Ralph E. Thornton Cheryl A. Thornton v. City of St. Helens Warren Baker Brian Little

Ralph and Cheryl Thornton own the only automobile wrecking yard in St. Hel-ens, Oregon. The Thorntons claim that the City of St. Helens has unlawfully conditioned approval of their annual applications to renew a state wrecker’s certificate on compliance with local land use regulations. Following repeated delays in the processing of the Thorntons’ renewal applications, they filed suit in district court against the City and certain local officials. The Thorntons alleged, among other claims, that the certificate renewal procedures employed by the City had resulted in delays which amounted to a deprivation of property without due process of law. The district court denied relief. The court held that the Thorntons did not have a property interest in the timely approval of their renewal applications and that their related claims were without merit.

We affirm. An adverse judgment in a prior state court action brought by Mr. Thornton bars relitigation of the issue of whether the City has discretion to condition approval of renewal applications on compliance with local regulations. Because we must accept the state court’s determination that the City has discretion to deny a renewal…