Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Oregon Court of Appeals has sided with a woman who died after spending years battling Multnomah County over the use of her property. Rob Manning reports.

Dorothy English was the public face for Ballot Measure 37. The 2004 initiative required governments to waive rules or compensate property owners, if regulations reduced owners’ land values.

Measure 49 overhauled the law a year and a half ago. But the Oregon Court of Appeals has ruled that the new law did not resolve an ongoing dispute between English and Multnomah County.

At issue was whether the County had followed its legal obligation to lift all applicable land-use rules.

The Appeals Court's ruling in favor of English means the county has to pay the family $1.1 million. That may not be the end of the story, though.

Shawn Cunningham is with Multnomah County.

Shawn Cunningham: “Right now Multnomah County is considering whether or not it should pursue available legal avenues.”

The county’s remaining appeal would be to the Oregon Supreme Court. The Appeals Court decision reversed a lower court decision.