Measure 7 passage confounds officials

The passage of the measure requiring reimbursement to landowners if government zoning regulation reduces their property value has officials shaking their heads.

"Measure 7 is very vague and unclear about how it would work," said Deschutes County planning chief George Read. "For instance, in 1979, the county changed zoning (in some areas) permitting the lowering of lot sizes from 10 to a five-acre minimum."

According to Read, the county could hear from landowners who feel the lower lot size injured their property value.

He also fears other zoning laws, extending back to the first ones enacted in Deschutes County in 1973, may serve as a basis for claims.

Read explains that the county is being pulled in two different directions.

"On one side, we have the responsibility to enforce land-use ordinances," he said.

"But now, with this measure, we have a conflicting law that states we must compensate affected landowners."

Read acknowledges that the economic impact of the measure, applied to past land-use decisions, could be devastating.

"The legal costs to the county are going to be huge. And the impact of the measure statewide has been estimated as perhaps larger than the state budget of $5.5 billion," he said.

County Commissioner Tom DeWolf readily acknowledged the impending land-use crisis stemming from the passage of Measure 7.

"We're going to have lots of people asking themselves 'Did this (a zoning law) ruin my property value?'" the commissioner said.

DeWolf attributes the looming, almost inescapable legal battles resulting from the measure to the initiative process itself.

"There is a major problem with initiatives not being written clearly or concisely enough -- and people just can't see the unintended consequences," he said.

As an example, DeWolf pointed to tax measures enacted several years ago.

"Measure 47 was simple -- but flawed. Its solution was a much more complex Measure 50."

DeWolf said he feels the initiative process itself must be changed to avoid similar problems in the future.

"Once enough signatures have been gathered and a measure is qualified for the ballot, it should then go to a committee to determine if it passes legal muster, whether it is constitutional," he said.

Both DeWolf and Read expect long legal battles before Measure 7 ever takes effect.