An Oregon forestland owner claims Lane County has unconstitutionally taken enforcement action against him for building several structures without the required permits or land use approvals.

Richard McDougal of Jasper, Ore., has filed a legal action in Lane County Circuit Court alleging the county’s financial penalties are excessive in violation of the U.S. Constitution and should be reduced.

“The county did not provide any evidence in the underlying proceeding demonstrating that the challenged uses resulted in any harm or threat of harm to the public health, public safety or public welfare,” according to his petition for review.

A representative of Lane County’s land management division said it wouldn’t comment while the petition is “in process,” but would respond “once we have a decision.”

Last year, Lane County accused McDougal of installing a guest house, miniature Western town, swimming fountain, hobby barn and other structures on about 50 acres without obtaining building permits.

Some of these structures must also be demolished because they were built in the most protective forest zone without permission, contrary to Oregon’s statewide land use planning regulations, according to the county.

Initially, the county government sought to impose daily fines of $1,200 on McDougal from mid-2023 until the violations are corrected, but that amount was decreased to $800 per day by an administrative officer in March.

Apart from the daily fines, McDougal must also pay a base penalty of $3,000 under the administrative enforcement order.

“The county has argued that the alleged code violations are particularly egregious, both in scope and impact. Based on over three decades of hearing contested case enforcement proceedings for the county, I must agree,” the administrative officer’s order said.

Under the enforcement order, the total amount of penalties will depend on the length of the proceedings and whether McDougal is able to retroactively obtain building permits and land use approvals.

In his petition for review, McDougal argues the county’s actions against him were “contrary to the long-standing policy and practice” of allowing landowners to “cure alleged violations” for such improvements.

McDougal claims the county’s enforcement of regulations in the most protective forest zone is “an invalid exercise of the county’s police power.” He’s also challenging the structure of the enforcement order, claiming it’s based on an unfair process, legal errors and unsubstantiated evidence.

“The county is economically incentivized to delay and deny any permit approval thereby resulting in a financial windfall to the county of as much as $500,000 and possibly up to $1 million,” the petition claims.

Aside from disputing the civil penalties, McDougal’s petition for review argues it’s unnecessary to rezone any of the property to obtain county approval for the “challenged uses.” If a zone change is necessary, the county’s requirements are “unconstitutional” because the structures don’t endanger public health or safety, the petition claims.

The Landwatch Lane County farmland preservation nonprofit believes the petition is a “Hail Mary” legal escalation by McDougal, who’s likely hoping to avoid fines or even to win litigation costs from the county, said Lauri Segel, its legal analyst.

“This is all about screwing the county,” Segel said.

The purpose of the protective forest zone is to protect the property’s forestry uses, which undermines McDougal’s claim about an alleged lack of public health and safety threats, she said. His constitutional arguments pertain to McDougal’s property but also seem to imply the zoning regulations themselves are unlawful, she said.

“He’s trying to make the case Oregon’s land use and zoning is unconstitutional,” Segel said.

If the legal action is meant to get Lane County to withdraw or scale back its enforcement action, it’s difficult to see how county official would back down without creating a harmful precedent for other landowners, she said.

“I don’t see how they’d stop anyone from building anything they want in whatever zone they want,” Segel said.