Sisters resident challenges Measure 37

Sisters resident Paul Lipscomb is challenging Measure 37 and his neighbor’s plans to develop a subdivision under the provisions of the new law.

Measure 37 was passed by Oregon voters last fall. It requires that property owners who have lost value because of land use regulation changes must either be granted waivers by the regulating government or be compensated for lost value.

The law was ruled unconstitutional by a Marion County circuit court judge last month. That decision will be reviewed by the Oregon Supreme Court next month (see related article, page 28).

Lipscomb, who is a Marion County judge, overturned a law similar to Measure 37 in 2000. Now he is challenging Measure 37, but this time as a private property owner.

He has filed a lawsuit against both the State of Oregon and the Cyrus family of Sisters. Earlier this year, Deschutes County commissioners granted that family a waiver to subdivide their farmland into five-acre plots.

In April 2004, Lipscomb and his wife purchased 20 acres in the Cloverdale area from Nugget publisher Eric Dolson, who also owns adjacent property.

The Lipscomb lawsuit states that the Cyrus family’s plans would reduce their property value and increase noise, claiming that “one of the principal reasons for the purchase of the property was its rural character.”

In an another twist, Judge Lipscomb’s case will likely be heard in Marion County since that is where lawsuits against the State of Oregon must be heard. Lipscomb is the presiding judge in that county, but would not be assigned the case because of standards set by Oregon’s judicial code requiring impartiality.

The case may be assigned to another judge from outside Marion County to avoid having Judge Lipscomb’s Marion County colleagues placed in the position of ruling for or against their presiding judge.

Neither Judge Lipscomb nor members of the Cyrus family were available to comment on the lawsuit.