Property-Rights Showdown (subscription)

....But even Oregonians are only so green. The state is now in the midst of high-stakes battle over whether the government should be forced to pay property owners when it imposes regulations that strip land of its value. Among the top concerns: regulations so strict that families who have owned property for decades cannot subdivide and pass separate parcels to their children. This fight has hit the ballot box, twice. The first time was in 2000, when voters approved an amendment to the constitution forcing the state to pay for the loss of value property owners suffer at the hands of land use and environmental regulations. The amendment was bogged down in litigation and was tossed out by the state Supreme Court. Three years ago voters tried again. This time 61% of them voted to enact "Measure 37," a law that does what the constitutional amendment attempted to do -- force the government to pay for the environmental regulations it imposes on landowners. The law, which has withstood court scrutiny, allows the government to waive regulations when it prefers not to compensate a landowner. But in recent weeks, the Democratically controlled legislature, voting along party lines, moved to "reform" Measure 37 -- a euphemism for emptying the law of any real meaning. The legislature has put the bill on the November ballot....Opponents of Measure 37 exploit fears that the law will force local and state officials to approve large scale development projects. The reforms on the ballot would drastically limit the number of new home sites and allow the government to put regulations on commercial and industrial property without having to compensate the owners for loss of value. The reform, drafted by Democrats, has been drafted with some appealing elements. It would expedite claims filed by property owners under Measure 37; and it would explicitly grant property owners the right to transfer their claim for compensation to another person -- something that should be possible under Measure 37, but which is now being fought over in the courts. Nevertheless, while these provisions are good, the Democrats' overall aim is to split the coalition needed to keep Measure 37 intact by driving a wedge between ordinary folks and business, industry and subdivision developers. One persistent argument in favor of Measure 37 "reform" is that it could hurt farmers by spurring development that would place new homeowners near existing farms, whose sounds and smells might be considered a nuisance. As the argument goes, this could lead to the new homeowners filing nuisance lawsuits. But there is already a "right to farm" law to protect against such claims....Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black once noted that the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment takings clause was necessary to "bar Government from forcing some people alone to bear public burdens which, in all fairness and justice, should be borne by the public as a whole." That's just the point: Measure 37 passed because courts haven't provided much protection, and because in Oregon land-use regulators have been overzealous....