Oregon Rethinks Easing Land-Use Limits

Champions of Measure 37 are worried, too. Oregonians in Action, the property-rights group that sponsored the initiative, recently described the threat to the law as "greater than ever."

But David J. Hunnicutt, president of the group, said critics of the law, including the governor, are being deceptive when they say that timber companies and big developers are its primary beneficiaries.

Hunnicutt points to a partial analysis of Measure 37 claims by Portland State University, which shows that 72 percent of claimants want to subdivide their land into nine or fewer lots. The analysis, which is based on an examination of 40 percent of claims, also shows that about 4 in 10 claimants are asking for three or fewer lots. About 60 percent of all claims are for parcels of land that are smaller than 50 acres.

"This law is not being used by big, greedy multinational corporations," Hunnicutt said, adding that Measure 37 claims so far amount to 500,000 acres, less than 1 percent of Oregon's total land.

Hunnicutt did suggest that perhaps the legislature should step in and limit the minority of claims in which landowners and big companies are trying to use the law for major projects.

It is the middling land deals under Measure 37 that seem to generate the greatest amount of raw emotion. It happens when a property owner infuriates neighbors by trying to turn a once-protected patch of farmland or forest into a subdivision. In many parts of Oregon, Measure 37 has come to be known as the "Hate Your Neighbor Act."

Brian and Laurel Hines live south of Salem in a housing cluster with limited groundwater. Even under the best conditions, they say, home wells in the neighborhood are at risk of running low. Their neighbor, a farmer with 217 acres, recently proposed building more than 40 houses, each with its own well, on nearby land in the same watershed. The increased demand could tap out the groundwater.

The Hineses and their neighbors have pressured county officials to scale down the proposed subdivision to fewer than 30 houses. But they say it has cost them $20,000 in fees for lawyers and water experts -- and months of work, worry and short nights.

"It is neighbor against neighbor out here," Brian Hines said. "I'd like to think it isn't personal, but it is."