Marquam Farms Corp. v. Multnomah County

In 1995, petitioners Schillereff applied to petitioner Multnomah County for “conditional use approval, or, alternatively, an alteration of a non-conforming use,” to allow the Schillereffs to enlarge a kennel use on high-value farmland in an exclusive farm use (EFU) zone. The applicants sought to increase the use from its ostensible existing level of 50 dogs to 75. The county treated the filing as three separate applications, respectively for (1) an “initial” (i.e., new) conditional use permit, (2) an expansion of an existing conditional use, and (3) an expansion of a nonconforming use. The…