Fanning v. Oregon Division of State Lands

950 P.2d 353, 151 Or. App. 609, 1997 Ore. App. LEXIS 1899
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 17, 1997
Docket94-CV430; CA A91084
StatusPublished

This text of 950 P.2d 353 (Fanning v. Oregon Division of State Lands) 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
Fanning v. Oregon Division of State Lands, 950 P.2d 353, 151 Or. App. 609, 1997 Ore. App. LEXIS 1899 (Or. Ct. App. 1997).

Opinion

LANDAU, J.

Plaintiffs leased coastal land from the Oregon Division of State Lands (DSL) to harvest sea kelp. The lease contained a minimum harvest requirement and provided for termination of the lease in the event of failure to comply with the minimum. The lease also expressly authorized DSL to elect not to terminate the lease in such circumstances. When plaintiffs failed to meet the harvest minimum several years running, DSL terminated the lease. Plaintiffs initiated this action for breach of contract and fraud, contending that DSL previously had agreed not to enforce the harvest minimum for another year. The trial court granted a motion to dismiss the breach of contract claim and entered summary judgment for DSL on the fraud claim. We reverse and remand.

We first address the dismissal of the breach of contract claim, assuming the truth of all factual allegations and giving plaintiffs the benefit of all reasonable inferences from those allegations of fact. Fessler v. Quinn, 143 Or App 397, 400, 923 P2d 1294 (1996). The State Land Board, through DSL, manages submerged and submersible lands owned by the State of Oregon. Pursuant to ORS 274.885 (1991), ORS 274.885 remained unchanged during the relevant time of the lease, 1988 to 1992. We cite to the 1991 statute for convenience. ORS 274.885 was amended in 1993, omitting the minimum harvest requirement. DSL leases submerged lands owned by the state for the purpose of harvesting kelp and other seaweed. The statute provides, in part:

“The lease may be for a term of not to exceed 50 years and shall provide for the payment to the State of Oregon of a sum to be fixed by the division for all kelp or other seaweed harvested under the lease, to be paid at the end of each year. The lease shall also be conditioned that for the failure to harvest at least 1,000 tons of kelp or other seaweed, within any one year, from the territory described in the lease, the lease shall be forfeited, at the division’s option.”

ORS 274.885(2) (1991).

In 1988, plaintiffs entered into a lease with DSL to harvest sea kelp on state-owned coastal lands. The term of [612]*612the lease was to run from July 1,1988, to December 31,1992, with an option to renew for an additional ten years, as long as plaintiffs remained in compliance with all lease terms. Consistent with ORS 274.885(2) (1991), the lease provided:

“ORS 274.885(2) provides that kelp harvest leases shall be conditioned that for the failure to harvest at least 1,000 tons of kelp within any one year, the lease shall be forfeited, at the division’s option. The STATE hereby agrees that, due to the experimental nature of this lease, the division will not exercise its option to require forfeiture for failure to harvest 1,000 tons of kelp during the first year of harvest. This requirement will be reviewed on an annual basis after the first year.”

The lease further provided that it may be “changed, altered or amended only by mutual written consent of the parties.”

As the lease expressly anticipated, plaintiffs did not meet the 1,000-ton harvest minimum during the 1988-89 season, and DSL elected not to exercise its option to require forfeiture. During the next two harvest seasons, plaintiffs again failed to meet the harvest minimum, and DSL again elected not to exercise its option to require forfeiture. During the 1991-92 season — the last under the original term of the lease — plaintiffs did not meet the harvest minimum and, according to the allegations in the complaint, DSL again elected not to exercise its option to require forfeiture. When plaintiffs attempted to exercise their renewal option in 1992, DSL refused, declaring instead that the option to renew was forfeited by the failure of plaintiffs to meet the harvest minimum.

In their breach of contract claim against DSL, plaintiffs allege — in addition to the foregoing facts — that DSL’s declaration of forfeiture and its failure to authorize the renewal of the lease constituted a breach of the lease, because DSL had “waived the 1,000 ton annual harvest requirement for each year, including the 1991-92 season.” DSL moved to dismiss the claim under ORCP 21 A(8), arguing that plaintiffs had failed to state a claim. According to DSL, a decision not to elect to exercise the option to require forfeiture constitutes a “change[ ], alteration] or amend[ment]” of the lease, which may be accomplished only by mutual written consent. [613]*613Because there was no written confirmation of its election not to require forfeiture, DSL concluded, plaintiffs’ contract claim fails as a matter of law. The trial court agreed and, on that ground, dismissed the breach of contract claim.

On appeal, plaintiffs argue that their complaint alleged all the necessary elements of a breach of contract claim. The question whether there had been a written modification, plaintiffs contend, is a proverbial red herring, because their claim does not rest on an asserted modification of any term of the lease agreement. They contend that their claim instead expressly is based on the terms of the agreement itself, which authorizes DSL to elect not to require forfeiture when the minimum harvest requirement has not been met. Having alleged that DSL expressly agreed not to require forfeiture for the 1991-92 season and that DSL then breached that agreement by declaring the lease forfeited, plaintiffs contend that they have alleged all that the law requires.

DSL’s position on appeal repeats its arguments to the trial court. It characterizes any election not to exercise its option to require forfeiture under the lease as a modification of the lease, which, it contends, must be in writing to be effective. Because there was no written election in this case, DSL contends, there could have been no breach of the lease.

We agree with plaintiffs that the trial court erred in adopting DSL’s characterization of its election not to exercise its option to require forfeiture as a “modification” of the lease. The lease provided that it may not be “changed, altered or amended” without a written agreement to that effect. An election not to require forfeiture, however, changed nothing in the lease. To the contrary, the agreement explicitly provided that DSL “will not exercise its option to require forfeiture for failure to harvest 1,000 tons of kelp during the first year of harvest” and then explicitly authorized it to do the same each year thereafter. The lease did not expressly require that the election itself be expressed in writing. To require that would amount to changing, altering or amending the agreement.

DSL argues that any agreement not to require forfeiture is unenforceable under Wegroup PC v. State of Oregon, 131 Or App 346, 885 P2d 709 (1994), because a state agency [614]*614cannot waive compliance with a contract requirement that is imposed by statute. We are not persuaded. Wegroup

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Related

Jones v. General Motors Corp.
939 P.2d 608 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1997)
Fessler v. Quinn
923 P.2d 1294 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1996)
WEGROUP PC v. State of Oregon
885 P.2d 709 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1994)

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Bluebook (online)
950 P.2d 353, 151 Or. App. 609, 1997 Ore. App. LEXIS 1899, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fanning-v-oregon-division-of-state-lands-orctapp-1997.