Posted: 02/24/2006
Oregon High Court Protects Property Owner Rights
"Oregon sets an example to the rest of the nation," says NCPA E-Team Scholar
DALLAS (February 20, 2006) - NCPA Senior Fellow H. Sterling Burnett calls on other states to look to Oregon as a leader in the area of property rights. The Oregon Supreme Court voted unanimously to uphold a ballot initiative, passed by voters in 2004, that allows citizens to receive a waiver from strict land use laws passed after a landowner buys the property.
"This ruling promises to City and county zoning and growth management boards in the state will now have to carefully tailor their rules so as not to unduly restrict people's legitimate uses of their property - or pay the price for not doing so," said Dr. Burnett. "This is legally sound under the 5th Amendment to the Constitution and is good policy to boot as it ensures that the public pays for any benefits they hope to receive by restricting people's use of their property."
Oregon is notorious for having amongst the strongest growth restrictions in the nation. Many landowners would buy property only to have use of that property restricted by laws passed by state and local governments after the fact.
In response, those landowners joined together to push for a ballot initiative forcing state and local governments to compensate landowners or allow them to develop their land. The measure requires the government to issue a waiver for the restrictions if unable to pay the property owner for the value of the land forgone due to the land-use regulation. Since passing the initiative in 2004, nearly 2,500 individuals applied for compensation or waivers.
The lower court overturned the law stating that it violated the federal and state constitutions by restricting the Legislature's power. The Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments on the case in January and took only six weeks to issue a ruling. The court held that the law did not prevent the Legislature from enacting new land use statutes and as such, did not violate the constitution.
"One can only hope, that with this law on the books and this decision as precedent, similar legislation will be enacted in other states - finally beginning to reign in state and local excesses concerning land use controls," said Dr. Burnett.