Agricultural buildings in forest zones can’t be converted into wedding venues under an Oregon law that exempts them from building codes, according to a land use ruling.

Clackamas County misinterpreted the law by approving a “home occupation event business” on a 20-acre parcel with a 3,000-square barn, according to the state’s Land Use Board of Appeals.

The county impermissibly decided the barn can be upgraded for the event business as long as building code requirements are met during the remodel process, the ruling said.

“We cannot and do not construe the statute in that manner,” LUBA said.

In 2020, the barn was authorized as an agricultural building in a mixed farm-forest zone that doesn’t have to comply with specialty building codes.

However, the landowner later sought to host weddings and other events inside the barn under a home occupation permit, which would involve remodeling the structure to include a kitchen, four bathrooms, two showers and other amenities.

County officials approved a conditional use permit under which the applicant, Sage and Social LLC, could hold weekly events on the property, but the decision was opposed by neighboring landowners.

The opponents, Greg and Malia Kupillas, have now prevailed before LUBA, which has ordered the county to reconsider its approval of the land use permit.

On farmland, barns have been exempt from building codes for half a century, but it wasn’t until a decade ago that lawmakers expanded the exemption to include structures in forest zones or mixed farm-forest zones.

The county incorrectly decided that barns built under the newer exemption could be converted to other uses, so long as the building code permits were obtained retroactively, LUBA said.

“That reasoning is inconsistent with the legislature’s intent that is demonstrated in the plain language of the statute and supported by the legislative history,” the ruling said.

Though such conversions are not prohibited for barns on farmland, lawmakers made a “policy choice” that in forest zones, such structures can only be used for a limited set of purposes, according to LUBA.

However, LUBA said it’s possible the event business can still be permitted under an “alternative proposal” involving the construction of a new reception building.

The ruling dismissed other arguments against the project that focused on alleged impacts related to traffic, noise and a nearby stream.