Scott v. Josephine County

Where a private campground on EFU land does not provide electrical service hookups for each individual campsite, it is not a violation of OAR 660-033-0130(19)(b).

Intervenor applied for a conditional use permit (CUP) to develop a 25-space RV park on 19.08 acres of property zoned Exclusive Farm Use (EFU). Part of Intervenor’s project included providing 12 shared utility pedestals to 24 individual campsites. Petitioner appealed the County’s approval of the CUP. 

OAR 660-033-0130(19)(b) provides that private campsites may be allowed on EFU land and "occupied by a tent, travel trailer, yurt or [RV]. Separate sewer, water or electric service hookups shall not be provided to individual camp sites except that electrical service may be provided to yurts[.]"

Petitioner argued that the County misconstrued the law and made a decision unsupported by substantial evidence because Intervenor’s project did not comply with JCC 19.64.040(T)(7)’s prohibition on separate utility service hookups to individual RV campsites. “In construing the law, [LUBA] will consider the text, context and legislative history of the law at issue in order to determine the intent of the enacting legislature. PGE v. Bureau of Labor and Industries, 317 Or 606, 610-12 (1993); State v. Gaines, 346 Or 160, 171-172, 206 (2009). LUBA found that JCC 19.64.040(T)(7) implements and must be interpreted in a manner consistent with OAR 660-033-0130(19). Examining the text and context of the rule, LUBA found that the Land Conservation and Development Commission’s (LCDC) intent was to limit the intensity of full utility services to individual campsites to avoid creating RV-only parks on resource land. LUBA reasoned that because the proposed project provided 12 shared pedestals to serve 24 campsites, not hookups for each campsite, the application was consistent with the rule as LCDC intended it. Accordingly, LUBA held that application did not violate OAR 660-033-0130(19) or JCC 19.64.040(T)(7). Affirmed.