Although it died on the floor of the Oregon Supreme
Court last October, Oregon’s controversial property-rights
initiative, Measure 7, may live again. The initiative, approved by
voters in 2000, would compensate landowners for decreased property
value caused by local and state land-use rules. The regulations,
conceived in the 1970s, aim to preserve farmlands and forests while
restricting urban growth (HCN, 11/25/02: Planning’s poster child
grows up).
The state’s highest court declared
Measure 7 unconstitutional, based on a technicality, so this
winter, the Legislature created two work groups to “keep faith with
the voters” and craft a land-use reform bill. The work groups
contain politicians and organizations on both sides of the
property-rights issue, but their meetings have been repeatedly
pushed back as the state struggles with budget problems.
In the meantime, property-rights activists are working on two
ballot initiatives that are nearly identical to Measure 7, minus
the unconstitutional language. Passing either one would “end
everything Oregon has done on land-use planning,” says Randy
Tucker, a lobbyist for 1,000 Friends of Oregon and member of one of
the work groups.
“As long as the government removes the
restrictions,” responds Bill Sizemore, executive director of the
Oregon Taxpayers Union, “then they don’t have to pay.
“I’m in favor of the government being visionary and looking
out for what is best for the community,” he adds, “as long as they
don’t steal private property doing it.”
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Land-use laws attacked from all sides.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
