Judge overturns Oregon property compensation law

The Seattle Times reports big news on the private rights front.Oregon's Measure 37 was declared unconstitutional by Marion County Circuit Judge Mary James:

Measure 37 requires that state and local governments either compensate land owners when regulations lower property values, or waive those rules. No statute in the country limits government's power to regulate land use more severely, and Measure 37's passage in Oregon, a state known nationally as a pioneer in land-use planning, rippled across the country.

The law allows landowners to seek compensation for regulations adopted any time after they acquired their property. In striking down Measure 37, James ruled that it violates equal-protection provisions of the Oregon Constitution because different laws would apply to different property owners based only on when they bought their land.

She also said Measure 37 unconstitutionally intrudes on legislative authority to adopt rules to protect public health, welfare and safety.

More than 2,000 claims for compensation or waivers under Measure 37 have been filed so far, mostly by property owners wanting to subdivide or build houses on rural land where such development is now forbidden.

There's no limit on what the state wants to do in the name of "health and safety".This is a situation to watch because it strikes at the concept of eminent domain.