR 660-012, and metropolitan greenhouse gas reduction targets, OAR 660-044. In broad terms, the CFEC rules require communities to update their local land use and transportation system plans to allow for greater res- idential density, reduce the amount of land that must be reserved for parking, achieve a reduction in residents’ vehi- cle travel miles, and provide infrastructure for electric vehi- cles, among other things. In addition, cities, and some coun- ties, within metropolitan areas in the state are required to designate “climate-friendly areas,” and to adopt plans and regulations designed to meet the requirements for those areas, including identifying gaps in existing pedestrian and bicycle networks and proposing projects to fill those gaps. The CFEC rules also include provisions that are intended to improve equity for traditionally underserved communities relative to transportation and land use planning. Before setting out petitioners’ challenges, we first describe our scope of review under ORS 183.400. We may declare a rule invalid only if we determine that the rule “[v]iolates constitutional provisions,” “[e]xceeds the stat- utory authority of the agency,” or “[w]as adopted without compliance with applicable rulemaking procedures.” ORS 183.400(4). Petitioners contend both that LCDC exceeded its statutory authority and that it did not comply with applica- ble rulemaking procedures. In addressing those challenges, we are limited to examining “[t]he rule under review,” “[t]he statutory provisions authorizing the rule,” and “[c]opies of all documents necessary to demonstrate compliance with applicable rulemaking procedures.” ORS 183.400(3). We Cite as 331 Or App 349 (2024) 353

begin by addressing the procedural challenges. Planned Parenthood Assn. v. Dept. of Human Res., 297 Or 562, 565, 687 P2d 785 (1984) (stating that procedural challenges should be addressed before challenges to the agency’s scope of authority for the rule). I. PROCEDURAL CHALLENGES A. Procedural Challenges under ORS 183.335 We first address petitioners’ challenges under ORS 183.335

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Bluebook (online)
City of Cornelius v. Dept. of Land Conservation, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-cornelius-v-dept-of-land-conservation-orctapp-2024.