Opinion ID: 697747
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: state law taking claim

Text: 28 Hoeck's final claim is that the district court erred by ruling that the City's action did not constitute a taking under Oregon law. Hoeck contends that the demolition of the Bridgeport Hotel entitles him to compensation in the equivalent of an inverse condemnation action. Hoeck argues that compensation is due because the demolition constituted a physical invasion of his property, denied him all economically viable use of his property, and failed to advance a legitimate state interest sufficient to outweigh the burden placed on his property interests. We find that these claims lack merit and affirm the district court. 29 Article I, section 18 of the Oregon Constitution provides that [p]rivate property shall not be taken for public use ... without compensation. The basic thrust of this constitutional provision is generally the same as the 'takings' provision of the Fifth Amendment to the federal constitution. Ferguson v. City of Mill City, 120 Or.App. 210, 852 P.2d 205, 213 (1993) (citing Suess Builders v. City of Beaverton, 294 Or. 254, 656 P.2d 306, 310 n. 5 (1982); Cereghino v. State Highway Commission, 230 Or. 439, 370 P.2d 694 (1962)). Oregon law is identical to Fifth Amendment physical takings law. Id. Thus, while Oregon law ultimately controls, we rely to some extent on federal takings law to resolve Hoeck's state inverse condemnation claim.
30 Hoeck argues first that the demolition of his building is a physical taking that entitles him to compensation. We disagree. 31 An otherwise valid exercise of the police power constitutes a taking for which compensation is due if the owner suffers a permanent, physical occupation of the property. Yee v. Escondido, 503 U.S. 519, 112 S.Ct. 1522, 118 L.Ed.2d 153 (1992); Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, --- U.S. ----, ----, 112 S.Ct. 2886, 2900, 120 L.Ed.2d 798 (1992); Loretto v. Teleprompter Manhattan CATV Corp., 458 U.S. 419, 427-28, 102 S.Ct. 3164, 3171-72, 73 L.Ed.2d 868 (1982); Pumpelly v. Green Bay Co., 80 U.S. (13 Wall.) 166, 20 L.Ed. 557 (1871); Ferguson, 852 P.2d at 207. Physical invasions have been found where the government interferes with the owner's right to exclude. See, e.g., Kaiser Aetna v. United States, 444 U.S. 164, 100 S.Ct. 383, 62 L.Ed.2d 332 (1979) (public access to pond); Nollan v. California Coastal Comm'n, 483 U.S. 825, 107 S.Ct. 3141, 97 L.Ed.2d 677 (1987) (public easement to beach); Loretto, 458 U.S. at 427-28, 102 S.Ct. at 3171-72 (installation of cable); Pumpelly, 80 U.S. at 166 (flooding); Hawkins v. City of La Grande, 315 Or. 57, 843 P.2d 400 (1992) (one-time flooding). However, the state may enter property to enforce a valid land-use regulation and destroy the offending property. This does not amount to a physical occupation even where the government's activity has a permanent effect. See Miller v. Schoene, 276 U.S. 272, 278, 48 S.Ct. 246, 247, 72 L.Ed. 568 (1928) (permitting state entomologist to enter property and destroy diseased trees without affecting a taking); see also Bowditch v. Boston, 101 U.S. 16, 18-19, 25 L.Ed. 980 (1880) (denying compensation to owners whose houses were destroyed to prevent spread of fire); Shaffer, 576 P.2d at 824-25 (finding that city may enter to demolish substandard vacant building without compensating owner). 32 The demolition of the Bridgeport Hotel was not a physical taking for public use. To the contrary, it was a restriction on the use of the property to maintain an abandoned structure. The Portland Regulations did not interfere with Hoeck's right to exclude. Indeed, if Hoeck had obeyed the City's order to repair the structure and put it to use, it would not have been necessary for the City to enter his property to enforce its regulations. Cf. Yee, 503 U.S. at 526-28, 112 S.Ct. at 1528 ([T]he government affects a physical taking only when it requires the land owner to submit to the physical occupation of his land.) (emphasis added); Ferguson, 852 P.2d at 207 (same). Because the City's presence was temporary, and its entry avoidable, Hoeck has suffered no permanent physical invasion of his ownership interest in his property. Accordingly, we find his claim of a physical taking to be without merit.
33 Hoeck argues next that the demolition was a regulatory taking because the City's action denied him all economically viable use of his property and failed to advance a legitimate state interest sufficient to outweigh the burden placed on his property interests. We disagree. 34 Under Oregon law, [a] property owner has a high threshold to surmount in order to obtain compensation from the government for losses occasioned by a regulation of property that serves a legitimate governmental objective. Benson v. City of Portland, 119 Or.App. 406, 850 P.2d 416, 420 (1993), rev. denied, 318 Or. 24, 862 P.2d 1304 (1993). A city may wholly exclude a particular use of property if it has a rational basis for doing so, and aesthetic concerns alone may warrant an exercise of the police power. Oregon City v. Hartke, 240 Or. 35, 400 P.2d 255, 262 (1965). Furthermore, to state a cause of action for inverse condemnation, Hoeck must show that his property was taken for a public use. Willard v. City of Eugene, 25 Or.App. 491, 550 P.2d 457, 458 (1976); cf. Jeb Rubenfeld, Usings, 102 Yale L.J. 1077 (1992) (arguing for usings requirement in federal takings law). 35 In the past, demolition cases have not been found to constitute a taking under Oregon law. In Willard v. City of Eugene, an Oregon Court of Appeals held that a demolition is not a taking for public use because the city does not acquire any right or thing for public use by its action. 550 P.2d at 459. In Shaffer v. City of Winston, the court held that the demolition of a vacant or abandoned substandard building is within a municipality's police power and does not constitute a compensable taking. 576 P.2d at 825. The general rule is that a municipality in the exercise of its police power may, without compensating the owner, destroy a building that threatens the public safety where, after reasonable notice and opportunity, the owner fails to remedy the dangerous condition. Id. 36 More recently, in Dodd v. Hood River County, 317 Or. 172, 855 P.2d 608 (1993), the Oregon Supreme Court clarified the proper analysis under Oregon law for regulatory takings. The court addressed whether a zoning regulation prohibiting the construction of a family dwelling in a forestry zone constituted a taking in violation of the Oregon Constitution and concluded that it did not. The Dodd court first determined that zoning regulations that limit the uses of property do not constitute a taking of private property for public use. Id. 855 P.2d at 614. The court acknowledged the possibility that the Fifth Amendment may afford greater protection against takings, id., and went on to apply the following test under Oregon law: 37 Where a zoning designation allows a landowner some substantial beneficial use of his property, the landowner is not deprived of his property nor is his property taken. Such a loss, if any, is damnum absque injuria. 38 Id. (quoting Suess Builders, 581 P.2d at 50 (emphasis added in original)). The Dodd court explicitly declined to make a landowner's investment-backed expectations part of a regulatory takings analysis. Id. However, the court concluded that such expectations, if relevant, must be reasonable to support a claim for a taking. That is, reasonable investment-backed expectations must take into account the current state of the law [at the time the property is purchased], as well as the government's power to change the law. Id. at 616. 39 Applying these rules to the case at hand, we hold that the City's demolition of the Bridgeport is not a regulatory taking under Oregon law. As Shaffer, 576 P.2d at 825, and Willard, 550 P.2d at 458-59, demonstrate, the City acts well within the scope of its police power by removing abandoned structures. Furthermore, the demolition did not deprive Hoeck of all economically beneficial use of his property. See Dodd, 855 P.2d at 616. Hoeck argues that the demolition completely destroyed his building--an indisputable claim. However, the lot remains and is suitable for appropriate development. Finally, the regulation has not interfered with Hoeck's reasonable, investment-backed expectations. See id. Under the law at the time Hoeck took title, he had no right to use his property to maintain an abandoned structure. Lucas, --- U.S. at ----, 112 S.Ct. at 2895; PCC Sec. 24.55.100; PCC Sec. 24.55.250(h)(1); PCC Sec. 24.55.300. Therefore, even if Hoeck's property interest is narrowed to include only his building, he suffered no taking of an existing property interest and no interference with his reasonable expectations. 40 We conclude that Hoeck's claim for a regulatory taking under Oregon law is without merit. 41 AFFIRMED.