Oregon Public Broadcasting

The gray area between what Oregon property owners can and can’t do with their land may have gotten a little clearer Thursday, thanks to a Clackamas County circuit judge. Rob Manning reports.

When Measure 49 passed last year, it limited what property owners could do with their land, under the sweeping property compensation initative, Measure 37.

But since then, some property owners have tested Measure 49’s limits by forging ahead under the old rules, claiming their developments were too far along to suddenly scale back.

A proposed Clackamas County development called “Tumwater at Pete’s Mountain” led the charge to test what can be called “vested” and therefore go forward.

Circuit Court Judge Timothy Alexander has now ruled that Tumwater is not “vested.”

He ruled that because the developer -- rather than the owners -- spent money, the project couldn’t be vested. And, the judge said that the  $1.3 million the developer spent was insufficient, anyway.

The developer could appeal, and if he does, an Appeals' Court decision could affect cases across Oregon.