What Happens if Prop 98 Passes: Oregon’s Zoning Crisis
Gilda Haas on May 01 2008 at 8:27 am | Filed under: Research
In 2004, Oregon voters passed a measure that allowed property owners to file claims that zoning restrictions had hurt their property value. (A provision included in Prop 98)
That law, known as Measure 37, requires government to either pay for the lost value or waive the zoning rules if an owner makes a successful claim.
About 2,400 claims totaling more than $5.6 billion have been filed since the measure was upheld in court this spring, according to the Oregon Department of Land and Conservation Development. “Not a penny” has been paid to property owners, said Sheila A. Martin, director of the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies at Portland State University.
Local governments, lacking money to pay, have simply waived the zoning rules. (Anger Drives Property Rights Measures, NY Times, October 8, 2006)