Suess Builders Co. v. City of Beaverton

Plaintiffs own 9.4 acres of land in the city of Beaverton. In a complaint against the city and the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District, plaintiffs allege that these governmental bodies temporarily deprived them of the rental value of the property and caused a permanent depression of its market value by designating the major part of the property as a future park site in the citys comprehensive land use plan, and that this constituted a compensable taking of their property for public use under Oregon Constitution article I, section 18 and the federal fifth and fourteenth amendments. The complaint also alleged claims under 42 USC §§ 1983 and 1985(3). Upon the defendants motion to dismiss the complaint, the trial court entered judgment for defendants. The Court of Appeals affirmed on the strength of this courts decision in Fifth Avenue Corp. v. Washington County, 282 Or 591, 581 P2d 50 (1978). We allowed review to consider plaintiffs claim that their complaint satisfied the criteria stated in that decision or, if not, that those criteria should be reconsidered. We hold that the complaint sufficed to survive a motion to dismiss.