Function

• The board's mission statement says it was created to "simplify the appeal process, speed resolution of land use disputes, and provide consistent interpretation of state and local land use laws."
  
  

Requirements

• The only written requirement for training of land use board members is that they must be members of the Oregon State Bar. Although it is not specified that board members need to have prior experience in or knowledge of Oregon land use laws, regulations and zoning ordinances, all three members, as of 2010, have a solid background dealing with issues affecting land use throughout the state.
  
  

Considerations

• As of 2010, board members include a former assistant attorney general with the Oregon Department of Justice; the previous staff attorney for the Land Use Board of Appeals; and an attorney who was previously in private practice in Portland with a firm that lists real estate and land use as one of its specialties.
  
  

Fun Fact

• Oregon's Land Use Board of Appeals was the first land use review board of its kind in the United States.