With virtually no discussion, the Bend City Council unanimously rejected a Measure 37 claim Wednesday night that asked the city to waive a controversial ordinance intended to protect mobile home park tenants facing eviction.

The ordinance, adopted in June, requires the park owner to either pay tenants the fair market value of their home or cover the cost of relocating the home.

All the councilors were present for the vote.

In the claim, Country Sunset LLC, the owner of a mobile home park in southeast Bend, said the ordinance has reduced the value of its property by more than $10.8 million, according to city planning staff. Measure 37 allows property owners to apply for a waiver of land use regulations or seek compensation if the regulation reduces the value of the land. The property owner must have owned the land before the regulation went into effect for the measure to apply.

Staff recommended councilors deny the claim because the mobile home ordinance, in their view, is not a land use regulation. According to staff, the Land Use Board of Appeals has dismissed similar challenges to the mobile home ordinance because the board believes the ordinance does not fall under its definition of a land use regulation. On the local level, land use regulations are defined as city or county comprehensive plans, land division ordinances, zoning ordinances and transportation ordinances.

Country Sunset could seek recourse by filing a lawsuit in Des-chutes County Circuit Court.

The city is currently fighting a lawsuit filed by Butterfly Holdings LLC.

The business, which owns and plans to redevelop the land where the Parrell-Sisters mobile home parks are located on Parrell Road, sued for $6.7 million.

Butterfly Holdings filed a Measure 37 claim in July. The business sued in January, saying the city failed to either grant or deny a waiver of land use laws within the 180-day deadline, giving the business the right to seek compensation.

The court will hear a motion to dismiss the case Monday.

The city also denied a Measure 37 claim filed by Central Electric Cooperative, a private utility seeking to upgrade the transmission towers on the east edge of the city near Neff Road.

Staff said the application was incomplete, but councilors said they believed the utility’s claim distorts the spirit of the measure.

”I think this is really stretching Measure 37 beyond any reasonable interpretation,” Councilor Jim Clinton said.

Councilor Linda Johnson agreed, saying it seemed that the utility could apply for a conditional-use permit or zone variance to upgrade the towers, and it appeared the utility was simply trying to sidestep the public hearing required to grant such a permit.

The council also accepted the first reading of an ordinance to create a Manufactured Home Overlay Zone. The zone, which applies to existing parks, would allow park owners to redevelop their property at a higher density if owners agree to devote a portion of their development to affordable housing.

Councilor Chris Telfer said she was uneasy with the overlay zone because she worried the higher density allowed could lead to tall buildings and high-density development that would not harmonize with nearby neighborhoods.

”I’m in favor of doing all we can for affordable housing,” she said at the meeting. ”I’m shaking my head no on this one because I’m thinking the consequences are not what we’re thinking.”