Sane Orderly Development v. City of Roseburg

"Because the decisions have been submitted to DLCD for 8 acknowledgement under ORS 197.626(l)(b), LUBA ceases to have jurisdiction 9 over those submitted decisions or over matters arising out of those submitted 10 decisions unless the director of DLCD transfers matters to LUBA pursuant to OAR 661-025-0250(2)."

Nature of Decision

In these consolidated appeals, petitioner appeals two city council decisions relating to the city's amendment of its comprehensive plan to add approximately 220 acres to the city's urban growth boundary (UGB) and to remove approximately 290 acres from the UGB.

Jurisdiction

State law requires a city with a population over 2,500 to submit certain UGB expansions to the state for review. Under ORS 197.626(1)(b), a city must submit a UGB amendment that adds more than 50 acres for review by the Land Conservation and Development Commission. Under ORS 197.825(2)(c), the LUBA does not have jurisdiction over local government decisions that have been submitted to the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) for acknowledgment review, unless the DLCD director transfers the matter to LUBA.

In this case, the appealed city decisions amended the urban growth boundary by adding about 220 acres and removing about 290 acres. Because the city’s population exceeds 2,500, the city submitted the amendment to DLCD for acknowledgment review. The city therefore argued that LUBA lacked jurisdiction over the appeals.

The petitioner argued that the amendment was processed under ORS 197A.312, a simplified process for UGB amendments that are treated as post-acknowledgment plan amendments and are appealable to LUBA. The petitioner also argued that the amendment effectively reduced the UGB by about 70 acres overall and therefore did not add more than 50 acres.

LUBA rejected those arguments, concluding that the city processed the amendment under a different set of rules governing UGB expansions and did not rely on ORS 197A.312. Because the amendment was submitted to DLCD for acknowledgment review, LUBA lacked jurisdiction unless the DLCD director chose to transfer the matter to LUBA. Since no transfer occurred, LUBA dismissed the appeals.