Measure 37 continues its unrelenting attack on Oregon's agriculture, scenic beauty, forests, and ecosystems.
Measure 37 allows property owners to circumvent any land use laws passed after they purchased their property: for example, claimants can choose, as most of them do, to subdivide their farmland into McMansions. This will have a devastating impact on Oregon's quality of life: increasing sprawl (and traffic and pollution), reducing our ability to innovate agriculturally.
A picture speaks 1000 words. The counties are being WALLOPED by Measure 37 claims. Almost all claims are approved, and, as you can see below, Oregon's landscape is about to undergo a MASSIVE, twisted realignment:
Hood River county:
Lane County:
Washington County:
Clackamas County (partial map):
In Hood River:
The Hood River Valley now has Measure 37 claims on more than one-fifth of its farmland, according to county planners.
Maddox says Hood River could wind up looking like San Jose, California.
Ken Maddox: "These Measure 37 claims have been growing like cancer -- in number and size, and the intensity of development in nearly all cases is very high. We're talking about sub-divisions."
By out of state corporations across the Oregon coast:
Seattle-based Plum Creek Timber Co. delivered nearly 100 applications at Lincoln and Coos county offices Thursday, asking to construct homes on forestland scattered across Oregon’s coastal region.
Planning directors from both counties said they hadn’t had time to analyze the applications Thursday afternoon. But they said a Plum Creek representative told them in separate meetings last week to expect claims on as much as 10,000 to 15,000 acres in each county.
And on and on and on and on.
THERE IS A GLIMMER OF HOPE!
Senate Bill 505 is a good first step (though certainly not perfect) at putting on hold the more egregious claims.
Here's what to do:
Step 1. Contact your State Senator AND Representative. You can find out who they are using this form. ASK THEM TO SUPPORT SENATE BILL 505.