Oregon's Property-Rights Vote Could Derail Smart Growth

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."

1 minute read

December 15, 2004, 8:00 AM PST

By Michael Dudley


"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?"

Thanks to Michael Dudley

Tuesday, December 14, 2004 in The Seattle Times

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