PLISKA v. Umatilla County

246 P.3d 1146, 240 Or. App. 238
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedDecember 29, 2010
Docket2010016 A146192
StatusPublished

This text of 246 P.3d 1146 (PLISKA v. Umatilla County) 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
PLISKA v. Umatilla County, 246 P.3d 1146, 240 Or. App. 238 (Or. Ct. App. 2010).

Opinion

246 P.3d 1146 (2010)
240 Or. App. 238

Jim PLISKA; Pliska Investments, LLC; and Space Age Fuels, Inc., Petitioners,
v.
UMATILLA COUNTY; and Flying J., Inc., Respondents.

2010016; A146192.

Court of Appeals of Oregon.

Argued and Submitted October 6, 2010.
Decided December 29, 2010.

Jeffrey L. Kleinman, Portland, argued the cause and filed the brief for petitioners.

Douglas R. Olsen waived appearance for respondent Umatilla County.

Roger A. Alfred waived appearance for respondent Flying J., Inc.

Before SCHUMAN, Presiding Judge, and WOLLHEIM, Judge, and ROSENBLUM, Judge.

ROSENBLUM, J.

Petitioners seek review of a decision of the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) that affirmed Umatilla County's approval of a conditional use permit for the construction of a travel plaza on property owned by respondent Flying J., Inc. Petitioners contend that LUBA made errors of law in determining *1147 that the issue raised on appeal—that petitioners had an unqualified right to a continuance pursuant to the county's development code—was not first properly raised before the county. LUBA specifically determined that petitioners' letter requesting a continuance pursuant to ORS 197.763(6), submitted to the county prior to the public hearing in this case, was not sufficient to raise the issue of a continuance pursuant to section 152.772(F)(12) of the Umatilla County Development Code (UCDC). For the reasons that follow, we agree with LUBA's determination and, therefore, affirm.

The permit application in this case was before the county for a second time after "LUBA affirmed in part and remanded" an earlier approval. Western Land & Cattle, Inc. v. Umatilla County, 230 Or.App. 202, 204, 214 P.3d 68 (2009). As noted in LUBA's opinion, on remand, the county was to "clarify an issue regarding the traffic impact analysis * * * and to address alleged traffic safety issues." The bulk of the pertinent procedural facts are set forth in the LUBA opinion:

"On October 29, 2009, [Flying J.] requested that the county take post-remand action with[in] 90 days, pursuant to ORS 215.435, and indicated that it intended to submit new evidence on the remand issues. On December 18, 2009, the county scheduled a remand hearing for January 7, 2010, and provided notice of that hearing to the attorney for Pliska Investments, LLC. On December 22, 2009, [Flying J.] submitted (1) a revised [traffic impact analysis] dated November 11, 2009, (2) a revised site plan, and (3) proposed findings on the remand issues. County staff prepared a staff report on December 31, 2009.
"Shortly before the hearing on January 7, 2010, a representative of one or more of the petitioners in this appeal hand-delivered to the county a letter dated January 6, 2010, on the letterhead of petitioner Space Age Fuels, signed by petitioner Jim Pliska."

(Citations omitted.)

The letter, in relevant part, was as follows:

"I have just received a notice of your proposed hearing on this matter scheduled for January 7, 2010 * * * which leaves me with insufficient time to OBTAIN A COPY OF THE [TRAFFIC IMPACT ANALYSIS] and to adequately evaluate and respond appropriately. I respectfully request that you continue this matter until your next scheduled Board meeting and or the record be left open for 14 days so that I can study the applicants traffic study, of which is quite complex, and can submit additional written evidence pursuant to ORS 197.763(6)(a). I further request additional time so that I can seek professional input from another traffic engineer."

(Capitalization in original.)

That request was considered by the county at the hearing:

"The county board of commissioners opened the hearing and accepted the staff report and eight attachments to the staff report, including the revised [traffic impact analysis], revised site plan, and proposed findings. The commissioners then turned to the January 6, 2010 letter hand-delivered by petitioners' representative. [Flying J.'s] counsel objected to the last paragraph of the letter, which is omitted in the quote above, as irrelevant to the remand issues. It was moved and seconded to strike the last paragraph of the January 6, 2010 letter, and enter the letter as modified into the record, * * *.
"The commissioners then considered petitioners' request to continue the hearing or hold the record open for additional written evidence, and after some discussion denied that request. Following that, the commissioners opened up the hearing for testimony, and [Flying J.'s] attorney made additional comments in support of the commissioners' action in denying the requested continuance, noting that, among other things, `this is not the first evidentiary hearing, and it is only the initial evidentiary hearing that an open record or continuance request must be granted.' There was no opposition testimony."

(Citations and omitted.) Before closing the hearing, the chair of the board asked the representative for Flying J. if "[y]ou're resting, and you're not requesting a continuance *1148 or keeping the record open?" After being informed that no continuance was requested, the chair said, "All right, we are ready to close the hearing. Done? Anything else[?]" Although petitioner's representative was present at the hearing, no one responded or raised any other issues at that time. Accordingly, the hearing was then closed. The commissioners

"deliberated, and voted to approve the application, with direction to staff to prepare findings on the two remand issues.
"On February 9, 2010, the commission chair signed the final findings and decision, which include findings explaining why the county denied petitioner Pliska's request for a continuance or to keep the record open for 14 days."

Petitioners appealed to LUBA, contending that UCDC 152.772(F)(12) required a continuance and, therefore, the county erred in rejecting their request. LUBA, however, concluded that the issue before it had not been raised before the county and was, therefore, waived:

"In the relevant portion of the January 6, 2010 letter * * * petitioners specifically invoked a right to a continued hearing or to keep the evidentiary record open `pursuant to ORS 197.763(6)(a).' Based on that letter, the county and [Flying J.] reasonably understood the issue raised below to be whether petitioner had a statutory right to a continued hearing or to keep the evidentiary record open as provided in ORS 197.763(6)(a), and responded accordingly to that issue, during the hearing and in the county's findings. [Flying J.] specifically argued at the hearing that ORS 197.763

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Related

Nicholson v. Clatsop County
941 P.2d 566 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1997)
Boldt v. Clackamas County
813 P.2d 1078 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 1991)
PLISKA v. Umatilla County
246 P.3d 1146 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2010)
Western Land & Cattle, Inc. v. Umatilla County
214 P.3d 68 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2009)
Stewart v. City of Salem
219 P.3d 46 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2009)
VanSpeybroeck v. Tillamook County
191 P.3d 712 (Court of Appeals of Oregon, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
246 P.3d 1146, 240 Or. App. 238, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pliska-v-umatilla-county-orctapp-2010.