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Oregon's Property-Rights Vote Could Derail Smart Growth

Posted by: Michael Dudley
Thanks to: Michael Dudley
15 December 2004 - 8:00am

Neal Peirce shows how the innocuous language in Oregon's Measure 37 conceals the potential to turn the State into an "eruption of Burger Kings and Wal-Marts."

"Just read Measure 37 'and it sounds like common sense. Unless you know what's buried in it, you'd never bat an eye. The problem is that what it means is insidious.' What's clear is that Oregon is now headed into a maelstrom of legal maneuvers, a lawyers' field day of claims against cash-short local governments obliged to either lift regulations for owners with qualifying property or be liable for court suits. How will values be set? Where will the money to pay come from? What if a jurisdiction claims it can't pay?"

Full Story: Pay attention to Oregon's sweeping property-rights vote
Source: The Seattle Times, December 14, 2004
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The decision to abandon a property is a symptom of the loss of confidence. And while abandonment certainly affects confidence among surrounding homeowners, the most important question to answer is not "how do we deal with abandoned properties?" but "what is the most cost-effective way to restore market confidence, and how do abandoned properties fit into that picture?"
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