Judge overturns Oregon property compensation law

SALEM, Ore. — A state judge on Friday declared unconstitutional a citizen initiative that requires state and local governments to either compensate landowners when regulations lower property values or waive the rules.

Marion County Circuit Judge Mary James said the law — passed as Measure 37 on the November 2004 ballot — violates five provisions of the state and federal constitutions.

James said the statute violates equal protection provisions of the Oregon Constitution and a state constitutional ban on suspending laws.

She also ruled it breaches the separation of powers between government branches, intrudes on legislative authority and violates due process protections under the U.S. Constitution.

Foes of the law argued that it violates the "equal privileges and immunities" provisions of the state constitution because it gives benefits to people who buy their land before regulations were applied but not to those who purchase property later.

The judge said the distinction between those groups "is not reasonably related to a legitimate state interest and, therefore, is unconstitutional."

An appeal to the Oregon Court of Appeals and eventually to the Oregon Supreme Court was expected no matter which way the trial court ruled.

The voters approved Measure 37 after the property rights group Oregonians in Action mounted a campaign that put the proposals on the ballot by initiative petition.

Voters approved a similar property compensation measure in 2000 as a constitutional amendment. But the state Supreme Court threw it out, ruling that it contained too many changes to be rolled into a single amendment.