Benton County v. Friends of Benton County

Benton County granted a conditional use permit to Morse Bros., Inc., to expand a gravel extraction operation on the east bank of the Willamette River on land designated for exclusive farm use in the county’s comprehensive plan. Upon a petition by Friends of Benton County, a private association organized as a nonprofit corporation, the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) found certain errors in the county’s action and remanded the matter to the county for further proceedings. The county appealed LUBA’s order on the grounds that LUBA had employed an erroneous test in allowing Friends of Benton…