Posted inMeasure 37 Neighborhood

Measure 37 could get us on KATU News tonight

Laurel and I were just interviewed at home by KATU, Portland Channel 2. We talked about the Measure 37 claim adjacent to our neighborhood—how a large proposed subdivision on farmland threatens the right of people already living here to not have their wells go dry. I’m not usually a praying sort of guy. But I won’t object if you want to pray, “Dear _____, please make sure that KATU doesn’t put on air the close-up of Brian sitting at a table drinking a glass of water. Or at least, that the video is blurred.” (like the photo above; recently got…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Neighborhood

After three hours, a moment of Measure 37 clarity

Well, another day, another front page Salem Statesman-Journal story about our neighborhood’s fight to prevent wells from being sucked dry by a Measure 37 subdivision. The headline sums it up: “Concerns about water hinder development plan.” Once again (the first hearing was two weeks ago) the Marion County Planning Commission got an earful from nearby property owners as well as consultants hired by the Keep Our Water Safe (KOWS) committee that Laurel chairs. Much of the testimony was technical and long-winded. The hearing lasted from 8 pm until after 11. But there was a moment when the absurdity of Measure…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Neighborhood

Our Measure 37 fight makes the front page

Kudos to the Salem Statesman-Journal for today’s excellent front page story, “Groundwater dispute surfaces as a result of Measure 37.” Laurel is heading up the disputants, neighbors of ours who object to a subdivision being built on nearby farm land. Some of her testimony at a Marion County Planning Commission hearing, where opposition to the development was strong from many property owners who don’t want their wells going dry, was quoted in the story: “Marion County keeps allowing more development of new properties and new well entitlements in groundwater limited areas, with inadequate studies to determine whether even the current…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Measure 37’s bubble bursts at subdivision hearing

There was a loud pop in a Marion County hearing room last night. Dozens of our neighbors burst the bubble of Measure 37, the horribly flawed attempt to trash Oregon’s land use laws. My wife and I have the unfortunate distinction of living near one of the first Measure 37 subdivision proposals to reach the county Planning Commission. Leroy Laack and his co-owners are out to convert 124 acres of beautiful farmland, perfect for growing grapes or some other crop, into 42 lots. Just as Peter Bray predicted in his ironic Oregonians…Get Rich Quick With Measure 37! When I first…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Time to get mad and suspend Measure 37

If you love Oregon, fire up your fury. Because Measure 37 is threatening to pave our state over with unregulated subdivisions. As the lead Oregonian editorial said yesterday, the true game behind Measure 37 now is evident. It never was about letting little old ladies like Dorothy English build a home on family land that some bad bureaucrat said, “No!” to. That was just a ploy to con voters. Timber companies supplied most of the money needed to pass the measure in 2004. Now we’re seeing why. Plum Creek Timber Company has filed a Measure 37 claim on 32,000 acres…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Support for Oregon’s Measure 37 is sinking

It's clear. Support for Measure 37, the attempt to trash Oregon’s pioneering land use laws, has crested. Now, after having experienced two years of nightmarish Measure 37 claims, Oregonians are awakening to a better way of dealing with property rights inequities. A poll found that Oregonians would now reject Measure 37 by a wide margin. This goes a long way toward explaining Gov. Kulongoski’s new-found enthusiasm for introducing legislation in the 2007 session that would fix problems with this ill-conceived measure. (In 2005 I wrote, “Kulongoski caves in on Measure 37.” May that be the last time). It also helps…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Neighborhood

Could I become the anti-Measure 37 Dorothy English?

Sorry, Dorothy. You’re going down. Back in 2004 you were the face of pro-Measure 37 ads, a sweet 92 year-old who, as I’ve noted before, supposedly just wanted the right to develop her land so she could give some property to her children and fund her retirement. Oregonians now reject Measure 37, which trashed our state’s land use laws and created a privileged class of property owners. So it’s time for an anti-Measure 37 icon to pop up. I nominate me. My qualifications recently were burnished by a quote of yours truly that appeared in a Salem Statesman-Journal story by…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Oregonians now reject Measure 37

A few years of watching the Measure 37 nightmare unfold has turned Oregonians off to this ill-considered effort to trash the state’s land use laws. A poll finds that Oregon voters would now reject Measure 37 by a wide margin (48 percent “no” to only 29 percent “yes”). So much for the flimsy argument that Oregonians support mining in a national monument and putting a gravel pit in a residential neighborhood—two real-life examples of Measure 37 claims—just because it passed with 61 percent of the vote in 2004. As I noted in a previous post, voters were conned by Oregonians…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Neighborhood

“Property Wrongs” report about Measure 37 features our neighborhood

Supporters of Oregon’s Measure 37, which trashed our state’s land use laws, like to talk about property rights. But now Oregon is facing property wrongs caused by the inherent unfairness of Measure 37, which created a privileged class of landowner. Such is the conclusion of a report, “Property Wrongs: Lessons from Oregon on ‘property rights’” that was released today by Seattle’s Sightline Institute. It features six case studies of the ill effects of Measure 37. Our Spring Lake Estates neighborhood is one of them. As I described in my previous post, a hydrogeologist has found that commonly-owned Spring Lake is…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Neighborhood

Behold the ugly face of Measure 37

Here’s what Oregon’s Measure 37 looks like. An 82 lot subdivision next to our Spring Lake Estates neighborhood. This is a map of the first phase, 43 lots. Which means 43 homes, with 43 wells, on land intended for exclusive farm use that already has limited groundwater. Crazy. If you voted for Measure 37, which exempted some property owners from complying with the state’s land use laws, you probably thought the face of Measure 37 was Dorothy English—a 92 year-old who, ads in favor of the measure said, just wanted the right to develop her land so she could give…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Measure 37 proving to be Oregon nightmare

Just as those of us who opposed the dismantling of Oregon’s land use laws predicted, Measure 37 has turned out to be a nightmare. People voted for it because they thought little old ladies would finally be able to build a family homestead on acreage put off-limits by rigid zoning restrictions. Some of that is going on. Which is fine. I don’t have a problem with putting a single home on land that turned into “exclusive farm use” after a couple bought it as “rural residential.” But I do object to putting a pumice mine and geothermal generating plant in…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Why Measure 37 doesn’t make sense

I realize that many Oregonians don’t want to be bothered with the details of why sound land use planning benefits everybody, and why Measure 37 is a disaster. I’ll keep things simple. Let’s talk lemonade stands. It’s a hot summer. Every kid on the block gets the bright idea, “I’ll set up a lemonade stand on our lawn next to the sidewalk.” They all go to their parents for permission. The block is full of naysayers. “No way, kid. Find something else to do.” Except for one accommodating couple: “Sure, honey. It’s fine with us if you sell lemonade.” The…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Measure 37

Abortion rights and property rights

Why aren’t conservative brains exploding from the crazy contradictions in the Republican party line? I mean, how is it possible to believe that government can’t tell you how to use your land, but government can tell you how to use your body? Recently we learned that abortion rights are being challenged in South Dakota and property rights are being upheld in Oregon. Conservatives were thrilled. But if the right to use your land as you see fit is sacrosanct, why isn’t there a similar right to use your body as you see fit? I don’t get it. Dave Hunnicutt of…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Sustainability

Property rights and wrongs

Oregon is in the midst of a fierce battle between property rights fanatics and reasonable people, like moi, who recognize that a unfettered right to do whatever you want with your property is actually a wrong. I hope the “Big Look” task force that will be holding hearings around the state and recommending changes in Oregon’s land use laws will pay as much attention to broad philosophical issues as narrow legalistic points. For disagreements over values are at the root of property rights debates. What value does land have in itself, absent development? How do we value the needs and…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Wise Measure 37 commentary

Opening up the Statesman-Journal today, I was deeply impressed with the wisdom of a letter to the editor about Measure 37. Then I saw the letter writer’s name and exclaimed, “I know that guy!” In fact, he was me. Just to give the conspiracy theorists over at Oregonians in Action something to chew on while they’re waiting for the next check from the Asphalt Manufacturers of America to roll in, yes, 1000 Friends of Oregon put me up to this. I got a phone call from a 1000 Friends staffer who said that Laurel or I should write a letter…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Measure 37 and the voters’ will

Yesterday I listened to the Kremer and Abrams talk show on KXL. The conservative member of the duo, Rob Kremer, was frothing at the mouth about how 61% of the voters had voted for Measure 37 and now a single judge had struck it down, thereby thwarting the will of the people. Outrageous, fulminated Kremer. He thought Judge Mary James should be recalled. Yeah, that would teach a lesson to judges who have the temerity to be independent and exercise their duty to uphold the constitution. Rob, do you recall the notion of “checks and balances” from your high school…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Measure 37 struck down

O Joy! We will be doing some celebrating tonight. Judge Mary James has ruled that Measure 37 is unconstitutional. You can bet that there will be much wailing and knashing of teeth from Oregonians in Action. They'll try to get a clone of Measure 37 on the 2006 ballot, but I'm betting that real Oregonians will see through their B.S. this time around and vote for the 1000 Friends of Oregon alternative. This is a happy day for everyone who loves Oregon.
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Posted inMeasure 37

1000 Friends of Oregon on right track with Measure 37 initiative

Laurel and I were thrilled when we found out today that 1000 Friends of Oregon intends to submit a 2006 ballot initiative that would mitigate the harmful effects of Measure 37, which allows selected property owners to ignore land use laws. This isn’t an abstract issue of property rights for us. We live in a rural area south of Salem that has been designated a “groundwater limited area.” Expert hydrogeologists have concluded that, by and large, five acres is needed to support a single well. If development becomes denser than that, existing wells will be threatened and could go dry.…
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Posted inMeasure 37

Kulongoski caves in on Measure 37

Laurel and I were appalled to read in yesterday's Oregonian that Gov. Kulongoski is on the side of those who want to completely dismantle our state's pioneering land use laws. Kulongoski has aligned himself with Oregonians in Action, ignoring the advice of 1000 Friends of Oregon that it is better to do nothing about Measure 37 this legislative session rather than making an already bad law worse. Senate Bill 1037 would allow transfers of new development rights when Measure 37 claimants sell their land. Measure 37 was supposedly about letting people build a single home on their beloved acreage, not…
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Posted inMeasure 37 Neighborhood

Measure 37 hits close to our home

For a lot of people, Measure 37 is a legal abstraction. For us, it means 215 nearby acres of farmland may become a subdivision. These rolling hills along Liberty Road about five miles south of the Salem city limits currently are zoned EFU (exclusive farm use). If the Measure 37 applicants have their way 80 homes will be built and 80 wells will be dug in an area that already is designated as €œgroundwater limited. I call that eventuality AFU (all...up; you can guess the rest of the acronym). Recently we got a phone call from a neighbor who adjoins…
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