SERCOMBE, J.
This case presents another question about the meaning of Measure 49, the referendum that replaced Measure 37 and altered its remedies for a reduction in property value caused by a land use regulation. In particular, Measure 49 changed the legal effect of any state or local government waiver of restrictive land use regulations that had been obtained as a Measure 37 remedy ("Measure 37 waiver"). Plaintiffs obtained a Measure 37 waiver from the county in order to allow residential development of their property. Following the adoption of Measure 49, the county denied plaintiffs' subdivision application because the waiver was no longer effective under Measure 49.
Plaintiffs then filed an action against the county, claiming that the Measure 37 waiver was a contract between them and the county, and demanding damages for the breach of that contract. Plaintiffs also sought a declaration from the court that the Measure 37 waiver of land use regulations for their property and their subsequent efforts to develop that property created a vested right to develop the property that is recognized under Measure 49. The trial court granted the county's summary judgment motions and determined that plaintiffs were not entitled to relief on either claim.
On appeal, plaintiffs claim that the trial court erred in concluding that their Measure 37 waiver did not create a contract between them and the county and in determining that their activities and expenditures were insufficient to vest a right to develop the property. We rejected plaintiffs' first contention in Smejkal v. State of Oregon, 239 Or.App. 553, ___ P.3d ___ (2010). We reject plaintiffs' latter contention as well and agree with the trial court that plaintiffs are not entitled to declaratory relief.
The 2007 Legislative Assembly referred to the voters a substitute statute, Measure 49. Measure 49 set out a different compensation allowance for a reduction in fair market value caused by a post-acquisition land use regulation, and reduced the degree of residential development allowed under a previously requested Measure 37 waiver. Or. Laws 2007, ch. 424; see generally Corey v. DLCD, 344 Or. 457, 184 P.3d 1109 (2008) (describing the purpose and effect of Measure 49). The measure was adopted by the voters in a special election held on November 6, 2007, and became effective on December 6, 2007. Or. Const., Art. IV, § 1(4)(d) (time of effect of initiated or referred measures).
Measure 49 changes the adjudicatory processes, approval standards, and extent of relief for two classes of Measure 37 claims: those filed on or before June 28, 2007 (the concluding day of the 2007 legislative session) and those filed thereafter. As to the former class of claims, section 5 of the measure provides:
The question in this case concerns the meaning and application of section 5(3) of Measure 49. The relevant facts, as set out in the summary judgment record, are not contested. Plaintiffs Norwood
Following the adoption of Measure 37, the Norwoods filed claims for just compensation under former ORS 197.352(5) with the state and the county. They asserted that the regulations applied by the state and county after their purchase of the property depressed its value by preventing residential use of the property. The county allowed the claim against it and opted to waive land use regulations under former ORS 197.352(8) on March 20, 2007. As just noted, that part of Measure 37 gave the county an option to avoid payment of "just compensation" for the claim by opting to "modify, remove, or not to apply the land use regulation or land use regulations to allow the owner to use the property for a use permitted at the time the owner acquired the property." The county waived certain parts of its community development code that restricted residential development of the property and that were adopted after its acquisition by the Norwoods.
The particular use of the property requested by the Norwoods and conditionally allowed by the county was to "divide the property into maximum lots allowed when the property was first acquired, make legal each of the existing dwellings on [the] site on an individual lot, build a dwelling on each vacant lot, and develop a community water system to serve the development." The county findings note that the necessary minimum lot size was unknown at that point, as well as whether the claimants could obtain a water right for the community water system. Given that uncertainty, the findings cautioned that
The county waiver imposed a number of conditions on the allowance of the proposed use set out in the waiver, two of which are relevant here. Consistent with the findings just noted, condition 4 provided, in part:
Condition 1 required:
As noted earlier, the Norwoods applied for a waiver of state land use statutes and regulations from the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD). DLCD did not issue the waiver before December 6, 2007, the time that Measure 49 went into effect and mooted the state waiver request.
Plaintiffs began activities on the property to prepare it for residential uses in 2007. According to the adopted findings of the hearings officer on the proposed subdivision, there was unpermitted logging on the property in June and grading without an erosion or grading permit in July. The county allowed roadbed construction without permits after September 24 in order to prevent soil erosion. Electrical conduit was installed without an electrical permit. In the summary judgment proceedings, plaintiffs' attorney declared that experts had been retained who would testify that expenditures were incurred by plaintiffs to prepare the tentative subdivision plat application and to grade the property and install utilities.
After the denial of the tentative subdivision plat application, the Norwoods filed their complaint in January 2008. They later amended the complaint to add another claim and to join the other plaintiffs. As amended, the complaint sought declaratory relief that plaintiffs have a "vested right to continue Ballot Measure 37 approved waiver development on their property" and damages for breach of the county's contract with plaintiffs to allow the residential development permitted by the waiver. The county moved for summary judgment on both claims pursuant to ORCP 47. Plaintiffs filed a cross-motion for summary judgment on the breach of contract claim. The trial court granted the county's motion for summary judgment, denied plaintiffs' cross-motion, and entered judgment dismissing plaintiffs' claims. This appeal followed.
On appeal, plaintiffs renew their arguments that Measure 37, and the parties' actions to implement the measure, resulted in a contractual promise by the county not to apply Measure 49 to plaintiffs' property. At best, plaintiffs' argument concerns enforcement of an alleged contractual promise of the state through its adoption and implementation of Measure 37. The county did not adopt Measure 37 and promise anything through that enactment. The state is not a party to this case. In its absence, plaintiffs do not explain how any claim that the state breached or impaired its contract is justiciable. See ORCP 29 (joinder of persons needed for just adjudication). Moreover, we decided whether Measure 37 operated to create a state contract adversely to plaintiffs' contentions in Smejkal, 239 Or. App. at 559-63, 245 P.3d at 662. The trial court did not err in dismissing plaintiffs' claim for breach of contract.
Plaintiffs also contend that the court erred in concluding that they do not have a vested right claim to develop the subdivision under section 5(3) of Measure 49. Again, that section provides:
(Bracketed dates added.)
Plaintiffs argue that the summary judgment record before the court established that there are issues of fact about whether they qualify for a vested right and that they are not precluded from obtaining that relief as a matter of law. Plaintiffs contend that they are entitled to a determination that they had vested rights to develop the subdivision if they obtained "[a] waiver" from the county and made substantial expenditures in reliance on that waiver. Plaintiffs conclude that the court erred in granting summary judgment to the county on this issue because they did obtain a waiver and presented sufficient evidence to create issues of fact on the substantiality of their related expenditures.
The county responds that plaintiffs never obtained a "common law vested right" to develop a subdivision because their development activities were not a lawful use of the property so as to qualify as a vested use. The county contends that the use of the property for residential development was not lawful without a waiver of land use laws prohibiting that use from the state and without preliminary subdivision approval from the county. In addition, the county asserts that plaintiffs' use of the property was in bad faith and therefore insufficient to establish a vested right, because plaintiffs used the property without obtaining the approvals required under the county waiver. We agree that section 5(3) requires a use of the property that is consistent with the waiver and that there is no issue of fact that plaintiffs' use of the property was inconsistent with that waiver. Consequently, the trial court was correct in concluding that plaintiffs were not entitled to relief under section 5(3) as a matter of law.
We discussed the requirements of section 5(3) in Friends. We noted:
237 Or.App. at 166-67, 238 P.3d 1016. We determined that "`use of the property' means the actual employment of land for a residential purpose." Id. at 167, 238 P.3d 1016. Elaborating further, we explained that some of the factors used to determine the existence of a "common law vested right" are also pertinent to the separate standard that the "use of the property complies with the waiver:"
Id. at 176-77, 238 P.3d 1016.
Under those tests, plaintiffs did not employ their land for a residential purpose in a manner that was consistent with the county waiver. The waiver conditioned any residential development, including the construction of roads and utilities for residential purposes, on the county's approval of a land use permit ("The Claimant's proposed development requires a subsequent Type II land use application that meets all current regulations other than those waived by this claim * * *."), as well as the obtaining of a state Measure 37 waiver ("The Claimant must seek relief under Measure 37 from any applicable statutes, rules or goals * * * prior to submitting an application for a development or building permit."). Because plaintiffs lacked the predicate county permit and a Measure 37 waiver from the state, plaintiffs' use of the property did not comply with the county's Measure 37 waiver. Accordingly, the trial court did not err in concluding that plaintiffs did not qualify for relief under section 5(3) of Measure 49.
Vacated and remanded with instructions to enter judgment declaring parties' rights as to first claim for relief in a manner consistent with this opinion; otherwise affirmed.
265 Or. at 198-99, 508 P.2d 190 (citations omitted).