Oregon Public Broadcasting

A panel of judges from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that approved claims under Oregon’s Measure 37 don’t trump a re-write of that land-use law, enacted in 2007.

When Measure 37 passed in 2004, it exempted landowners from most land-use restrictions that were enacted after they bought their property.

After thousands of property owners filed claims, legislators got voters to limit the development possibilities significantly, under Measure 49.

But in 2008, a group of property owners convinced a federal judge in Jackson County that Measure 37 claims were binding contracts with the government, and couldn’t be undone by Measure 49.

A panel of three Ninth Circuit judges has now disagreed, and reversed that lower court decision.

The brief Ninth Circuit opinion refers to a message Jackson County sent to Measure 37 claimants. It said there was no promise that property owners  “would be able to put their property to any particular use.”

The result is that claimants will now have to follow Measure 49, which generally allows them to build three homes.