McCollum v. State ex rel. Department of Land Conservation & Development

286 P.3d 916, 252 Or. App. 147, 2012 WL 3727331, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 1058
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedAugust 29, 2012
Docket105361Z9; A149325
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 286 P.3d 916 (McCollum v. State ex rel. Department of Land Conservation & Development) 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
McCollum v. State ex rel. Department of Land Conservation & Development, 286 P.3d 916, 252 Or. App. 147, 2012 WL 3727331, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 1058 (Or. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

SERCOMBE, J.

Ballot Measure 49 (2007) sets out standards and processes to obtain homesite approvals for claimants who sought or obtained land use regulation waivers under Ballot Measure 37 (2004).1 Senate Bill (SB) 1049 (2010) modified those standards for a class of claimants that included petitioners. Petitioners sought two homesite approvals under Measure 49 as amended by SB 1049. The Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) denied the claim, and a reviewing court affirmed that denial. On appeal, we conclude that petitioners are entitled to one additional homesite approval under section 6 of Measure 49 and, therefore, reverse and remand.

It is necessary to describe the statutory context before framing the legal issues that arise from DLCD’s order and the parties’ contentions. As noted, this case concerns whether DLCD properly calculated the number of homesite approvals allowed to petitioners by Measure 49. Measure 49 limits the extent and type of development that can be allowed to a Measure 37 waiver claimant, replacing a right to obtain the full extent of the uses permitted at the time the owner acquired the property — the compensation allowed under Measure 37 — with a limited number of homesite approvals.2 As explained by the Supreme Court:

“Among other things, Measure 49 retroactively extinguished previously issued Measure 37 waivers of land use regulations. See Corey v. DLCD, 344 Or 457, 466-67, 184 P3d 1109 (2008) (‘Measure 49 by its terms deprives Measure 37 waivers — and all orders disposing of Measure 37 claims — of any continuing viability’; emphasis in original). As a result, landowners who had begun developing their property under authorization granted by Measure 37 waivers could no longer automatically continue to do so. Instead, those landowners had to choose one of three alternative ‘pathways’ moving forward: an ‘express pathway,’ a ‘conditional pathway,’ and ‘a third pathway [149]*149for claimants that have vested rights to carry out claims that have already been approved.’ Tape Recording, Joint Special Committee on Land Use Fairness, SB 1019, Apr 19, 2007, Tape 43, Side A (statement of Richard Whitman, Oregon Department of Justice, summarizing the proposed ‘framework’ for amending Measure 37); see Or Laws 2007, ch 424, § 5 (setting out those three alternatives).
“The express pathway entitles a landowner to obtain development approval for up to three additional homes on his or her property. See Or Laws 2007, ch 424, § 5(1) (identifying express pathway). Under the conditional pathway, a landowner can obtain approval for four to 10 homes if, among other conditions, the land use regulations prohibiting the construction of those homes resulted in a specified reduction of the fair market value of the property. See id. §§ 7 and 9 (setting out conditional pathway and describing conditions). Finally, the vested rights pathway permits a landowner who had obtained a Measure 37 waiver to ‘complete and continue the use described in the waiver,’ provided that the landowner could also demonstrate a ‘common law vested right’ to complete that use. Id. § 5(3).”

Friends of Yamhill County v. Board of Commissioners, 351 Or 219, 224-25, 264 P3d 1265 (2011); see also Hoekstre v. DLCD, 249 Or App 626, 278 P3d 123 (2012) (similarly quoting Friends of Yamhill County and describing the relationship between Measures 37 and 49); Ericsson v. DLCD, 251 Or App 610, 285 P3d 722 (2012) (also discussing Measures 37 and 49).

Petitioners’ claim arose under section 6, the “express pathway,” which provides that a qualifying Measure 37 claimant is “eligible for [up to] three home site approvals on the property if the requirements of this section and sections 8 and 11 *** are met.” Measure 49 § 6(1). To qualify for homesite approvals under section 6, a property owner is required to prove a timely claim under Measure 37 and satisfaction of the substantive criteria of section 6(6), including a showing that, “[o]n the claimant’s acquisition date, the claimant lawfully was permitted to establish at least the number of lots, parcels or dwellings on the property that are authorized under this section.” Id. at § 6(6)(f).3

[150]*150The actual number of lots or dwellings that can be allowed under section 6 is limited by sections 6(2) and 6(3) of Measure 49. Section 6(2) provides, in part:

“The number of lots, parcels or dwellings that may be approved for property under this section may not exceed the lesser of:
“(a) The number of lots, parcels or dwellings described in a waiver issued by the state before December 6, 2007 * * *; or
“(b) Three, except that if there are existing dwellings on the property or the property contains more than one lot or parcel, the number of lots, parcels or dwellings that may be established is reduced so that the combined number of lots, parcels or dwellings, including existing lots, parcels or dwellings located on or contained within the property, does not exceed three.”

Those limitations are partly ameliorated by section 6(3), which provides, in part:

“Notwithstanding subsection (2) of this section, a claimant that otherwise qualifies for relief under this section may establish at least one additional lot, parcel or dwelling on the property.”

The first legal issue in this case concerns the meaning of “otherwise qualifies for relief under this section” as that term is used in section 6(3).

[151]*151The second legal issue involves SB 1049 and the interplay of that law with sections 6(2) and 6(6). SB 1049 adjusted the standards in Measure 49 to correct certain problems that arose in its initial implementation by DLCD. One of those problems concerned the uncertain application of section 6(6)(f), the homesite approval standard limiting development to that which a claimant “lawfully was permitted to establish” on the acquisition date. During the period between the adoption of the statewide planning goals (January 25, 1975) and acknowledgement of a comprehensive plan implementing those goals, the statewide planning goals directly applied to applications for land use permits. Alexanderson v. Polk County Commissioners, 289 Or 427, 434, 616 P2d 459 (1980) (goals directly apply to a “land conservation and development action” involving “specific tract[] of land” prior to plan acknowledgement). However, as explained by DLCD in the order under review in this case, there was “uncertainty * * * regarding the factual and legal requirements for establishing compliance with the statewide planning goals” after the adoption of the goals, particularly for development on farm land and forestlands. For that reason, section 2 of SB 1049 set out more objective criteria for determining the number of allowed homesites under section 6(6)(f) for properties acquired during that period.

Sections 2(1) and 2(2) of SB 1049 state those policies. Section 2 of SB 1049 provides that, for purposes of section 6(6)(f), if property was acquired after the adoption of the goals but before plan acknowledgement,

“the claimant is deemed to have been lawfully permitted to establish one or more home sites, as follows:

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
286 P.3d 916, 252 Or. App. 147, 2012 WL 3727331, 2012 Ore. App. LEXIS 1058, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mccollum-v-state-ex-rel-department-of-land-conservation-development-orctapp-2012.