Wilsonville Subaru v. City of Wilsonville

502 P.3d 1136, 315 Or. App. 572
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedNovember 10, 2021
DocketA170052
StatusPublished

This text of 502 P.3d 1136 (Wilsonville Subaru v. City of Wilsonville) 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
Wilsonville Subaru v. City of Wilsonville, 502 P.3d 1136, 315 Or. App. 572 (Or. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

Argued and submitted July 22, 2020, reversed and remanded November 10, 2021

WILSONVILLE SUBARU, Petitioner below, and DJ & BL ENTERPRISES, INC., dba Wilsonville Subaru; BL & DJ, LLC; and Lanphere Construction and Development, LLC, Petitioners-Appellants, v. CITY OF WILSONVILLE, Respondent-Respondent. Clackamas County Circuit Court 17CV39604; A170052 502 P3d 1136

Petitioners appeal from a judgment affirming the Wilsonville City Council’s dismissal of petitioners’ appeal as untimely. Petitioners paid System Development Charges (SDCs) to respondent, the City of Wilsonville, as a condition of develop- ment for a Subaru dealership. Petitioners later sought reimbursement of those SDCs by appealing to the city council, contending that Wilsonville City Code (WC) 11.040(5)(e) granted petitioners a right to request reimbursement of the SDCs after the dealership began operations. The city council rejected petitioners’ construction of subsection (5)(e) and dismissed the appeal, concluding that peti- tioners appeal was untimely under WC 11.040(10) because petitioners had waited more than 10 days after the final SDC assessment to challenge the amount of the SDCs. The circuit court affirmed the dismissal in a writ of review proceeding. On appeal, the issue is whether the city council correctly construed and applied WC 11.040(5)(e) and (10). Held: The city council correctly construed and applied the applicable law. Subsection (5)(e) does not grant developers a right to request reim- bursement after SDCs for a development have been paid and the development has been constructed. Further, petitioners appealed to the city council well after 10 days from the date of the final SDC assessment and the city council correctly applied subsection (10) in dismissing the appeal as untimely. However, the Court of Appeals reversed and remanded for further proceedings due to a procedural issue. Reversed and remanded.

Thomas J. Rastetter, Judge. Jeff Bachrach argued the cause for appellants. On the briefs was Christine N. Moore. Cite as 315 Or App 572 (2021) 573

Amanda R. Guile-Hinman argued the cause for respon- dent. Also on the brief was Barbara A. Jacobson. Before Ortega, Presiding Judge, and Shorr, Judge, and Powers, Judge. SHORR, J. Reversed and remanded. 574 Wilsonville Subaru v. City of Wilsonville

SHORR, J. In this appeal from a writ of review proceeding, the issue is whether the Wilsonville City Council erred in dis- missing petitioners’ appeal as untimely. Petitioners (develop- ers) are the developers of a Subaru dealership in Wilsonville. As a condition of development, the developers paid System Development Charges (SDCs) that were assessed by respon- dent, the City of Wilsonville (city). The developers later appealed to the Wilsonville City Council, seeking reimburse- ment of those SDCs. The city council dismissed the appeal and the circuit court affirmed. The developers appeal from the circuit court’s judgment, contending that the court erred in concluding that the city council correctly construed the law applicable to the developers’ appeal of the SDCs. We con- clude that the circuit court did not err in denying summary judgment to the developers, because their appeal to the city council was correctly dismissed as untimely. However, based on a procedural quirk present in this case, we must reverse and remand for further proceedings. Because this case concerns a dispute over SDCs, we discuss SDCs and the SDC ordinances applicable to the developers’ appeal. For new developments and construction, the city requires developers to pay SDCs to compensate the city for the projected impacts of new development on city infrastructure. Wilsonville City Code (WC) 11.040 sets forth the process for the calculation, assessment, and payment of SDCs. The city uses standard methodologies to determine SDCs. Unless the city agrees to defer payment, SDCs must be paid in full on the date that the city issues the building permit for the development. In this case, the parties dispute the applicability and meaning of two subsections of WC 11.040: WC 11.040(10),1 which allows appeals of decisions made under WC 11.040 to the city council and provides that those appeals must be filed within 10 days of the decision being appealed, and WC 11.040(5)(e), which states that the community development director may approve “alternative

1 Chapter 11 of the Wilsonville City Code has been amended since the events at issue in this case. All references and citations to WC 11.040(1) through (11) are to the earlier version of chapter 11 in effect at the time of the relevant events and legal proceedings. Cite as 315 Or App 572 (2021) 575

fee calculations” for developments presenting “special or unique situation[s] such that the calculated fee is grossly disproportionate to the actual impact of the development.” We turn to the facts, which we recite based on the record before the city council. Spivak v. Marriott, 213 Or App 1, 12, 159 P3d 1192 (2007) (in writ of review proceed- ing, review “is based on the record returned by the inferior tribunal”). Between 2015 and 2017, the developers developed and constructed a Subaru dealership in Wilsonville. Prior to the final SDC calculation, the developers corresponded with city employees concerning the charges and received an estimate of the SDCs. The Systems Development Review Board also held a hearing where it presented the conditions of approval for the proposed development, including the estimated SDCs. On December 1, 2015, the developers met with the Wilsonville Community Development Director to discuss deferring payment of the SDCs. In a letter following that meeting the developers wrote, “We do understand that the SDC’s are required and we will sign an agreement to pay them prior to any certificate of occupancy handed over by the City.” The city issued the developers’ building permit on December 9, 2015. The building permit stated that the developers owed $1,098,094.63 in SDCs and fees. Several days later, the developers and the city entered a Deferral Agreement, which allowed the developers to defer payment of $1,007,374.29 of the SDCs until June 2016. The agree- ment stated that “[n]othing in this Agreement shall be con- strued as a waiver of rights by either party with respect to any appeal that Applicant may make of the SDC charges. Any such appeal must be timely filed in accordance with all legal requirements.” That agreement was later extended through October 2016, at which point the developers paid the SDCs in full. At the end of 2016, the Subaru dealership began operations. After the dealership opened for business, the developers hired an engineer to assess the dealership’s impacts on city infrastructure. Based on that engineer’s findings, on February 21, 2017, the developers sent a let- ter to the Wilsonville City Manager, requesting substantial 576 Wilsonville Subaru v. City of Wilsonville

reimbursement of the SDCs. The letter explained that “[p]ursuant to Wilsonville Code (WC) 11.030” the developers were requesting “an adjustment to and reimbursement of” the SDCs the developers paid “as a condition of the City’s issuance of a building permit for the Wilsonville Subaru dealership.” In particular, the developers alleged that the standard “Street SDC” assessment was “based on a car dealership generating an average of 10,204 vehicle trips per week,” which was a “demonstrably inaccurate trip projec- tion for the Wilsonville Subaru dealership.” According to the developers, “a site-specific trip generation analysis” by their engineer estimated that “the Wilsonville Subaru site [would] generate an average of 2,389 vehicle trips per week.” The developers also took issue with the methodology used to calculate the “Stormwater SDC” and their payment of a “Parks SDC.” The Wilsonville City Attorney responded to the developers’ February 21 letter in a letter on March 15, 2017.

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Bluebook (online)
502 P.3d 1136, 315 Or. App. 572, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wilsonville-subaru-v-city-of-wilsonville-orctapp-2021.