Legal Documentation

Hillsboro Airport Zoning Challenge

The Hillsboro Airport Zoning Challenge ("Petition for Review") was filed with the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) in response to Airport Zoning Ordinance #5935 passed by the City of Hillsboro on January 19, 2010. This ordinance changed the zoning on approximately 7,100 properties within 6,000 feet of the Hillsboro Airport runways by applying the Airport Use Zone (AU) and the Airport Safety and Compatibility Zone (ASCO).

The Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) on June 30, 2010 in Barnes v. City of Hillsboro and the Port of Portland, LUBA No. 2010-011 reversed the Hillsboro Airport Overlay Zones and Airport Use Zone on all three counts:

  • Unconstitutional takings of private property without just compensation.
  • Unconstitutional delegation of governmental power to the non-elected, non-representative Port of Portland.
  • Failure to comply with State Planning Goal 12 requiring a traffic impact study.

Links to documentation, LUBA:

Hillsboro Airport Zoning Challenge, Appeal and Affirmation

In response, on August 11, 2010, the City of Hillsboro and the Port of Portland submitted a brief to the State Court of Appeals appealing LUBA's decision. The League of Oregon Cities filed a supporting Amicus Curiae (Friend of the Court) Brief on August 18, 2010. Ms. Barnes's attorneys filed their response brief on September 1, 2010, and the Pacific Legal Foundation added a supporting Amicus Curiae Brief on September 7, 2010. On November 24, 2010, the Court of Appeals issued its opinion affirming LUBA's decision.

Links to documentation, Court of Appeals:

Challenge to Hillsboro Airport Third Runway

On July 12, 2010 attorneys Sean Malone and Andrew Orahoske submitted an Opening Brief to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Case No. 10-70718 Michelle Barnes, Patrick Conry, and Blaine Ackley v. the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) with the Port of Portland intervening on behalf of the FAA challenging the Environmental Assessment (EA) and the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the Hillsboro Airport Parallel Runway Project, as issued by the FAA on 1/8/10.

Links to documentation, Ninth Circuit Court:

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