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Judge kills OSF lease challenge Pair didn't approach claim right, he rules By TONY BOOM ASHLAND - A Jackson County Court judge has dismissed a legal challenge to the city's long-term lease of land to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for a parking structure and theater. Judge pro-tem Mitchell Karaman ruled last week that the "writ of review" was filed too late and that it was not the correct vehicle to challenge the lease. Philip Lang and Colin Swales contended that the city did not determine if the lease was in the public interest. OSF was given a 75-year lease on the site adjacent to Hargadine Street. "It's a result that we expected from the beginning," said City Attorney Paul Nolte. "It is unfortunate that we have to go through this whole process when you know the outcome will be something the petitioners are not going to get." Nolte argued in open proceedings Tuesday that a petition needed to be filed within 60 days of the council's action on June 20, 2000. Lang filed an initial petition on Dec. 4, 2000. A writ of review was not issued for that petition. He filed the writ under consideration by Karaman on May 18. Karaman agreed with Nolte's arguments on the filing deadline and that the writ was not a proper way to resolve the issue. A "quasi-judicial" ruling from the council could be made on termination of a public employee, for example. An exception is land use appeals, which go to the Land Use Board of Appeals. Courts have ruled that transfers of land, such the lease, are not quasi-judicial. Lang, who is not an attorney, argued for the review. Lang could take the case to the Oregon Court of Appeals. Neither Lang nor Swales could be reached for comment. Swales and Lang contested approval for construction of the project to LUBA. That appeal was dismissed because it was received three days after a deadline. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.