By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
April 21, 2007

Rep. Patti Smith, R-Corbett, believes the Joint Special Committee on Land Use Fairness should not move ahead with five bills to “fix” Measure 37 without public testimony.

“How could people comment on the amendments that were going to replace four of these bills when they weren’t given the opportunity to see them?” asked Smith, following Tuesday’s hearing in Salem.

“We are supposed to be taking care of the people’s business and this process is flawed.”

At issue is the April 17 hearing on the “framework” to reconstruct Measure 37. The law was approved by 61 percent of the electorate in 2004 and has since sparked heated debate in the halls of Salem and across Oregon.

Smith, who sits on the bipartisan committee, said Tuesday’s hearing was an anomaly in her political career. She said the only thing citizens could comment on during the almost four-hour session was their personal viewpoint of Measure 37. None of the four bills, or the pending amendments, was available for review.

An additional bill was dropped by Democratic committee co-chairs Rep. Greg McPherson, and Sen. Lloyd Prozaski on Thursday. That legislation extends the amount of time that counties have to file Measure 37 claims.

As of press time on Friday, the committee had scheduled only one more work session to review the bills and no further public hearings had been set.

“We should never be in this kind of a hurry to get bills through the system. We need to make sure the people who are affected by our policies have a voice in the process,” she said, “especially when we are dealing with a ballot measure that they approved.”

Since Smith received the amendments at Thursday’s work session, she declined to comment on the proposals until they had been scrutinized. She said some committee members have begun suggesting that the outstanding issues be referred back to the people. And she favors that approach to legislators pushing their own agendas through the system.

“At least the people will have spoken with a referral,” she said.

Mosier planning consultant Stephen Andersen is urging his Measure 37 clients in Hood River County to ask Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Jeff Merkley, both Democrats, to stop the five bills from being “rammed” through their respective chambers.

“The co-chairs of this committee are pushing to kill Measure 37 and they need to understand that a supermajority of voters is nonpartisan so any changes in Measure 37 also need to be non-partisan,” he said.

Under discussion are Senate Bill 588, Senate Bill 1019, House Bill 3540, House 3540 and House Bill 3546.

These pieces of legislation collectively eliminate all industrial or commercial uses of Measure 37 properties, as well as subdivisions.

Landowners can gain one to three dwellings through a streamlined regulatory process, and up to 10 home sites if they can meet a series of bureaucratic tests. Citizens also have to prove their property was devalued by more than 20 percent before they can file a claim on any land use regulation.

Lots created on high-value farmland — virtually all resource areas — would be limited to a maximum of two acres. Home sites on properties with soils that are unusable for any type of agriculture could cover five acres.

The state would be given full control of processing development applications outside of an Urban Growth Boundary.