Measure 37 and the dash for cash!

Measure 37 was passed for the supposed "protection" of elderly property owners--Dorothy English, for one-- and family farmers.  The latter is an even more egregious distortion of the truth.  The Family Farm Preservation PAC was dreamed up by Oregonians in Action head honcho Dave Hunnicutt to raise large amounts of money, not from family farmers (who generally opposed Measure 37), but from developers and timber interests whose sole concern was in overturning Oregon's protection of farm and timberlands.

In practice, the property rights measure has turned into an even more sordid "dash for cash" by the hucksters who seem to believe they've won the property rights megabucks lottery.  The thousand or so claims filed so far under Measure 37 have included proposals for strip malls, major commercial developments, shopping centers, and even a gambling casino, all on previously protected rural land.  And we were told it was all about the right of farmers to build homes on the land they tilled.

Now even urban zoning is under assault by small time realtors and developers, like Augustine Calcagno.  Mr. Calcagno claims that his retirement secrity has been diminished by changes in zoning rules proposed by his North Portland neighbors:

"The problem wasn’t some environmental regulation but new zoning rules approved by his neighbors in the St. Johns/Lombard Plan, the product of a three-year process involving community meetings, public hearings and the approval of the Planning Commission and the City Council. Of the 14 Measure 37 claims filed in Portland so far, his is the first to challenge rules drafted by neighborhood consensus."

Measure 37, as I suggesed in my last post, has unleashed the forces of greed and selfishness long held in check by the the most basic of land use regulations.  As the Tribune article points out, that's what the property rights revolution has come down to:

"No other Portland case better illustrates the tensions inherent in the property rights measure passed by voters in November. Who wins when the wishes of the community conflict with the interests of an individual?"

In a spin worthy of the best political operatives, Augustine Calcagno blames it all on the city:

" 'It didn’t make any difference what the people wanted,' Calcagno said. 'The city doesn’t care what the people want or what’s fair.' ”

That's bound to garner sympathy from those who love to hate City Hall.  But let me set the record straight:

It was your neighbors, Mr. Calcagno, people concerned about their community, who pushed for the zoning changes.  Not the evil, soulless bureaucrats who work for the city of Portland.

As I wrote back in November, the evils of Measure 37 keep finding new and improved ways of manifesting themselves.

Comments

[WiseMaura23]

I guess that to receive the personal loans from creditors you must present a great reason. However, once I've received a auto loan, just because I was willing to buy a building.