Washington residents will decide at the November
polls whether to scrap their state’s new takings law – considered
the most extreme take on the subject to date. Volunteers fighting
the law, known as Initiative 164, gathered more than 230,000
signatures before the July deadline. That’s more than double the
amount needed to force a referendum, says John Lamson, a staffer at
the anti-initiative organization No on 164, who credits the success
to thousands of volunteers. The initiative defines a “taking”
broadly, as any regulation limiting the use or development of
property for public benefit, other than those which protect against
public nuisance (HCN, 5/29/95). Lamson says the law, which requires
that new regulations undergo economic analysis and subsequent
public comment on the findings, will result in higher taxes, more
lawsuits and a roadblock for zoning. Foes of I-164 still have
plenty of work; state polls show that if the election were held
today, 60 percent of Washington residents would keep the law. And
some say that a repeal of the initiative would be only a temporary
victory: Republicans have already introduced a compromise bill for
the next legislative session that defines a “takings’ as property
deprived of 25 percent of its value – rather than the present law’s
wording of “any” amount.
* Ben
Jacklet
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Washington voters win vote on takings bill.
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