Oregonians In Action
Legal Center
P.O. Box 230637 Tigard OR 97281 (503) 620-0258
Legal Center


Brookings UGB expansion finally resolved

L.C. Ashcraft and the Oregonians In Action Legal Center received a long anticipated victory last month when the City of Brookings and Curry County gave final approval for the Brookings urban growth boundary expansion.

After a decade of effort, Ashcraft and the Legal Center were able to convince the City and County that Ashcraft’s six acre parcel should be included as part of the UGB expansion. The Legal Center first agreed to represent Ashcraft in 1996.

"This case has been around for quite some time," said Dave Hunnicutt, Director of Legal Affairs for the Legal Center. "When we first got involved, L.C. had convinced the city and county to include his land in the UGB. Unfortunately, LCDC felt that L.C. hadn’t made his case. We agreed to help, and I think we’re on solid ground this time."

The issue for Ashcraft and the Legal Center was convincing the city, county and state that Ashcraft’s land was not productive farm use. "We hired three agricultural experts to demonstrate that L.C. couldn’t grow anything on his land," said Hunnicutt. "L.C. had tried for years to grow crops on the parcel, but runoff from a parcel above his washed away all of his topsoil and contaminated the parcel, so L.C. couldn’t farm the land. In fact, the only thing L.C. could grow was hay, and he couldn’t even give that away."

"L.C. shouldn’t have had to fight so hard to get his land in the UGB. Anyone with common sense would have known that his land isn’t farmland. But a group of no growth activists in Brookings tried to convince the county that L.C. could grow corn on his parcel, even though there is no commercial corn production in Curry County. As a result of these arguments, L.C. had to spend money to hire experts to prove something that was obvious."

"Unfortunately, once land is zoned for exclusive farm use, it is nearly impossible to get it rezoned. We’ve seen that time and time again."

Although appeals are still possible, the Legal Center believes that this case is finished.