OIA seeks Measure 49 relief through legislative process
From our weekly issue dated February 18, 2009
Dave Hunnicutt
An update on legislation being proposed at the state capitol in Salem was provided by Dave Hunnicutt, president of the Tigard-based property rights group Oregonians in Action (OIA), in Grants Pass.
Approximately 50 people were in attendance at the Guild Building in Grants Pass on Thursday evening, Feb. 12 as Hunnicutt discussed the current state of property rights under Measure 49, approved by voters in 2007. M49 claimants have three options, Hunnicutt said.
The first is for property owners to claim that they’ve proceeded far enough with their Measure 37 claims to be “vested.” Hunnicutt said that of the 7,500 M37 claims filed statewide, between 100 and 200 have gone through the vesting process, which is being handled by the appropriate counties.
OIA has been “fairly successful” at proving vesting among those claimants, Hunnicutt said. However, he added that it’s “typically an expensive process, it’s time consuming, and the results are uncertain.”
A second option for claimants is a conditional path that allows for between four to 10 homes on a property. Hunnicutt referred to this as the “impossible dream,” noting that the state has yet to approve any of those kinds of claims.
“And I don’t think they will,” he said.
The third option is to file for the “express lane” established by the state for persons wanting to put one to three homes on a piece of property. Hunnicutt stated that approximately 4,800 M49 claims have been filed in Oregon, meaning that the owners of some 2,700 M37 claims “just gave up.”
Of those 4,800 M49 claims, Hunnicutt said that 95 percent were for the “express lane,” but that the state has ruled only on around 300.
He said that on Monday, Feb. 9, he met with Oregon Dept. of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) Director Richard Whitman about ways to speed the process used by that agency to handle M49 claims. DLCD projects that it will be finished with all those claims by June 2010, Hunnicutt related.
“I don’t think that’s possible,” he said. “I don’t think they’ll get there from here.
Hunnicutt said that in order to accelerate the handling of M49 claims, the state could approve all the M37 claims it has on file, let counties review claims that the state Dept. of Justice is looking at and direct more funds to DLCD to hire more claims processors. However, that last scenario is extremely unlikely due to the state’s continuing budget woes, he said.
The state has identified five categories of persons whose M49 claims have been denied, and OIA has identified three, Hunnicutt said.
Approximately 20 claimants filed M37 claims with the state, but not with their counties, he said, and 20 have properties located outside an Urban Growth Boundary (UGB), but within city limits.
“They will get nothing under Measure 49,” Hunnicutt said. There are 105 residents who filed M37 claims with the state after Dec. 4, 2006; and 124 who filed their claims late.
“Under the language of Measure 49, all of those claims are going to be denied,” Hunnicutt said.
The OIA leader reported that an additional 120 citizens filed for the “conditional” path allowing between four and 10 homes, but didn’t turn in appraisals of their properties within 180 days of filing. There are also those who filed claims with their counties, but not with the state.
“The state has no idea how many people are in that boat,” Hunnicutt said. “They have no record that you ever filed a Measure 37 claim.” And between 300 and 500 claimants fit in that category, he said.
Additionally, there are a handful of people whose properties are bisected by or inside of a UGB.
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Also discussed during the gathering were several bills being proposed during the current legislative session.
House Bill 2229 would implement the recommendations of the Big Look Task Force, the group assembled in 2005 to examine the state’s land-use laws.
“I think HB 2229 in its present form is going nowhere,” Hunnicutt said.
He said that several powerful and diverse groups are opposed to the bill. They include, he said, 1000 Friends of Oregon, the Oregon Homebuilders Association, the Oregon Farm Bureau and various city governments and planners.
Senate Bill 430 would ban all new destination resorts in the state, Hunnicutt said, and OIA plans to fight it “tooth and nail.”
HB 2437 would call for ODOT to conduct a $150,000 feasibility study on the cost of constructing a freeway from Coos Bay to Bend to Ontario and submit it to the 2011 Legislature.
Hunnicutt said that bill has a “really good chance of passing,” and is being supported by the states of Idaho and Utah.
“We’re very excited about that bill,” he said.
Hunnicutt said that OIA has been making progress on property rights issues in the state, despite being vastly outspent by increasingly powerful environmental groups.
“We are on the right side of the issue,” Hunnicutt said. “We have the high moral ground.”
The OIA leader also expressed optimism that the legislative session may prove positive for Oregon property owners.
“I know for a fact that we are going to get some Measure 49 relief,” he said.
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