Devin Oil Co. Inc. v. Morrow County

Where an ordinance extending the time period of a permit does not expressly state or otherwise suggest that it is intended to apply retroactively, a permit that has expired cannot be revived by filing an application for extension within the new time period.

In 2010, Morrow county approved a conditional use permit (CUP) for Love’s Travel Stop (Love’s). In October 2013 Love’s filed to extend the CUP. The county planning director approved and Devin appealed to LUBA. In March 2014 Love’s applied for site plan review. The county court approved and both Devin and Love’s filed cross-petitions to LUBA. All appeals were consolidated. Devin challenged the extension, arguing that it was error to interpret a 2013 ordinance–increasing the time of a CUP from one to two years–to apply retroactively to Love’s 2011 CUP. Looking to the text of the ordinance, specifically the effective date, LUBA held that the ordinance was not intended to be applied retroactively and therefore the 2011 CUP had expired in 2012, and the application for extension did not revive it. Devin challenged the site plan review by arguing that Love’s was required to obtain their CUP before site plan review could be approved. LUBA found no temporal requirement in the ordinance, and held that the site plan review could be approved despite the lack of a current CUP. The county’s decision approving the 2011 CUP extension was REVERSED, and the county court’s site plan review approval was AFFIRMED.