Res 1770 - Opposing Measure 37
COUNCIL BILL NO. 2535
RESOLUTION NO. 1770
A RESOLUTION OPPOSING MEASURE 37
BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED:
The Mayor and City Council of the City of Woodburn, Oregon, are strongly opposed to the passage
of Measure 37 at the General Election in November 2004. We urge the citizens of Woodburn, and throughout
the State, to reject this proposal, which its supporters claim to be a fair and reasonable idea. In effect the
Measure says, "If government regulations limit what I can do on my land, the government has to pay for the
decreased value of my property." The proposal does not work both ways: If the government does something
through zoning or public improvements that increases the value ofa person's property, there is no
requirement to repay the government for this added value.
If Measure 37 passes we believe it will literally be the end of responsible land use planning in
Woodburn. Zoning regulations and other ordinances providing for the orderly development of the community
would be largely unenforceable, Measure 37 would apply not only to basic zoning-what sort of uses are
allowed in various zones-but also to things such as required building setbacks, lot coverage limitations, sign
regulations, etc.
The City has no source of funds, other than through tax increases of some sort, to fund the payments
that would be required if the ordinances were to be enforced. Thus the ordinances would simply cease to be
enforced as to some lucky property owners. For example, if an undeveloped piece of property in a residential
zone had been in a family's ownership for a long time, and if the current owner wanted to sell it for the
building of a foundry or metal fabrication plant (because industrial property is much more valuable than
residential property) there would be nothing that the City could do other than to let the plant be built or pay
the owner the di fference in price between residential and industrial land, The years and years of work to
develop good land-use ordinances to enhance our community's livability and promote its economic health
will have gone for naught.
The same sort of dire consequences would follow for the agricultural lands surrounding Woodburn.
Industrial and commercial uses would inevitably sprawl into prime farmland areas, Marion County is no
more able than the City to pay owners large sums of money to prevent them from selling to developers for
mcompatible uses.
Measure 37 would work arbitrarily-one person c d claim its benefits, but his next-door neighbor
could not, depending on when the owners or their fam' s acquired the pro e s,
Date: October 11, 2004.
Passed by the Council:
Submitted to the Mayor
Approved by the Mayor
Filed in the Office of the Recorder:
ATTEST /~~ /~
Mary en t, CIty Recorder
City of Woodburn, Oregon
Page I - COUNCIL BILL NO. 2535, RESOLUTION NO, 1770
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