The ruling by Hearings Official Anne Corcoran Briggs will allow the center, located on Horn Lane off River Road in northwest Eugene, to once again offer yoga classes, religious lectures and sustainable living seminars.

“We feel this decision gives hope that we can resume making the kinds of contributions to the Eugene community that we would like to be able to do,” said Ron “Ravi” Logan, who bought the property with his wife, Michelle Renee, in 2001.

When he announced the ruling to a group that gathered at his home Sunday to meditate, “there was a great outburst of emotion,” Logan said. “People applauded and hugged and were quite happy to hear this.”

The center — a straw-bale studio sitting behind a private home — rests on a three-quarter-acre parcel zoned R-1, low-density residential. Logan and Renee stopped offering classes and workshops last summer when they decided they could not afford a conditional use permit, as required by the city, at an estimated cost of $17,000.

The dispute pitted city planners, who said they were merely trying to enforce the city’s complicated land use code as fairly as possible, against Dharmalaya supporters, who accused the city of being heavy-handed, inflexible and maybe even religiously biased.

In her ruling issued Friday, Corcoran Briggs said city Planning Director Susan Muir erred when she ruled that the wide range of activities offered at the center should be considered in the aggregate when determining if they are allowed in a residential zone, rather than considering the various activities separately.

However, Corcoran Briggs rejected Dharmalaya’s assertion that the city violated a federal law that prohibits cumbersome zoning restrictions from interfering with the practices of churches and other religious institutions. The Dharmalaya Center is affiliated with Ananda Seva Mission Inc., a religious organization with roots in India.

The hearings official also said any procedural miscues by the city were moot because Dharmalaya ultimately got to present its case. More than 30 people testified in support of the center, and none against, at a five-hour hearing before Corcoran Briggs in early March.

The hearings official said most of the activities held at Dharmalaya are permitted outright in a residential zone, or are allowed under home occupation rules or as temporary uses. The number and duration of temporary uses — such as an annual Easter egg hunt on the premises, garden tours and weddings — can still be limited by the city, she said.

The types of activities Dharmalaya cannot offer without a conditional permit are multiday conferences, larger events that require the use of kitchen and toilet facilities, and events that may generate more than 10 vehicle trips per day, Corcoran Briggs said.

Logan, however, said Dharmalaya has already indicated it’s moving away from those larger-scale community events. “Where we are headed is a scaling back, not an expansion, of activities,” he said.

Mike McKerrow, the city’s land use management supervisor, said he does not view the hearings official’s ruling as a repudiation of the city’s position, noting that she sided with the city on several points. He said the city will propose a meeting soon with Dharmalaya representatives to make sure everyone “has an understanding of what the ruling means.”

Scot Hutchins, a Washington, D.C., lawyer who helped represent Dharmalaya, said he was taken aback when he started reviewing Eugene’s land use code provisions. “You have a very vague and ambiguous code out there, which has the effect of leaving a lot of discretion to (city) staff,” he said.

Hutchins said the costs associated with code compliance — such as $17,000 for a conditional use permit — are geared toward large developers who expect such fees as a cost of doing business.

“We were able to proceed only because Ravi and Michelle had so much support and encouragement and perseverance,” he said. “Most individual citizens or small groups would have been overwhelmed, thrown up their hands and not been able to proceed.”

Hutchins accused city employees of overreaching — placing a sign on the property that threatened to demolish the center in as few as 10 days if the proper permits weren’t obtained, for example. The hearings official’s report “was like a breath of fresh air,” he said.

Logan said Dharmalaya is still weighing whether to challenge the city on its procedural requirements. “We got what we wanted … but it cost us a lot of time and money,” he said.