Fasano v. Board of County Commissioners
Oregon Supreme Court
507 P.2d 23 (Or. 1973)
The Washington County Board of County Commissioners (the Board) (defendant) and A.G.S. Development Company (A.G.S.) applied to rezone 32 acres owned by A.G.S. from single-family residential (R-7) to planned residential (P-R), enabling a mobile-home park, land that had been zoned R-7 under the county's comprehensive plan since 1959. The Board argued the change was needed to meet growing housing demand from an increasingly urbanized county, but offered no specific findings or evidence to support that claim beyond a conclusory statement. Louis Fasano and other homeowners (plaintiffs) challenged the rezoning; the trial court and court of appeals both ruled for the homeowners, and the Board and A.G.S. appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court.
Whether a local government's decision to rezone a specific piece of property, rather than enact a general zoning ordinance, is a quasi-judicial act subject to heightened judicial review requiring proof that the change conforms to the comprehensive plan and serves an actual public need.