Stop the Dump Coalition v. Yamhill County

OAR 661-010-0030(1) imposes a strict deadline for filing a petition for review 21 days after the date the record is settled by the Board, and is not a “technical violation” waivable at the Board’s discretion.

Stop the Dump Coalition (SDC) appealed a county ordinance which amended Yamhill County’s Comprehensive Plan and Zoning maps, and the county moved to dismiss the appeal for failure to timely file. After transmission of the record and responses, LUBA set the deadline for filing the petition for review at May 2, 2014. SDC did not file a petition, and on May 6, the county filed a motion to dismiss. On May 8, SDC filed an objection to the county’s supplemental record. In their response to the motion, SDC argued that the filing of their objection suspended all other time limits, and that this failure was only a “technical violation” that the Board should ignore. The Board held that although a late filed record objection could suspend a future deadline, it could not operate to bring back an already-passed deadline. Furthermore, the applicable regulations state that failure to file in the time limit is not a “technical violation” and therefore not subject to lenience at the Board’s discretion. SDC next argued that these regulations are inconsistent with ORS 197.805, which states that land use decisions be made with “sound principles governing judicial review.” LUBA rejected this argument by pointing to ORS 197.830(13)(a), which authorizes them to adopt rules such as the regulations mentioned. The Board also noted that their policy closely matches Oregon Rule of Appellate Procedure 4.66(1)(a), which imposes a strict deadline for filing. DISMISSED.