City of Hood River Appeal Fees

JUSTICE WITHOUT PURCHASE: THE APPEAL FEE CASE

As a watchdog group, one of the most important tools in our toolkit is the ability to appeal a local decision we believe to be unlawful. Therefore we’ve been watching with keen interest a lawsuit that started in Hood River Circuit Court and is now before the Oregon Court of Appeals. The suit was brought by two low-income plaintiffs, after requesting, and being denied, a fee waiver in an appeal of a Planning Commission decision to the Hood River City Council. The City of Hood River has one of Oregon’s most expensive appeal fees–it charges appellants the same amount it charges developers for their permits—resulting in fees as high as $5,000 compared to a state average of just $840. Brent Foster, attorney for the plaintiffs argued that the City’s appeal fees violated the Oregon Constitution’s “Justice without Purchase” clause that prohibits charging fees so exorbitant that they have the effect of closing the doors of justice to the poor. The Hood River Circuit Court ruled in favor of the City, saying that the City Council was not a court to which the constitutional provision applied. The plaintiffs appealed that decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals. A decision is expected in September 2015.