Oregon Cities Prepare For Planning Backlash

1 December 2004 - 7:00am

Oregon cities gear up to fight Measure 37, a voter-passed property rights law. Is this a response to overly restrictive planning, or property rights run amok?

"Cities and counties putting the measure in place say strict standards will protect them from lawsuits and financial disaster. But proponents of the measure, which promises relief when planning decisions hurt land value, say local governments are undermining voters' intent.

This contentious start means Oregon's latest land-use experiment will wind up in court, where it probably will be decided piecemeal over at least the next year.

...[T]he measure offers an out for landowners who don't like their government's application process: Ignore it. Instead, they can file a claim with a letter describing their situation, then take the case to court if the city, county or state doesn't respond within 180 days."

Source: The Oregonian, November 30, 2004
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All of that only scratches the surface of what's wrong with this study. The idea that complex urban development patterns and human behavior can be meaningfully studied according to one primary criteria — density — is wrong from the start.