A blizzard of Measure 37 claims fell across the state as 2006 drew to a close with businesses and individuals scrambling to meet a December deadline.
A blizzard of Measure 37 claims fell across the state as 2006 drew to a close with businesses and individuals scrambling to meet a December deadline. More than 3,000 new claims were filed, nearly doubling the total number of filings since Measure 37, which exempts property owners from land-use rules adopted after they purchased their land, was enacted two years ago. “We’re trying to get caught up,” says Sheila Martin, director of the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies at Portland State University, who is managing a database of claims. Martin says the last-minute filings weren’t surprising, especially since many of the timber companies that supported Measure 37 hadn’t yet filed their claims. Eleventh-hour claims came in from, among others, Stimson Lumber company, which owns 150,000 acres in northwest Oregon, and the Plum Creek Timber Co., which filed the state’s largest claim affecting two coastal counties. Measure 37 opponents 1000 Friends of Oregon is pressuring the Legislature to take a hard look at the ballot measure when lawmakers convene this month.
