League of Women Voters v. Washington County
League of Women Voters v. Washington County
Opinion of the Court
Plaintiffs appeal the trial court’s dismissal of this declaratory judgment action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. Plaintiffs sought to have declared invalid a Washington County ordinance adopted through the initiative process, contending, inter alia, that the ordinance amended the county’s comprehensive plan in ways that violated the statewide planning goals and that the adoption of the ordinance through an initiative measure was unlawful because required quasi-judicial procedures were not followed. The apparent bases for the county’s motion to dismiss and the court’s granting of the motion were, first, that another proceeding involving the same parties and issues was then pending before the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA); and, second, that the acknowledgment and enforcement authority of the Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) under ORS 197.251 and 197.320 constitute special statutory remedies for resolution of the issues raised by plaintiffs and therefore preclude plaintiffs from bringing this action. We reverse.
Before this action was dismissed by the trial court, LUBA dismissed the proceeding before it on the ground that it had no jurisdiction under Oregon Laws 1979, chapter 772 to consider appeals involving land use measures adopted through the initiative process. While the present appeal was pending, we affirmed LUBA’s dismissal order. League of Women Voters v. Washington County, 56 Or App 217, 641 P2d 608 (1982).
We also disagree with the county’s argument that special statutory remedies exist which are inconsistent with the maintenance of this action. As far as the record
We decline to construe the legislative scheme in effect at the time this action was brought to deny plaintiffs a judicial remedy under these circumstances, where the administrative remedy that the legislation created was unavailable for reasons which have nothing to do with the substance of the issues plaintiffs seek to raise. There may be jurisdictional or justiciability problems in this case, but that cannot be resolved on the basis of the limited record before us.
Reversed and remanded.
The amendments to the 1979 LUBA Act in Oregon Laws 1981, chapter 748 were not relevant to our disposition of that appeal, see 56 Or App at 220, n 2, and are not relevant here.
Plaintiffs argue that no grounds exist for an ORS 197.320 LCDC enforcement order in connection with the issues in this case.
For example, there may be doubt whether plaintiffs’ goal violation allegations can be adjudicated in this action if the challenged land use decision is one which should have been made through quasi-judicial rather than legislative procedures. However, plaintiffs also raise the issue whether quasi-judicial procedures were required and, if so, whether the ordinance could validly be adopted through an initiative measure. See Allison v. Washington County, supra.
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.