Jones v. Willamette United Football Club

A permit application must be based upon “standards and criteria which shall be set forth in the zoning ordinance” or other relevant county regulation. ORS 215.416(8)(a).

Willamette United Football Club appealed an order from the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) which remanded a decision favorable to Willamette United concerning a sports facility it sought approval to build.  The county planning director issued a similar use determination in Willamette United’s favor.  A hearings officer interpreted this determination to be binding, but LUBA reversed.  On appeal, Willamette United argued that LUBA “mistakenly interpreted the applicable law.”  Willamette United asserted that the similar use determination constituted a “standard and criterion” that binds reviewing bodies.  In response, Jones argued that the similar use determination—the opinion of a single planning director and not ratified by any other body—was not a “standard and criterion” and therefore not binding.  A permit application must be based upon “standards and criteria which shall be set forth in the zoning ordinance” or other relevant county regulation.  ORS 215.416(8)(a).  The Court held that, because the “planning director’s interpretation was not” set forth in the county’s zoning ordinance, it was “only an interpretation of a criterion and not a criterion itself.”  Thus, the similar use determination was not binding on the hearings officer.  LUBA order Affirmed.