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United States News Title: Supreme Court says yes to Measure 37 (Land use planning) Oregon's Supreme Court has resuscitated the controversial property rights law that could redefine rural Oregon. Measure 37 did not violate state and federal constitutions as a lower court thought, justices said Tuesday in a sweeping, unanimous opinion. Their decision - which will be dissected across the nation - jump starts more than 2,500 applications to develop land controlled by government regulations. "I'm surprised and relieved and hopeful again," said Ross Day of Oregonians In Action, the group that wrote Measure 37. "We had law, fact and common sense on our side. But I was still wondering if we were going to win." Measure 37 has remained one of Oregon's most contentious issues since voters approved it in November 2004. It is widely viewed as a shift in Oregon's unique approach to planning: reserving the country for agriculture, and concentrating people in cities. Oregonians from the coast to the Wallowa Mountains have applied to develop their land under Measure 37. Governments must either turn back the clock to rules in place when land was purchased, or pay for owners' financial loss. No money was set aside for cities, counties and state agencies to compensate claimants, meaning rules have been waived. The measure's chief opponents, 1000 Friends of Oregon, called on Oregon leaders Tuesday to come up with money for compensation under Measure 37. Otherwise, director Bob Stacey said, this state will mar a landscape protected by three decades of careful planning. His group spearheaded the legal case against Measure 37, focusing on potential damage to landowners near claimants. "The court has ruled," Stacey said. "But the people will decide whether this is fair." He said 1000 Friends will decide in the next few weeks whether to pursue a November 2006 ballot measure. His group has drafted proposals to prevent Measure 37 development that harms neighboring landowners. Tuesday's decision increases the odds that new homes and businesses will rise from the thousands of acres in question. Once the ruling is officially entered into court record, the state will begin responding to claims again - and allow waivers to be used, Oregon land-use director Lane Shetterly said. But even with the ruling, quibbles remain over how Measure 37 works. Legislators spent more than six months trying to sort out questions last year, but failed to compromise. Most significantly, it's unclear whether property owners can pass on new development rights when selling their land. Uncertainty has prompted bankers and builders to shy away from projects they'd normally jump at. In October, the focus shifted from how to use Measure 37 to whether it would exist at all. A Marion County circuit judge, Mary Mertens James, ruled that the property rights law violated state and federal constitutions. She said it took away the Legislature's power, gave longtime landowners an unfair advantage and shut other Oregonians out of the planning process. As chaos took hold, the Supreme Court put a rush order on the case. Justices hosted a 90-minute hearing in January and ruled just six weeks later - an exceptionally fast decision. And it was emphatic. Justices unanimously rejected each of James' grounds for overturning Measure 37, saying the law did not meet violate any part of the constitution. "Whether Measure 37 as a policy choice is wise or foolish, farsighted or blind, is beyond this court's purview," justices wrote. "Our only function in any case involving a constitutional challenge to an initiative measure is to ensure that the measure does not contravene any pertinent, applicable constitutional provisions." The decision will set the framework for a 10-member task force poised to review Oregon's land-use program. Shetterly, the state land-use director, said he knows Measure 37 will be on members' minds when they start meeting March 3. But state leaders have asked the task force to think more broadly, examining issues such as protecting the best farmland and planning for cities' growth. "We recognize that Measure 37 is part of the landscape now," Shetterly said. "It's out there. At the same time, the hope and expectation is that the land-use task force will not become the Measure 37 fix-it group."
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