The Right 2 Dream Too homeless camp cannot move to Portland's Central Eastside because the city of Portland misapplied its zoning rules, a state land use board ruled Tuesday.

The precedent-setting decision creates vast uncertainly for the tent camp, which is supposed to leave its current location along West Burnside Street this fall.

But the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals blocked the move, determining that Portland's plan amounted to plopping down a prohibited residential use in an industrial setting.

It's a "resounding victory," said attorney Christe White, who represented the Central Eastside Industrial Council, which challenged the city's February plan. "It's a total reversal of the city's interpretation of the zoning code."

Portland had attempted to skirt city zoning rules by deciding the tent camp was a "community services use" instead of a mass shelter, which is prohibited.

"If the purpose of the prohibition on mass shelters in industrial zones is to protect industrial uses from quasi-residential uses represented by mass shelters and their close cousins, short-term housing, then it seems utterly inconsistent with that purpose to allow within industrial zones -- as an unlimited, unregulated and outright permitted use -- a use that is functionally identical to a mass shelter," the land use board wrote.

Portland could choose to appeal the decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals. But city officials would need to score a victory before being able to move Right 2 Dream Too to city-owned property in the Central Eastside, White said.

White said the decision will also prevent Portland from moving Right 2 Dream Too to other similarly zoned industrial properties. Officials have long struggled to find a location for the site, which opened next to the Chinatown gate in 2011.

City officials weren't immediately available for comment.

White said Central Eastside business owners are "thrilled" with the ruling and look forward to helping the City Council find an appropriate location for the tent camp.

"The overarching theme here is that the city is acting in a way that shows great compassion for a population that is very vulnerable on the street and needs a solution," she said. "This one solution ran afoul of the zoning code."

This post will be updated as more information becomes available.

-- Brad Schmidt

bschmidt@oregonian.com

503-294-7628

@cityhallwatch