Archived News Articles
Bob Stacey has more than a 1000 friends
Even as he joins an elite group of land-use planners, head of 1000 Friends of Oregon prefers to keep feet on ground and nose to grindstone
Posted: Monday, April 28, 2008
By Tyler Graf
Bob Stacey is both a lawyer and a certified city planner. But as the executive director of 1000 Friends of Oregon, the non-profit organization working to maintain the state’s unique urban growth system, his ambitions and his recognition remain on the planning end.
- [Read more]
Counties join to cut emissions by 80%
Warming - Multnomah and Clackamas first in state to sign on
April 16, 2008
The Oregonian
Multnomah and Clackamas County officials have pledged to fight global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2050.
Each board of commissioners passed resolutions last week codifying the effort, which will begin with an inventory of emissions generated by county operations.
With the resolution, the counties became part of the Sierra Club's Cool Counties Climate Stabilization Declaration. The two counties are the first in Oregon to sign onto the initiative.
- [Read more]
Stafford's future taking shape
Land use - After months of negotiations, a coalition moves closer to a vision statement
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
DANA TIMS
The Oregonian
A fragile coalition of landowners, in an area that has long pitted pro-growth forces against those favoring open spaces and preservation, is ready to take a major step in a process now guided by mediation and self-governance.
A series of 10 neighborhood meetings in the 3,900-acre Stafford basin south of Lake Oswego will culminate next weekend in a town hall meeting. Discussions at the meeting Saturday could go a long way toward producing the vision statement expected to steer the area's future.
- [Read more]
Confronting Climate Change
Thursday, April 10, 2008
The Oregonian
The connection between climate change and our health has not been highlighted in the lively media discussions of those issues, but it's time to recognize that climate change has and will continue to have direct consequences for the health of our families, our children and our communities.
The scientific community has started to understand more about the negative impacts of climate change on our health. A recent story in The Washington Post put it succinctly: "Depending on where you are, this is going to be a hotter, wetter, drier, windier, calmer, dirtier, buggier or hungrier century than mankind has seen in a while. In some places, it may be deadlier, too."
- [Read more]
To serve and not protect
The Gorge Commission imperils what it should improve
Thursday, April 10, 2008
The Oregonian
The Columbia River Gorge Commission gazed upon a glorious opportunity this week -- then squandered it. Instead of taking the win that was right there on Tuesday's table, the commission set a course for years of litigation and ongoing degradation of the asset it is charged to protect.
- [Read more]
Jamming LNG down our throats
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
The Oregonian
The relentless campaign to plant liquefied-natural-gas terminals and pipelines in Oregon has little to do with the state's need for the sludge and everything to do with the state's inability to defend itself when the energy giants are prowling for profits.
"This stuff hasn't landed on us by coincidence," said Ron Sadler of North Bend, a 34-year veteran of the Bureau of Land Management. "The energy industry is following the line of least resistance."
- [Read more]
Wyden tries to reassert states' authority on LNG projects
The Oregon senator wants to repeal a section of the 2005 Energy Act that gives licensing authority to FERC
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
TED SICKINGER
The Oregonian
Sen. Ron Wyden has recruited a powerful group of peers in a renewed attempt to wrest back state authority for licensing liquefied natural gas terminals from federal energy regulators.
With the backing of presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as well as Connecticut Sens. Christopher Dodd and Joe Lieberman, Wyden introduced a bill Monday to repeal a section of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that pre-empted state authority for licensing LNG terminals and gave it to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The outcome of the legislative drive could determine whether state or federal governments hold sway over LNG projects seeking a toehold in Oregon and what economic and environmental factors each might have to consider.
- [Read more]
Keeping tabs on greenhouse gas
Environment - At least 600 Oregon companies would come under the purview of a proposed mandatory reporting rule
April 04, 2008
The Oregonian
Oregon plans to require more than 600 industries and utilities, from Portland General Electric and Intel to plywood and paper mills, to begin reporting greenhouse gas emissions.
- [Read more]
Growth worries pile up over I-5 bridge project
Some fear the Columbia River Crossing will add to sprawl and pollution
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The Oregonian
The governors of Oregon and Washington and the U.S. transportation secretary have called fixing the Interstate 5 traffic bottleneck at the Columbia River a top priority for the nation and the Northwest.
The $4.2 billion Columbia River Crossing bridge project could unclog congestion that inhibits freight movement, causes a high accident rate and slows mass transit to a crawl.
But in easing I-5 congestion -- and absorbing more traffic -- the region faces thorny questions that could influence growth for decades to come:
- [Read more]
Before building it, tell us who'll pay for it
March 25, 2008
The Oregonian
Most everyone, it seems, is in favor of a new Interstate 5 bridge. But missing from the conversation is any honest discussion of who will pay for it.
Of the estimated $4 billion price tag, exactly one-half of one percent -- $20 million -- has been identified. The other 99.5 percent will have to come from somewhere else -- from new taxes or tolls.
So how much will these taxes and tolls be? And who will pay them? Advocates of the Columbia River Crossing have spent tens of millions of dollars on consultants, but so far have only a four-page "draft" financial plan hinting at the answers.
- [Read more]
Want to aid climate? Fix land use, groups say
Environment - An effort in the western U.S. and Canada to cut greenhouse gases starts with less than half the sources
March 24, 2008
ERIC MORTENSON
The Oregonian
Three Oregon environmental groups are calling on state transportation and land-use commissions to set goals and adopt policies that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by cutting back on car and truck travel in the state.
- [Read more]
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Climate plan phases approach
Environment - An effort in the western U.S. and Canada to cut greenhouse gases starts with less than half the sources
March 12, 2008
SCOTT LEARN
The Oregonian
The first pass at a greenhouse gas reduction plan for Oregon and the rest of the western United States and Canada doesn't include autos, agriculture, forestry or natural gas use, leaving out more than half the emissions generated in the West.
- [Read more]
A new look at land use An Oregon task force resumes its work after a one-year hiatus
DAVID STEVES
The Register-Guard
March 11, 2008
Nobody was trying to keep a big-box store out of town. There were no emotional property-rights ballot measures. People worried about whether they could get rationed gas for their cars — not whether they should ration the emissions that came out.
That’s how it was in 1973, the year Oregon’s land use planning system was born.
But since then, much has changed. Oregon’s population has grown by more than 1 million and is on pace to have doubled by 2025. As more residents come to Oregon, more farmers and forestland owners are looking to get out of the natural-resources business — with the hopes of converting their rural lands into subdivisions, resorts and commercial developments.
- [Read more]
Is the valley going to lose its best farmland?
Mail Tribune
March 09, 2008
Local farms have been an economic foundation for the good in Bear Creek Valley. The annual farm gate income in the county has reached over $82 million. The seven cities in the Bear Creek Valley are the principal beneficiaries of this income, but growth of these seven cities threatens the industry unless we protect the land the industry depends on from development.
In the mid 1990s, concerned Bear Creek Valley citizens who recognized we live in a special place created what became the Regional Problem Solving Project (RPS). Recognizing that the cities would continue to grow, the goal was to create a plan that would accommodate that growth while protecting the land the agriculture industry needs to survive. First, they set out to identify the most critical of those lands we should not grow into, and then to decide where the cities should grow.
- [Read more]
Climate change won't wait for Oregon
The Oregonian
March 4, 2008
Oregon must immediately plan for a rapidly changing climate and develop an economy that produces far less greenhouse gases if the state is to withstand wrenching changes in its economy and landscape, a special task force reported to the governor.
Most businesses, households and government agencies lack the information and capacity to plan for and adapt to climate change that may proceed faster than many have predicted, the task force said.
The panel recommended that climate change effects be figured into planning efforts such as those affecting land use and transportation.
Gov. Ted Kulongoski appointed the Climate Change Integration Group to provide direction for the state in addressing global warming. The panel outlined the scale and dimensions of the challenge in a newly released 116-page report to the governor.
[Read more]
Oregon ag industry linked to $25.8 billion in sales, says OSU report
OSU Extension News
February 26, 2008
Oregon's agriculture industry is directly and indirectly linked to $25.8 billion in sales of goods and services, accounting for 10.6 percent of the statewide total, according to a report just released from Oregon State University.
The report, the first since 2000 to assess agriculture's economic ripple effect on the state, also found that Oregon's agriculture industry directly or indirectly supported 214,511 full- or part-time jobs, making up 10.1 percent of total positions.
"Agriculture makes a significant economic contribution to the state,” said OSU Extension economist Bruce Weber. “This impact reaches across the state and into sectors that are not directly connected to agriculture. What happens in agriculture has ripple effects throughout the economy."
[Read more]
Building a bridge to the past?
Steve Duin
The Oregonian
February 26, 2008
Apparently, I need a little help with the math on the Columbia River Crossing:
The $4 billion bridge will shave 10 minutes off the commute to Clark County . . . and add 20 years to that fabled effort to dramatically reduce greenhouse gases in Oregon and Washington?
Those 10-12 lanes at the state line will funnel into four lanes at the Rose Garden . . . and still reduce the legendary I-5 bottleneck?
[Read more]
Bridging the global warming gap
Dylan Rivera
The Oregonian
February 24, 2008
Builders of a new Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River will have to keep from hurting endangered fish and make sure air pollution from many more vehicles stays within federal limits.
But Portland and Vancouver officials have one more worry: They want to be sure a vastly expanded bridge does not result in boosted carbon dioxide emissions that worsen global warming.
No law requires this of Oregon and Washington, builders of the $4.2 billion Columbia River Crossing. But climate change is such a concern that Northwest officials have asked that federal environmental reviews take into account how much greenhouse gas would be produced by the thousands of cars and light rail trips that would occur daily if the bridge is built.
[Read more]
Oregon ag director says water is a top priority for governor
Mitch Lies
Capital Press
February 21, 2008
SALEM - Agriculture Department Director Katy Coba said at a grass seed grower meeting here Thursday that Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski has identified water storage as one of four priorities he will be pushing in the 2009 legislative session.
The announcement, coming on top of the governor's support of the Agriculture Community Water Act, which is moving smoothly through the Legislature special session currently under way, signals a change in policy that could benefit a farm community, Coba said.
[Read more]
Salem rally marks new stage in pipeline fight
Opponents gather support from politicians, attention from media Wednesday
February 08, 2008
By Nick Christensen
The Hillsboro Argus
SALEM - It was more evolution than revolution, a symbolic step forward as area residents try to keep natural gas terminals and pipelines out of Oregon.
But Wednesday's rally on the steps of the state Capitol was a big step, and it marked a new stage in the fight against at least two pipelines and three terminals planned for the western half of the state.
About 300 people attended the rally, which lasted over two hours as more than a dozen speakers talked about why the gas proposals are wrong for Oregon.
[Read more]
Legal tangles cloud land-use law
Measure 49 - Courts are weighing in on cases involving those who have claims under Measure 37
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
The Oregonian
As if voters had tossed a match into the fireworks box in passing Measure 49, land-use lawsuits, court decisions and county ordinances are popping all over.
The state Land Use Board of Appeals in late January overturned Jefferson County's approval of a 60-lot subdivision, in part because the original property owner died, and the development right he won under Measure 37, the 2004 property rights initiative that Measure 49 amended, couldn't be transferred to his son.
That followed a decision by a Multnomah County judge who reversed a $750,000 damage award he'd previously granted a Northwest Portland couple. The judge ruled that Measure 49, which rolled back the development rights allowed under the earlier Measure 37, could be applied retroactively and made the couple's case moot.
[Read more]
Legislation may take another look at the "Big Look"
By Flynn Espe
February 4, 2008
The East Oregonian
As Oregon lawmakers convene in Salem to determine the state budget, many anticipate refunding of the "Big Look" Task Force, a citizens group charged with examining and making recommended changes to the state's land use system.
After several failed attempts to make system changes during previous legislative sessions, Senate Bill 82 created the 10-member task force in 2005, charging them to prepare their findings for the 2009 session.
At the end of the 2007 session, however, legislators cut funding to the task force, saying the group should not interfere with ballot Measure 49 campaign efforts. That measure passed in November.
[Read more]
Governor will woo Europe for eco-friendly industry
Energy - Ted Kulongoski will look for investors after flying Northwest's first nonstop flight to Amsterdam
February 01, 2008
The Oregonian
SALEM -- Gov. Ted Kulongoski plans to ride Northwest Airlines' first nonstop flight from Portland to Amsterdam on March 29, courting European companies considering big investments in Oregon.
Kulongoski's aides say he'll meet with manufacturers eyeing the state for solar- and wind-industry plants whose presence could spawn thousands of jobs in Oregon's growing renewable-energy sector. The governor will visit the capital of the Netherlands, Germany and possibly other countries.
[Read more]
Bradbury says LNG 'dirty fuel' for state
Liquefied natural gas - The official says a terminal anywhere would take Oregon "180 degrees in the wrong direction"
Friday, February 01, 2008
The Oregonian
Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury is the first high-ranking state executive to voice firm opposition to construction of any liquefied natural-gas terminal in Oregon.
Speaking at a global warming forum Wednesday in Forest Grove, Bradbury said he believed the facilities would take the state "180 degrees the wrong direction," increasing its dependence on fossil fuels just as the state has launched an effort to sharply increase the use of renewable energy, such as wind and solar.
Bradbury's stance is the latest sign that LNG is fast becoming a political hot potato in Oregon.
[Read more]
Climate teach-in draws 3,200
College event - Students question the governor and other officials about policies to deal with global warming
February 01, 2008
The Oregonian
About 3,200 people turned out Thursday night at the University of Portland to show lawmakers that voters, especially young voters, want action to curb global warming.
College students passionate about the issue produced the event, broadcast live on Oregon Public Broadcasting radio and moderated by Sandra Tsing Loh, a public radio personality.
The gathering was part of a nationwide teach-in on global warming called "Focus the Nation," which unfolded Thursday at more than 1,700 sites, mostly colleges and universities. Other students showed up at UP's Chiles Center with no environmental agenda but plenty of curiosity.
[Read more]
Green economy a key focus
January 31, 2008
The Olympian
The battle against global warming is an opportunity to create a new, green economy, members of the state's Climate Advisory Team said Wednesday.
Tripling the number of jobs in the clean-energy economy by 2020 is one of the team's goals and a key measure in 2008 climate legislation introduced by Gov. Chris Gregoire.
"That means 25,000 more green jobs by 2020," Julie Wilkerson, director of the state Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development, told The Olympian's editorial board Wednesday.
[Read more]
Gregoire: Study land-use changes
January 28, 2008
Komotv.com
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Gov. Chris Gregoire, urging Washington residents to "step up again" for storm and flood victims, said Monday that the state should study changes in forest practices and land-use zoning as part of the response to last month's deadly flooding.
Gregoire said she doesn't want to see a lot of finger-pointing. But she said she wants to know more about how humans made the flooding worse, and what changes might help avoid a repeat.
[Read More]
Governor names members of climate change panel
Conservation - Ted Kulongoski wants the advisers to focus on aggressive measures
Friday, January 25, 2008
The Oregonian
Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski said Thursday he wants a new state climate change commission to focus on aggressive conservation measures, green building, a carbon "cap-and-trade" system and looming water shortages.
The governor also announced his appointments to the advisory group, which the Legislature authorized last year. The Oregon Global Warming Commission includes utility leaders, environmentalists, a forest land owner and an executive with R.B. Pamplin, the owner of Ross Island.
[read more]
State's top industries warm to Gregoire's climate change legislation
January 24, 2008
Columbian
Many of the state's largest industries testified here Wednesday that they are willing to support - with reservations - landmark legislation requiring them to measure and report greenhouse gas emissions, join a national registry of polluters, and live with new statewide emission limits.
Gov. Chris Gregoire's climate change bill, heard Wednesday by committees in both the House and Senate, also would direct the Department of Ecology to design a cap-and-trade system for limiting carbon emissions that could become a model for a regional system covering several Western states and Canadian provinces. The design would be submitted to the 2009 Legislature for enactment into law.
[read more]
Metro, counties will get to set growth areas
Land use
The hard part will be choosing which land will have houses and which will stay rural
January 25, 2008
The Oregonian
The state Land Conservation and Development Commission approved rules Thursday that allow Metro and three counties to determine which land is developed and which is farmed for the next 40 to 50 years.
The new system of designating urban and rural reserves could replace the current system of expanding the urban growth boundary every few years.
Farmers strongly supported creation of rural reserves, saying agriculture needs the certainty of a stable land base as Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties grow. Builders also backed it.
[read more]
Only so much land in gorge
Population is soaring, but to expand, The Dalles might have to battle Congress and its 1986 land protection act
January 20, 2008
The Oregonian
Just seven square miles in size, this skinny, crescent-shaped agricultural city is searching for the answer to the question that may set Columbia River Gorge precedent: How do we accommodate population growth?
The Dalles is the first city in the gorge looking to significantly expand its 20-year land supply, or urban growth boundary. The effort also marks the first time city, county and state officials will be asked how -- or if -- large-scale growth can occur in the gorge.
City leaders say available property in The Dalles is running dangerously low, and 55 percent more land is needed to accommodate growth by 2026. But expansion would infringe on land federally protected by the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area Act.
[read more]
Fisheries agency advises against LNG site permits
January 19, 2008
The Oregonian
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For the time being, the National Marine Fisheries Service has recommended that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deny a dredging permit to a controversial liquefied natural gas terminal that has been proposed on the Columbia River upriver from Astoria.
In comments filed Friday on the federal energy regulators' Web site, the marine fisheries agency said NorthernStar Natural Gas Inc.'s application for a permit for its proposed Bradwood Landing terminal was so deficient that it should submit a new one and that the corps should consider issuing another public notice for comment.
The fisheries agency said construction of the terminal would have a heavy impact on salmon and other endangered species, and that a thorough analysis was required of alternatives that would have less adverse effects.
[read more]
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Gregoire urges fast action on climate change measure
January 14, 2008
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
On the first day of the 2008 legislative session, Gov. Chris Gregoire announced a multifaceted climate change bill that could dramatically reshape the state's economy.
The legislation proposed Monday would lay the groundwork for concrete limits on greenhouse gas emissions beginning in 2012. It would give the state Department of Ecology the authority to regulate those emissions.
It would require big polluters to track their carbon dioxide releases beginning next year, with annual emissions reports starting in 2010.
[read more]
'Reserves' offer growth clarity
January 2 , 2008
The Oregonian
Faced with accommodating the urban area's growing population while protecting its verdant farmland, Metro and its member counties are deciding which land will grow crops and which will sprout houses for the next 40 to 50 years.
The 2007 Legislature empowered Metro to designate "urban reserves" of land that will be developed. It also authorized Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties to designate "rural reserves" deemed crucial to the agricultural economy or to the protection of natural resources, including water quality and wildlife habitat.
[read more]
Farmers fight central Oregon resorts
December 31, 2007
The Oregonian
It's dark enough on this December night that the yellow glow coming from the windows of the Powell Butte Community Center barely lights the gravel parking lot filled with sedans, pickups and SUVs.
Inside, about 40 farmers, retirees and others who live in this unincorporated community west of Prineville are thinking of ways to stop the growth of destination resorts in their central Oregon home.
[read more]
Governor: 'Incomplete and flawed'
December 19, 2007
The Daily Astorian
"Incomplete and flawed."
That's how Gov. Ted Kulongoski described the federal environmental review of the proposed liquefied natural gas terminal at Bradwood Landing.
In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released Tuesday, the governor listed his concerns about the Bradwood project, proposed for a site 20 miles east of Astoria on the Columbia River.
[read more]
The hot air and cold facts that show we’ve wasted a decade since the Kyoto global warming conference.
December 7, 2007
Willamette Week
A decade ago, the world’s leaders jetted to Kyoto, Japan, on a mission to do something more than gripe about the weather. They aimed to negotiate a compact to fight global warming.
Two articles about why so little has changed in 10 years along with quotes from politicians and policy wonks.
[read more]
Big, wet storms may become new 'normal'
December 06, 2007
The Oregonian
The steamy tropical belt around Earth's midsection, birthplace of the powerful storm that pounded the Northwest this week, is expanding much faster than scientists studying global warming expected.
It's now as wide as climate models suggested it would be at the end of this century, new research shows. The rapid growth is another sign that bigger storms carrying more rain may become the new "normal" in the Northwest, especially in fall and early winter.
[read more]
Applegate gravel pit project hits roadblock
Dec. 06, 2007
Mail Tribune
Winery owners and other neighbors have prevailed in appeals to stop plans for a gravel pit in the Applegate Valley.
A Jackson County hearings officer decided that neither the traffic plan nor a flood plain study for a proposed aggregate mine at the Krouse Ranch were adequate. He denied the applications that would be needed for the proposed pit.
[read more]
More Freeways -
Our local response to global warming
December 6, 2007
Eugene Weekly
The Metropolitan Policy Committee (MPC) voted Nov. 8 to approve a half-billion-dollar Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) focused largely on building more and more freeways to promote urban sprawl with more and more traffic belching out carbon dioxide, the leading cause of global warming.
[read more]
[WA] Governor's team recommends 47 ways to cut greenhouse gases
December 5, 2007
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Tolls for busy roadways, higher energy-efficiency standards for new buildings and increased recycling and composting are all top picks for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, as selected by the state's Climate Advisory Team.
Now someone just has to get them done.
[read more]
Our energy future isn't spelled L-N-G
The Oregonian
Dec. 03, 2007
If LNG is safe, why were similar proposals turned down by Tijuana, Mexico, and Oxnard and Eureka, Calif.? Why would there be wide exclusion zones around incoming ships that would require shutting down other commerce on the lower Columbia River? Why bring one of the most dangerous ocean-going cargoes across the West Coast's most dangerous bar? Why tempt terrorists with such a vulnerable target entering the West Coast's port with the least amount of security?
[read more]
28-lot Clatsop County proposal tests Measure 49
The Oregonian
Dec. 04, 2007
State laws - A Measure 37 bid illustrates the confusion over putting into effect newly passed land-use changes
If the weather permits a hearing in Astoria today, the Clatsop County Planning Commission may ignore the advice of county staff and approve a couple's Measure 37 bid to build a 28-lot subdivision.
[read more]
Who knows where the gas will go?
November 27, 2007
The Daily Astorian
The Palomar pipeline has raised tensions in Clatsop County because of its ties to the Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas project, the front-runner of the three LNG terminals proposed in Oregon. It's also raised questions about the federal approval process, because a competing LNG company, Oregon LNG, has proposed a similar pipeline to Palomar - in some places crossing the very same properties - that would deliver gas from its LNG terminal in Warrenton.
There are two leading LNG terminal proposals in Clatsop County: One in Warrenton on the Skipanon Peninsula and another at Bradwood, 20 miles east of Astoria. Now, there are also three pipeline proposals, two of which traverse the county on their way toward the Northwest Natural gas hub in Molalla.
With pipeline routes constantly shifting and companies ultimately relying on eminent domain rules to push their projects through private property, landowners are left wondering what they can do to protect their investments.
[read more]
Support building to restore state's land-use image
The Associated Press
Nov. 25, 2007
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Once, Oregon was known for the way it protected farms and forests while it carefully planned where to put all the newcomers.
But after three decades of growth and top-dollar bickering, a cross section of Oregon's leadership wants to restore the state's visionary reputation.
Support is building to revive a "Big Look" task force that had begun reviewing Oregon's land policies before the Legislature yanked its funding.
[read more]
Gas pipeline at odds with Oregon’s land use legacy
Guest editorial by Bob Stacey
Forest Grove News Times
Nov 21, 2007
Liquefied Natural Gas pipelines and terminals threaten livable urban and rural communities, family farms and forests, and natural and scenic areas across Oregon.
[read more]
Saluting some forward-looking votes across the land
Houston Chronicle
November 16, 2007
Can today's Americans make wise choices for the futures of their communities? Accept some current pain for gains down the road? Think long-term?
Too often, the answer seems "no." Although in a string of referendum votes across the country last week, glimpses of refreshing farsightedness shone through.
[read more]
Deliver on Measure 49
The Register - Guard
November 16, 2007
Before last week’s election, opponents of Measure 49 warned that its real intent was to turn back the land use clock to before 2004 when voters approved the Measure 37 property rights law.
Now, it’s up to local governments and the state to prove those critics wrong.
[read more]
Work yet to be done on land use law
The Register - Guard
November 12, 2007
SALEM — Don’t think voters’ decision last Tuesday to replace the Measure 37 property rights law with Measure 49’s property-rights-lite means Oregonians are done fighting over their elaborate land use planning system.
If anything, the vote has stirred up more talk about what to do with the system that sharply restricts development on farmland and forests, and draws sprawl-limiting boundaries around cities.
[read more]
An express lane, and make it snappy
The Oregonian Editorial
November 12, 2007
An express lane implicitly promises swift service to people with fewer items. When it doesn't work this way, customers wind up feeling snookered.
This is something state and local governments need to keep in mind in the wake of last week's election. Although they may not see themselves as minding a store (and some aren't used to thinking much about customer service), the resounding success of Measure 49 owes quite a bit to a clever metaphor drawn from grocery shopping.
[read more]
Co-author of Measure 49 to head state agency
The Oregonian
November 10, 2007
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A longtime Oregon Department of Justice attorney who helped author the Measure 49 land use referendum will become head of the Department of Land Conservation and Development on Jan. 2.
Richard Whitman, 51, an experienced land use attorney, will replace Lane Shetterly, who returned to his family's law practice in August.
Whitman's appointment was praised by organizations that seldom agree -- the conservationist 1000 Friends of Oregon and the property rights group Oregonians in Action.
[read more]
Oregon Gets It Right
by
Eric de Place,
Sightline Institute
Oregon residents just took a huge step toward reclaiming their crown as America's smart growth leaders. On Tuesday, voters handed an astonishing victory to Measure 49 -- it passed easily, with 62 percent of the vote.
[read more]
Oregon's landscape shifts again
By David Steves,
The Register - Guard
Wednesday was the first day in post-Measure 49 Oregon. And although its approval in Tuesday’s election means a scaling back of the more far-reaching development rights under the old Measure 37, the strong sentiments on both sides of the issue remained as sharp as ever.
“We are ecstatic,” is how Kristi Holaas of Creswell described the feeling among her group of rural neighbors who had been fighting a Measure 37 proposal to build a 157-home development between Pleasant Hill and Creswell.
[read more]
Measure 49 vote revives interest in land-use task force
By Peter Wong,
Statesman Journal
A state task force that is supposed to look more broadly at Oregon's land-use planning system is about to get a second life.
[read more]
Voters approve land-use rules changes
By Eric Mortenson, Oregonian
Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved Measure 49 Tuesday, rolling back the property development rights approved just three years earlier.
[read more]
Measure 49 passes big in Linn, Benton
By Alex Paul,
Albany Democrat-Herald
Linn and Benton county voters overwhelmingly sided with the majority of Oregonians who want to redefine Oregon’s land use laws in voting in favor of Measure 49. Statewide the measure passed 572,997 to 361,555.
[read more]
Restrictions didn't hurt land values
By William K. Jaeger and Andrew J. Plantinga, The Medford Mail-Tribune
The premise of Measure 37 is that Oregon's land-use regulations have reduced property values. This, in the view of its supporters, entitles landowner to just compensation or waivers of regulations. Oregonians in Action, the chief opponent of Measure 49, asserts that "the planning system lowers the value of private property in Oregon by $5.4 billion a year."
We decided to look for evidence. Impacts of this magnitude should be easy to find considering that the annual value from all farmland in Oregon is, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about $1 billion.
[read more]
Founder of the Bus Project exhorts ‘coalition of the benevolently irrational'
By Mike Ferguson, Baker City Herald
Jefferson Smith believes in the politics of the common good — and he accomplishes that goal aboard a bus.
Smith, a Harvard-trained lawyer and founder of The Bus Project, which seeks to engage young people in the political process, finished out last week's Envision Oregon workshop in Baker City with a talk that urged the crowd of about 20 to work on problems "that are nobody's job."
"Reforming education — there's no profit in that," he said. "And whose job is energy policy, or reforming healthcare? If the air is cleaner for all, it is cleaner for me. If we all have good access to education, I have a good chance of hiring somebody qualified.
"You are the coalition of the benevolently irrational," he told the group. "Without you democracy is not possible."
[read more]
Geologists: Collier Glacier Is Shrinking
From the Bend Bulletin
BEND, Ore. —
Between the North Sister and Middle Sister in Oregon's Cascade Range, Collier Glacier has advanced and receded for hundreds of thousands of years. But like many glaciers, it is headed in one direction these days: backward.
It is in serious peril, says geologist Ellen Morris Bishop of the Fossil-based Oregon Paleo Lands Institute. "We have basically a really sad picture of Collier Glacier today."
[read more]
Millions spent on land-use measure
The Capital Press
Rural support "also is a reflection that some of the most major impacts of Measure 37 claims are in rural areas. Frankly, people get it," he said.
"People understand that Measure 37 has not played out the way they thought it would when they voted on it. It is creating concerns among farmers over their ability to continue their livelihood."
[read more]
Measure 49 money is from old foes
The (Salem) Statesman Journal
The top donors against the measure are three timber companies -- Stimson Lumber of Portland and Forest Grove, Seneca Jones Timber of Eugene and the Swanson Group in Glendale -- and A-dec, a manufacturer of dental equipment based in Newberg.
Stimson Lumber and Aaron Jones, the founder of Seneca Jones Timber, have filed Measure 37 claims to develop land. The personal claim by Jones is on family property near Bend.
[read more]
Measure 49 fight pits timber firms, conservationists
By David Steves, Eugene Register Guard
SALEM — Timber interests and an international conservation group are turning out to be the most influential players behind the Measure 49 campaigns.
The Nature Conservancy, an Arlington, Va.-based environmental organization, has kicked $1.2 million into the Yes on 49 campaign’s effort to get voters’ approval for a scaling back of the property-rights law enacted in the 2004 election.
On the other side, timber-related companies and executives have so far contributed $915,500 to the campaign to defeat the legislative referral in the Nov. 6 vote.
[read more]
Measure 49 will protect groundwater, rural areas
Bend Bulletin guest editorial
Soon, Oregonians will begin voting in a special election that will impact our state for generations to come. Measure 49, one of two measures on ballots due Nov. 6, will fix the problems posed by the controversial Measure 37.
Measure 37 was sold as a way to provide property owners a chance to build a few homes for their children or for their retirement. But that’s not how it has turned out. The poorly written measure is filled with unintended consequences.
Two of the most important and perhaps least understood consequences of Measure 37 are especially relevant here in Central Oregon: impact on groundwater resources and increase in fire risk.
Almost all rural residents here rely on groundwater. We are a High Desert region, and all our water was fully allocated long ago. But Measure 37 development is progressing regardless of whether or not it can be supported by the groundwater resources of the Deschutes basin.
Across the state, there are 4,973 Measure 37 demands for subdivisions ranging from four to 17,000 houses on roughly 681,000 acres. In Central Oregon, Measure 37 claims affect 99,000 acres of farm and forestland.
[read more]
The riddle of the rimrock
Mary Pittman Kitch of The Oregonian
How do we reconcile fairness to property owners with fairness to the community and future generations?
In the past three years, Measure 37 has unleashed 7,500 claims to develop strip malls and strip mines, erect more than 50 billboards and build subdivisions on hundreds of thousands of acres, mostly farm and forest land. If these developments go forward, Oregon will be one of the unfairest states in the land.
Thousands of Oregonians who bought homes and farms, counting on protective zoning and scenic vistas, now will have Measure 37-spawned sprawl across from them instead, devaluing their own property rights And Oregon's signature green philosophy -- what Gov. Tom McCall once described as Oregon's mystique and Gov. John Kitzhaber called its identity and ethic -- will be forever diminished.
[read more]
Measure 49: Pro
Sen Floyd Prozanski in The Eugene Register-Guard
Measure 37, approved by the voters in 2004, was sold as a way for such people as landowner Dorothy English to build a few houses for her kids.
It was an appealing message, but proponents failed to tell voters that their true intent was to open Oregon’s valuable and unique farm and forest lands to development.
Voters weren’t told that Measure 37 would allow large housing subdivisions and commercial and industrial development where they currently are not permitted.
[read more]
M 49 opponents have filed Measure 37 claims demanding almost half a billion dollars
Democracy Reform Oregon
The campaign against Measure 49 is being bankrolled by large Measure 37 claimants.
According to a recent report from Democracy Reform Oregon, almost half the funding for the anti-49 campaign comes from corporations and individuals that filed Measure 37 claims demanding over $475 million.
[download report (pdf) ]
Bulldozers roll to outrace vote
The Oregonian
With an election approaching that could dramatically reduce the scope of what they're allowed to build, some Measure 37 claimants are trying to beat the clock by building roads, drilling wells and dropping in septic tanks.
Encouraged by land-use lawyers who acknowledge it's a murky area of the law, the property owners are spending heavily in attempting to show that their subdivisions are well under way -- enough so to be "vested," or exempt from limits contained in Measure 49 on the Nov. 6 ballot.
In Clackamas County and elsewhere, what critics see as pre-emptive construction work is rattling ahead. In Marion County, neighbors recently pointed out that a developer was working on a 43-lot, 217-acre subdivision without a grading permit, and the work was halted.
[read more]
Stimson Lumber donates $200,000 to fight Measure 49
The Oregonian
Portland-based Stimson Lumber Co., which has filed the state's largest Measure 37 development claims, has contributed $200,000 to a campaign to defeat Measure 49, which would limit development allowed under the 2004 property rights initiative.
Contributions by Stimson and other timber companies, reported Monday under the state's campaign finance law, pushed Oregonians in Action to $1.15 million in contributions.
Oregonians in Action, based in Tigard, sponsored Measure 37 three years ago and opposes Measure 49, which is on the November ballot. The group reported spending $994,972 on the campaign through Monday.
Stimson's contribution is the largest single donation Oregonians in Action has reported in the current campaign.
"This is consistent with Stimson's very public plans to convert forests into subdivisions," said Shelly Strom, Yes on 49 spokeswoman. "Of course they are contributing to the campaign; they stand to make a lot of money on these subdivisions."
[read more]
Vintage property rights
The Oregonian editorial
Since 2004, all land-use bets are off. Measure 37, approved by voters that year, has spawned 7,500 claims for subdivisions, strip malls and other developments, most on farm and forest land. Claims threaten to break up large tracts of land and suck up limited water supplies that vineyards, orchards and nurseries need.
To be sure, over the past 20 years, Domaine Drouhin has prospered, along with the Oregon wine world, which now makes a $1.4 billion impact on Oregon's economy. The future would look blindingly bright, were it not for urban encroachment. Winemakers warned last week that Measure 37 claims jeopardize thousands of acres of potential vineyard land they need for expansion. That could cripple the industry's future, but there's an answer. Winemakers are grateful for help arriving soon on the November ballot: Measure 49.
[read more]
Oregon's property rights fight hits TV airwaves
Associated Press
The competing camps have launched TV ad campaigns to win over Oregon voters who will decide Nov. 6 whether to scale back a property compensation law they passed three years ago.
On the one side are backers of the rewrite, who are airing commercials featuring several farmers warning that the 2004 law opens large swaths of rural Oregon to unbridled development.
"It means thousands of houses right next to farms. It's a real mess," farmer Kathy Freeborn says in one of the TV spots.
[read more]
First Measure 37 claim to gain OK breaks ground
Salem Statesman Journal
The first Measure 37 claim to gain approval in Marion County broke ground last week -- without the proper construction and erosion permits.
Neighbors adjacent to the 217-acre property in the hills south of Salem complained to Marion County Sept. 18, developers stopped construction Sept. 21 and now, county staff are reviewing the recently submitted application for a major construction permit.
The situation highlights the growing tension between property-rights supporters and land-use advocates as the November election approaches, when Oregonians could amend the property-compensation law.
[read more]
M37 a threat to farmland, wine industry
Corvallis Gazette Times
Pro-conservation groups this week released back-to-back studies charging that Measure 37 threatens high-value Willamette Valley farmland and Oregon’s growing wine industry.
The studies, conducted by Environment Oregon and the American Land Institute, also claim that the changes proposed in the Nov. 6 ballot Measure 49 would fix the problems.
“When voters considered Measure 37 in 2004, what it would do was a guessing game,” reads the American Land Institute report. “The guessing game is over.”
The American Land Institute report, written by Henry Richmond, Portland attorney and co-founder of 1000 Friends of Oregon, found that 61 percent of Measure 37 claims were located in the Willamette Valley.
[read more]
From idyllic scenes to random sprawl?
Oregonian in my opinion
In about a three-mile radius of my farm, there are 54 Measure 37 claims to allow construction of more than 1,700 houses. Many of these developments are proposed in an area designated by the state as ground-water restricted and would have to be served by a rural road network never designed for that level of use.
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. In Washington County alone, there are more than 900 Measure 37 claims. A single company, Stimson Lumber, has filed 38 claims to develop more than 36,000 acres. That's larger than the city of Forest Grove.
This kind of development will have a devastating impact on highly productive farmland and will inevitably create conflict between the new residents and the existing agricultural operations. The newcomers will undoubtedly be annoyed by the noise and dust and smells that are a natural part of farming. And it doesn't take much imagination to foresee the problems of moving trailer loads of nursery stock and large agricultural equipment over our narrow and winding roads amid a flood of new vehicle traffic commuting to jobs, schools or soccer practice.
[read more]
A fresh take on fairness
Oregonian editorial
Yet the new law was sold primarily as a matter of fairness. Whatever else voters had in mind, it's clear they wanted to tweak the land-use system to make it more user-friendly, particularly for elderly property owners seeking to build an extra house or two.
Measure 49, a legislative revision of Measure 37 on the November ballot, would do exactly what voters said they wanted. An analysis released Monday by the nonprofit American Land Institute shows that Measure 49 would come far closer to delivering the fairness voters hoped to achieve with the earlier law.
It's fairer to claimants. Under Measure 37, Oregonians have filed roughly 7,500 development claims. An estimated 42 percent are relatively modest, seeking to build one to three homes. Under Measure 49, these claimants could qualify for fast-tracked approvals. Larger claims could qualify, too, if they agree to scale back.
[read more]
Report lauds new land-use idea
The Oregonian
A report by the Portland-based American Land Institute, a pro-conservation group, says passage of Measure 49 in November could break the development logjam created by problems with Measure 37, the 2004 property rights initiative that spawned thousands of claims to build on rural farm and forest land.
Report co-author Henry Richmond said the lack of "transferability" has largely stymied construction under Measure 37. He said Measure 49, a revision that limits development but allows development rights to be transferred to surviving spouses and to new owners, would give the green light to perhaps 42 percent of the 7,500 statewide claims.
"If voters wanted to help the little guy who's applying (to build) one to three dwellings, then Measure 49 does that to a considerable degree," Richmond said. "I don't think voters intended to chop up agriculture in the Willamette Valley, and they will have a chance to say that."
[read more]
Pelosi gets an Oregon earful
Oregonian editorial
So there she was Wednesday at the Oregon Convention Center for an hour of brief presentations by Portland-area politicians, developers, business executives, agency directors and environmental advocates. Pelosi nodded appreciatively as she heard about new Oregon laws calling for greater use of renewable energy, about the role of street cars in encouraging high-density development, about the city's successful promotion of bicycle commuting and about Portland's cutting-edge work on energy-efficient "green" construction.
[read more]
Pelosi: Oregon A National Model
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Speaker of the US House, Nancy Pelosi, said at a climate change forum in Portland Wednesday that Oregon is leading the way on one of the most important issues facing the planet. For an hour, Portland-area elected officials, business leaders, developers, and activists recited steps they've taken to slow the pace of global climate change.
[read more]
The seeds of change: Many farmers back new measure
Portland Business Journal
Some Oregon farmers have become vocal supporters for reforming Measure 37.
"Housing subdivisions don't mix with agriculture," said Kathy Freeborn, who works for her family's 1,000-acre Freeborn Farm in Polk County. "The more development you have the more conflicts you'll have, and some will end up in court."
In the Willamette Valley, 51 percent of Measure 37 claims involve land used for agriculture, encompassing more than 132,000 acres of quality farm land, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture. Farm production value in Oregon tops $4 billion annually.
If the claims are successful, development would take 2.5 times more agricultural land out of production than during the 15-year period between 1982 and 1997, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's natural resource inventory report.
[read more]
Oregon property rights fight headed for November 6 ballot
Associated Press
It's taken Jim LeTourneux decades to turn his 430-acre tree farm in western Yamhill County into a profitable, award-winning operation, but there's something on the horizon he worries could cause problems.
It's not the threat of wildfires, or a beetle infestation or even swings in worldwide demand for lumber. Rather, it's a proposal by a homebuilder to develop land across from his property with dozens of home sites.
LeTourneux envisions conflicts with neighbors upset by the sight of clearcuts, the aerial spraying of herbicides and the noise generated by a tree farm.
[read more]
Imagining a better Oregon
Oregon City News opinion column
What would a community that encourages health in its residents look like? Is it a neighborhood where you can shop and go out to eat within easy walking distance of your home, where you feel safe at night? Can you ride your bike on dedicated bike paths throughout all neighborhoods without fighting car traffic or getting stuck in parking lot dead ends?
Imagine a neighborhood where you can walk to a farmers’ market, where a corner store sells fresh produce, and where residents grow vegetables in a neighborhood garden. Would you eat more fruits and vegetables if you walked by them on the street everyday?
[read more]
In the line of fire
from The Oregonian
Fire has always been part of the central Oregon landscape. What's new is the rapid growth in homes reaching far into the woods, fueled in large part by the nation's appetite for rural vacation and retirement properties.
That has complicated the job of fire managers, who put a top priority on protecting lives and property, and caused federal firefighting budgets to balloon.
[read more]
At least consider Measure 49
Newberg Graphic editorial
Of course, those champions of Measure 37, including former OIA director Larry George, now a state senator representing among other towns Newberg, are attempting everything to defeat Measure 49, including filing a constitutional challenge that argues the ballot title of the measure is “factually inaccurate, unfair and underhanded.”
If that isn’t the pot calling the kettle black we don’t know what is.
In a state notorious for asking voters to decide measures so badly written as to stretch one’s imagination, Measure 37 stands alone in obfuscation.
[read more]
Fire districts face growth issues
from (Eugene) Register-Guard
PLEASANT HILL -- In his 39 years with the Pleasant Hill Rural Fire Protection District, Lyle Payne has seen a lot of growth in his town. But that hasn't made his job any easier.
"In number of houses, it's probably grown about 50 percent (since 1968)," Payne said. "It stretches our resources a little thin."
As chief, Payne is the only paid employee at the Pleasant Hill fire station. He oversees a staff of 20 volunteer firefighters, most of whom work day jobs on top of their duties at the station.
But two measures - one already in effect and one proposed - have thrown the lay of the land for these firefighters into a state of flux.
When voters passed Measure 37 - the controversial land use law - in 2004, it caused a flood of development requests for new homes within rural fire districts, many of them in or on the edge of forests.
[read more]
The fire seasons to come:
Measure 37 would increase the burden on firefighters
Register-Guard editorial
As the fire season in the Willamette Valley moves into the September home stretch - and as Oregon voters prepare to vote this fall on a proposed legislative rewrite of Measure 37 - it's worth reflecting briefly on the severe burden that the property rights law could create for firefighters in rural areas throughout the valley and entire state.
Long before Oregon voters approved Measure 37 in 2004, increasing rural development created complications and forced strategy changes for the federal, state and local agencies charged with fighting wildfires. Now, Measure 37 threatens to compound those problems by allowing an unprecedented construction boom in many isolated rural areas across the state.
[read more]
Measure 37 fire safety issue raised:
A district fire chief says response times will lag as houses get spread out
from The Oregonian
Oregonians either will have to pay for more firefighters and ambulance medics or wait longer for them because of rural developments allowed under Oregon's Measure 37 property rights law, a Clackamas County fire district chief says.
Fire District No. 1 Chief Ed Kirchhofer discussed his concerns this week with the commissioners of Clackamas County, which has approved more claims under Measure 37 than any other Oregon county.
[read more]
Sprawl exceeds reach of hydrants
from USA Today
SALISBURY, Md. — When Robert and Tammy Weber bought their dream home in 2004, they didn't give a thought to the fact that the nearest fire hydrant was more than a mile away.
"Having the entire house burn down is one of those things you don't ever think is going to happen to you," Robert Weber says.
On July 17, that's exactly what happened. Three tankers of water couldn't put the fire out in their late 1990s subdivision house.
Six out of 10 homeowners in Wicomico County, Md., a growing area between the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean, do not have hydrants within the recommended 1,000 feet, says Jack Lenox, county planning and zoning director.
[read more]
Owners use easements to protect rural lands
from McMinnville News-Register
Rural Yamhill landowner Sid Friedman, who works for the land-use watchdog and advocacy group 1000 Friends of Oregon, has been adamantly opposed to Measure 37 from the outset.
The law effectively rolls land-use regulations back to a property's point of purchase, and if that purchase dates back far enough, it frees the owner of virtually all restraints. That threatens to allow hundreds of thousands of acres of Oregon farmland to be turned into residential subdivisions.
"When I see what's happening with Measure 37, it just makes me sick," Friedman said. "I've been an outspoken critic, and I decided it was time for me to walk the talk."
So he recently signed documents establishing a conservation easement to protect the 169-acre woodland he owns off Moores Valley Road in Yamhill County's West Valley.
[read more]
Group envisions Oregon’s future
from The Dalles Chronicle
Protection of farmland and the future of land use planning in general were the topics of discussion among about 50 people at the Envision Oregon meeting Aug. 16 at The Dalles Civic Auditorium...
Wasco County Judge Dan Ericksen, long an advocate of land use planning, opened the event, referencing Google in the process.
“The thing that sold Google on The Dalles was land use planning,” Ericksen said. “They came to this area knowing we had protections. The Dalles and Wasco County would not become another concrete haven.”
[read more]
Paging future farmers of Oregon
Measure 49 may be the only way to right the property wrongs inflicted by Measure 37
Oregonian editorial
Oregon's land-use law separates country from city so farmers can do the noisy, dirty, smelly, smoky business of farming. The law protects the property rights of both farmers and urban dwellers, and it's been a good contract for both. Now the contract has been broken.
Measure 37, which voters approved in 2004, was supposed to boost property rights, particularly for small land owners. But it's inflicted property wrongs, instead, on most Oregonians, eroding their property rights.
The 7,500 claims filed under the law have ushered in the possibility of strip malls, quarries, subdivisions and a host of other "unspecified" developments from big developers. These claims completely ignore the people who live across the street — in many cases, farmers.
[read complete editorial ]
Billboards pit beauty vs. business
from The Oregonian
In a state passionate about protecting scenic vistas, Oregonians have seen at least 100 highway billboards spring up in the past two years.
From the streets of Medford and Pendleton to the farms in Mount Hood's shadow, most of the new signs resulted from an Oregon Supreme Court free speech ruling. Others became possible under Measure 37, the state's property rights law.
The result could be the next clash between open space and individual freedom in a state that values both.
[read more]
Plum Creek Timber withdraws Measure 37 claims
from The Oregonian
Plum Creek Timber Co., which drew howls of protest over its Measure 37 claims to develop 32,000 acres of forest in Lincoln and Coos counties, said Wednesday that it will withdraw the claims and leave the land in timber.
The Seattle-based company "recognized Measure 37 went too far" and that Oregonians were concerned about large-scale claims filed by corporations, spokeswoman Kathy Budinik said. "It probably was intended for the smaller claims, and we were supportive of a compromise of some form."
Plum Creek had no specific development plans when it filed the claims last fall under the state's property rights law, Budinik said, and did so only to beat a filing deadline and to preserve its options. With further analysis and "in response to concerns raised by some members of the community," the company decided that much of the land was best suited for forestry use, she said.
[read more]
The Measure 37 Money Trail
A new report shows that several major contributors to the 2004 Measure 37 campaign have filed claims worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
According to the nonprofit Democracy Reform Oregon, only 4% of the campaign's contributors gave over 50% of the money raised. Those contributors have filed claims demanding over $700 million in compensation. The report also documents a number of legislators' financial conflicts of interest in voting on the Measure 49 referral. The legislature referred Measure 49 to voters as a means to fix the problems of Measure 37.
Find out more at Democracy Reform Oregon's web site.
Portland cemeteries seeking to develop unused land
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — In good times or bad, cemeteries never have to worry about drumming up business. Or so you would think.
But with families of the dead increasingly choosing cremation, cemeteries are looking for new ways to make a profit or keep up with maintenance. The River View Cemetery's board of trustees, for example, wants to turn 120 acres of vacant graveyard land into houses, apartments or perhaps an annex to Lewis & Clark College.
They've filed a Measure 37 claim with the city of Portland. In the documents, cemetery officials say it would take 400 years to use up all the potential grave sites at one of Portland's most historic burial grounds.
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