Lead Opinion
This case arises out of consolidated writ of review proceedings involving O. Keith Cyrus and Conida E. Cyrus and The Trail Crossing Trust (petitioners), and Central Electric Cooperative (CEC). Petitioners initiated the writ of review proceedings to challenge an order issued by the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners that approved a claim filed by CEC under Ballot Measure 37, codified as ORS 197.352 (2005). CEC sought just compensation under Measure 37 or a waiver of certain land use regulations that Deschutes County applied to CEC’s utility easements. The board of commissioners waived the land use regulations, and the circuit court affirmed the majority of the board’s order.
Petitioners then appealed the circuit court judgment, contending that CEC was not entitled to relief under Measure 37 for a number of reasons, including that CEC did not acquire the easements at issue until 2001 and that the electric cooperative was a public entity not entitled to relief under Measure 37. While petitioners’ appeal was pending in this court, the voters passed Ballot Measure 49, which amended Measure 37 and added provisions that altered the claims and remedies available to landowners whose property values were adversely affected by land use regulations. Or Laws 2007, ch 424, § 4, renumbered as ORS 195.305.
In the aftermath of Measure 49, CEC filed a motion to dismiss petitioners’ appeal on the ground that Measure 49, as construed in Corey v. DLCD,
“[a] waiver issued before the effective date of this 2007 Act to the extent that the claim ant’s use of the property complies with the waiver and the claimant has a common law vested right on the effective date of this 2007 Act to complete and continue the use described in the waiver.”
According to petitioners, it is undisputed that CEC has already constructed a power line on the easements at issue; for that reason, a determination of the validity of the Measure 37 waiver will have a practical effect on their rights, because CEC can only have a common-law vested right if its development was done with a valid waiver. For the reasons that follow, we agree with CEC’s contention that the case is moot.
This court has an independent obligation to determine whether a case is “justiciable,”
Here, the parties agree — as do we — that the beginning point for analyzing the question of mootness with respect to a Measure 37 claim is the Supreme Court’s decision in Corey. The issue on review in Corey was whether the Court of Appeals or the circuit court had jurisdiction to review a final order of the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) respecting the plaintiffs’ Measure 37 claim. As a threshold matter, however, the Supreme Court considered “whether resolution of the jurisdictional question that DLCD brought to us can have any practical effect on the rights of the parties.”
To answer the predicate question of justiciability, the court first examined the scope and effect of Measure 49:
“An examination of the text and context of Measure 49 conveys a clear intent to extinguish and replace the benefits and procedures that Measure 37 granted to landowners. As noted, section 5 of Measure 49, set out above, provides that claimants who filed ‘claimfs]’ under ORS 197.352 before Measure 49 became effective (i.e., Measure 37 claimants), are entitled to ‘just compensation’ as provided in designated provisions of Measure 49. Subsection 2(2) of Measure 49 defines ‘claim’ to include any ‘written demand for compensation filed under * * * ORS 197.352,’ including those filed under the version of the statute that was ‘in effect immediately before the effective date of [Measure 49].’ That definition establishes that Measure 49 pertains to all Measure 37 claims, successful or not, and regardless of where they are in the Measure 37 process. Subsection 2(13) then defines ‘just compensation’ purely in terms of Measure 49 remedies, i.e., ‘[r]elief under sections 5 to 11 of this 2007 Act for land use regulations enacted on or before January 1, 2007,’ and ‘[r]elief under sections 12 to 14 of this 2007 Act for land use regulations enacted after January 1, 2007.’ At the same time, section 4 of Measure 49 extensively amends ORS 197.352 (2005) (Measure 37) in a way that wholly supersedes the provisions of Measure 37 pertaining to monetary compensation for and waivers from the burdens of certain land use regulations under that earlier measure.
“A statement of legislative policy at section 3 of Measure 49 confirms that the legislature intended to create new forms of relief in place of the ones available under Measure 37: ‘The purpose of sections 4 to 22 of this 2007 Act and the amendments to Ballot Measure 37 (2004) is to modify Ballot Measure 37 (2004) to ensure that Oregon law provides just compensation for unfair burdens while retaining Oregon’s protections for farm and forest uses and the state’s water resources.’ ”
Id. at 465 (emphasis added; original emphasis omitted).
Despite the legislature’s intent to displace Measure 37 remedies, the plaintiffs in Corey contended that, under subsection 5(3) of Measure 49, they were entitled to “just compensation.” In their view, “once DLCD concluded that post-acquisition land use regulations had reduced the fair market value of their property and granted relief in the form of a waiver, they had a constitutionally protected ‘property right’ in that waiver * * * — i.e., a vested right.” Id. at 466. The plaintiffs further argued that “the waiver that DLCD granted under Measure
The Supreme Court expressed doubt as to the Corey plaintiffs’ “vested rights” argument on a number of scores:
“[P]laintiffs fail to confront the entire wording of subsection 5(3). The ‘vested right’ that that subsection requires is a ‘common law vested right * * * to complete and continue the use described in the waiver.’ It is clear from text and context alone that that phrase is referring to broadly applicable legal precedents describing a property owner’s rights when land use laws are enacted that make a partially finished project unlawful. See, e.g., Clackamas Co. v. Holmes,265 Or 193 , 197,508 P2d 190 (1973) (describing ‘vested rights’ in those terms). But plaintiffs have made no claims that they have partially completed any ‘use described in the waiver’ that they received.
“To the extent that plaintiffs wish to assert that the scope of subsection 5(3) is any broader, then Measure 49 provides plaintiffs with an opportunity to assert that claim, and a forum in which they may assert it. The same is true of any other objections that plaintiffs have to the effects of Measure 49. In short, this is a Measure 37 case, and we confine our substantive discussion to that legislation.”
Id. (emphasis in original).
The court then clarified the scope of its holding:
“In the end, we hold only that plaintiffs’ contention that Measure 49 does not affect the rights of persons who already have obtained Measure 37 waivers is incorrect. In fact, Measure 49 by its terms deprives Measure 37 waivers — all orders disposing of Measure 37 claims — of any continuing viability, with a single exception that does not apply to plaintiffs’ claim. Thus, after December 6,2007 (the effective date of Measure 49), the final order at issue in the present case had no legal effect. It follows that resolution of the issue that the Court of Appeals decided in Corey and as to which we allowed review — whether the Court of Appeals or the circuit court has jurisdiction to review DLCD’s final order respecting plaintiffs’ Measure 37 claim — can have no practical effect upon the parties: If the order at issue has no continuing legal effect, then neither party can gain anything from review in either forum. The case is moot.”
Id. at 466-67 (emphasis in original).
According to petitioners, this case is distinguishable from Corey — and, therefore, justiciable — because CEC has partially completed construction of a transmission line, the use described in its Measure 37 waiver. In petitioners’ view, a determination by this court regarding the validity of the underlying Measure 37 waiver will have a practical effect on the rights of the parties, because a valid Measure 37 waiver is a prerequisite to any “vested right” under subsection 5(3) of Measure 49.
We acknowledge that this case presents a different issue from Corey, for the reason that petitioners cite. In Corey, the plaintiffs “made no claims that they ha[d] partially completed any ‘use described in the waiver’ that they received.”Id. at 466. Here, by contrast, there appears to be no dispute that CEC has at least partially completed a use described in the waiver. That distinction notwithstanding, in our view, dismissal of this case as moot is compelled by the Supreme Court’s construction of Measure 49 in Corey.
Corey, as set out above, held that Measure 49 was intended “to extinguish and replace the benefits and procedures that Measure 37 granted to landowners.”
Thus, Corey turned on the proposition that “Measure 49 by its terms deprives Measure 37 waivers — and all orders disposing of Measure 37 claims — of any continuing viability, with a single exception that does not apply to plaintiffs’ claims.”
Even so, Corey indicates that any entitlement to “just compensation” under Measure 49 — including under subsection 5(3), the “vested rights” provision — must be decided under Measure 49 rather than on appeal of a Measure 37 claim. Although the Corey court initially rejected the plaintiffs’ contention that they had acquired a “vested right” under subsection 5(3),
The fact that the Supreme Court expressly declined to resolve plaintiffs’ entitlement to just compensation under subsection 5(3) — the “vested rights” provision — is significant. In effect, the Corey court recognized that, regardless of whether it agreed with the plaintiffs’ broad “vested rights” theories under subsection 5(3), the Measure 37 waiver at issue had “no continuing legal effect,” in part because any relief under that subsection of Measure 49 would need to be litigated under that statute in another forum.
Although it is not entirely clear from Corey — or, frankly, from the text of Measure 49 itself — in what “forum” the voters intended the subsection 5(3) “vested rights” determination to take place,
Given that any entitlement to just compensation based on a “vested rights” theory must be finally adjudicated under Measure 49, Corey,
Conversely, even if this court were to conclude that CEC’s waiver was somehow defective, nothing would prevent CEC from seeking “just compensation” under a “broader” construction of subsection 5(3) of Measure 49 in a separate proceeding. Corey,
We recognize that the question before us is a close one, complicated by the unique nature of Measure 49 and the fact that it does not set out an explicit procedural path for claimants seeking to establish a vested right under
In sum, Corey teaches, first, that a Measure 37 order has “continuing viability” only where a Measure 37 claimant can establish “vested rights” under subsection 5(3) of Measure 49, and, second, that a final determination as to whether a Measure 37 claimant has established those rights must occur in a separate proceeding under Measure 49. Consequently, a determination by this court as to the validity of the underlying waiver will not conclusively resolve the merits of any claim to just compensation under Measure 49, and an opinion by this court concerning the validity of CEC’s Measure 37 claim is nothing more than an advisory opinion regarding CEC’s rights under Measure 49. For those reasons, we conclude that, despite any differences between this case and Corey, the same result obtains in both. The issue before this court arises under Measure 37; CEC’s entitlement to “just compensation,” if any, now depends entirely on Measure 49. Because CEC’s development rights no longer derive from Measure 37 but, rather, from Measure 49, a decision regarding the validity of the Measure 37 waiver in this case will have no practical effect on the rights and obligations of the parties; rather, those rights and obligations must be adjudicated under a different statute in a separate proceeding.
As a final matter, we emphasize the limited nature of our holding. We are not adjudicating any of CEC’s rights under Measure 37 or Measure 49. Rather, we hold only that CEC’s right to “just compensation” under Measure 49, which may include issues regarding the validity of the Measure 37 waiver, must be decided under Measure 49 in the first instance, in a forum in which effectual relief can actually be granted under the governing statute.
Appeal dismissed as moot.
Notes
The circuit court remanded a portion of the order for a correction of the legal description of the property at issue.
In doing so, the court concluded from the “text and context alone” that “vested rights” under Measure 49 refers to Holmes and other “broadly applicable legal precedents * *
Later in the opinion, the court returned to the notion that the Corey plaintiffs’ rights under Measure 49 could be asserted in a different forum. The plaintiffs in Corey contended that the case was justiciable under ORS 14.175 because it was “likely to evade judicial review in the future.” The court rejected that argument on the ground that “ORS 14.175 does not present a basis for review in this case, because, as we already have observed, plaintiffs can pursue their claim pursuant to the procedure set out in Measure 49, including any assertion that Measure 49 acts on them in an unconstitutional way.”
Sections 6, 7, and 9 of Measure 49 provide a forum and procedural path for those claimants who elect remedies under those sections of Measure 49. As far as we can tell, subsection 5(3) does not specify a particular procedural path for a “vested rights” determination. Presumably, regardless of what “forum” the voters and the Corey court envisioned, Measure 49 provides CEC with that same “forum” and “opportunity” to challenge the effects of that measure and to assert a broader understanding of the relief available under subsection 5(3).
ORS 215.185(1) provides:
“In case a building or other structure is, or is proposed to be, located, constructed, maintained, repaired, altered, or used, or any land is, or is proposed to be, used, in violation of an ordinance or regulation designed to implement a comprehensive plan, the governing body of the county or a person whose interest in real property in the county is or may be affected by the violation, may, in addition to other remedies provided by law, institute injunction, mandamus, abatement, or other appropriate proceedings to prevent, temporarily or permanently enjoin, abate, or remove the unlawful location, construction, maintenance, repair, alteration, or use. When a temporary restraining order is granted in a suit instituted by a person who is not exempt from furnishing bonds or undertakings under ORS 22.010, the person shall furnish undertaking as provided in ORCP 82 A(l).”
We express no opinion on whether a “valid” Measure 37 waiver is a prerequisite to the acquisition of “vested rights” under Measure 49, as petitioners contend. We simply note that, although Measure 49 does not specifically refer to a “valid” waiver, Holmes and other Oregon cases concerning “vested rights” appear to presume that development was “lawful” when it was undertaken — an issue that the concurrence explores in more detail.
Compare State v. Snyder,
Concurrence Opinion
concurring.
I concur with the result reached by the majority for different reasons. I agree that a Measure 37 waiver has no legal consequence after the enactment of Measure 49 and that a judicial decision about the validity of that waiver has no practical effect, except when the Measure 37 claimant “has a common law vested right * * * to complete the use described in the waiver.” Or Laws 2007, ch 424, § 5(3). I also agree that CEC did not obtain a “common law vested right” to complete or continue constructing its electrical transmission line uses. However, the use failed to vest, in my view, because CEC constructed the line during a time when that transmission line use was unlawful under the county’s zoning ordinances and a variance to that proscription, the Measure 37 waiver, was not yet final. Until the restrictive zoning ordinances ceased to apply, any use in derogation of general law was not lawful and could not have vested. Consequently, the exception under section 5(3) of Measure 49 does not apply, and this case is not justiciable.
As explained in Corey v. DLCD,
“the good faith of the landowner, whether or not he had notice of any proposed zoning or amendatory zoning before starting his improvements, the type of expenditures, i.e., whether expenditures have any relation to the completed project or could apply to various other uses of the land, the kind of project, the location and ultimate cost. Also, the acts of the landowner should rise beyond mere contemplated use or preparation, such as leveling of land, boring test holes, or preliminary negotiations with contractors or architects.”
Id. at 197-99 (citations omitted).
Holmes treats as a “vested right” the right to continue a “nonconforming use” that “lawfully existed,” which it defines to include uses “actually in existence but also * * * uses which are in various stages of development when the zoning ordinance is enacted.” Id. at 196-97. ORS 215.130(5) further regulates existing uses which become nonconforming by a change of county zoning law. The statute provides that the “lawful use of any building, structure or land at the time of the enactment or amendment of any zoning ordinance or regulation may be continued.” Subsequent to Holmes, we have treated vested rights to develop property “to the same limitations that apply to nonconforming uses generally,” because “not to do so would yield incongruous results.” Fountain Village Development Co. v. Multnomah Cty.,
In the few Oregon cases in which property owners have established “common law vested rights” to continue a nonconforming use, the prior lawfulness of that use was not in dispute. See, e.g., Holmes; Eklund v. Clackamas County,
I conclude that CEC’s expanded transmission line use of the affected real property is not a “lawful use” under a Measure 37 waiver for purposes of vesting until the waiver is final and is no longer disputed. That conclusion results from the fundamental nature of a Measure 37 waiver. But for the Measure 37 waiver, construction of the transmission lines and use of the easements for that use are unlawful. Within counties, ORS 215.190 makes it unlawful to use land or construct a structure in violation of a county zoning law.
CEC’s Measure 37 waiver operated as a variance or exception to otherwise applicable law that makes the transmission line use unlawful. As we noted in Bienz v. City of Dayton,
Like any other use variance, however, a Measure 37 waiver operates in derogation of local zoning provisions, local comprehensive plans, and the statewide planning goals. A “use variance” allows an otherwise prohibited use in a zone; an “area” variance changes the siting requirements for an otherwise lawful use. A decision on an “area variance” is entitled to the “presumption of regularity,” while a “use variance” is not presumptively valid. Hill v. Marion Co. Bd. of Comm.,
Because a Measure 37 waiver operates in derogation of law, because the use variance allows an otherwise unpermitted use, the unlawful status of the desired use continues until the waiver is final and effective. The court gives similar effect to a preliminary land use approval during the pendency of final approval of the change in a multi-step land use decisional process. In Mason v. Mountain River Estates,
Holmes supplies a second reason why CEC’s Measure 37 waiver failed to vest under section 5(3) of Measure 49. One of the factors that courts have universally considered with respect to “vested rights” is the “good faith” of the landowner. See Holmes,
“We conceive the sound principle to be that no such overriding rights may be acquired when the acts relied upon are done prior to the end of the appeal period, so long as the rule exists that the state of legislation at the time of the decision of the case is controlling, even at the appellate level. A municipality should, in the public interest, be afforded an opportunity to amend its zoning ordinance and to take an appeal from an adverse decision. A landowner should not be able to thwart that public interest by a ‘bootstrap’ operation and by winning an unseemly race. This should be so whether or not the issuance of the building permit is subsequently sustained in the litigation. And, of course, an owner can acquire no additional rights by starting or continuing construction after an appeal has been taken. What we have said represents the general rule, 2 Rathkopf, Law of Zoning and Planning 263 (Supp 1970) * * *. The reason for the rule is particularly apparent here. Plaintiffs’ and other opposition to the proposed restaurant in and out of court had been strong and [the landowner] could reasonably have expected some further amendment of the zoning ordinance or an appeal from the trial court judgment by either plaintiffs or the town. Its commencement of building operations can be considered as nothing more than a hasty effort to attempt to acquire an unassailable position to which it equitably should not be entitled.”
Id. at 323,
Other courts have reached similar results, sometimes conflating the concepts of reasonable reliance and good faith. See, e.g.,Ebzery v. City of Sheridan,
In light of the above common-law precedents, I conclude that, by using the term “common law vested right,” the voters did not intend to extend the protections of subsection 5(3) of Measure 49 to those landowners who began construction while the validity of their Measure 37 waiver was still being litigated. At “common law,” a property owner does not acquire “vested rights” by partially constructing a use under an allowed variance in the face of a challenge to the right to begin construction. Whether that rule derives from the requirement of “good faith” or exists because the use remains as unlawful until a variance is final, the result is the same: A property owner does not acquire “vested rights” to complete and continue a use that is the subject of pending litigation.
For that reason, I believe that CEC’s partial construction, which was undertaken while its Measure 37 waiver was being challenged in writ of review proceedings, was insufficient to create a “common law vested right.” Consequently, this case is not materially distinguishable from Corey with respect to justiciability. After December 6, 2007 (the effective date of Measure 49), Measure 49 deprived the waiver at issue in the present case of any continuing viability, and none of the parties can gain anything from review in this court. Corey,
ORS 215.190 provides:
“No person shall locate, construct, maintain, repair, alter, or use a building or other structure or use or transfer land in violation of an ordinance or regulation authorized by ORS 215.010 to 215.190 and 215.402 to 215.438.”
The board of commissioners found that “the SM zoning and the conditional use permit process [are] land use regulations restricting the desired use of an above ground upgrade of [CEC’s] electricity transmission line. These regulations are County land use regulations, which are subject to Measure 37 claims.” Deschutes County Order No. 2005-069, section 1, Exhibit “A,” at 3.