More Measure 37 subdivision craziness

I'll be really happy when November 6 rolls around and I learn that Oregon's Measure 49 has passed by a resounding margin in the special election.

Because fighting a Measure 37 subdivision on groundwater limited high-value farmland is taking up an awful lot of my time lately.

In my last post I wrote about how Leroy Laack and his co-claimants jumped the gun on road construction and started trashing some beautiful Oregon countryside without a permit.

This morning I learned that the stop work order that I'd been told had been issued, actually hadn't. Laack only had agreed to temporarily stop his illegal road construction, but he was still hoping to get a sweetheart permit deal from Marion County that would allow him to fire up the D8 Caterpillars soon.

Fortunately, he won't be able to. The Public Works Department is going to make Laack get in line for his Major Construction Permit along with everyone else, which will take at least four to five weeks.

This afternoon I drove by the work area and saw a welcome sight. May the rest of the equipment soon follow.

What's crazy about all this is that it took almost a week to get Marion County to enforce its own final order approving the subdivision (which we and our neighbors are in the process of appealing) and require a Major Construction Permit.

Since my wife and I have become land use activists we've found that almost every interaction we have with Marion County officialdom is like swimming upstream – the bureaucratic current is tilted in favor of well-heeled developers and Measure 37 claimants, while ordinary people like us who are simply trying to protect their wells and property rights have to go through a lot more effort to make our voices heard.

This afternoon I learned that Laack and North Santiam Paving also didn't have a DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality) permit before they started construction.

Supposedly they'd applied for a permit and figured that applying was as good as actually having one. I'll have to remember this lame excuse if I'm ever stopped for an expired car registration and tell the officer, "Oh, it's OK. I applied for the stickers and just haven't gotten them yet."

We're dubious that Laack has jumped through all the DEQ hoops that he's supposed to. A guy who is fine with illegally building roads likely isn't going to worry much about complying with environmental rules.

Well, this is what Measure 37 has brought us. A mess. (Yes, that's my photo of the un-permitted construction work, right on top of the page).

Vote for Measure 49. Put an end to the craziness in our neighborhood by limiting this Measure 37 claim to three home sites.

The rest of the 217 acres will make a great winery. And still make the owners a lot of money. I'll buy the first case. That's a promise.

Comments

[Peter Bray]

You may have to get a court-ordered injunction?

These guys appear to be rushing ahead to "beat the clock", and, as you have pointed out, such bad faith won't result in vested rights.

One can only hope that those roads wasted $35,000+ of their funds...

[Richard]

This points up something about Oregon's land use planning that 37 superseded. 37 does not repeal land use planning in so many words, but it does have that effect.

Look at the date of purchase, then determine what land use laws and regulations were in effect.

The keystone of the planning system is Goal 1, public participation. If the property was purchased prior to the date Goal 1 was adopted, Patti, Sam, and Janet have zip, zero, nada obligation to pay the slightest attention to your concerns.

37 does in fact undermine the public's ability to have any say in how land is used.

And as to North Santiam Paving: their business plan holds the the principle that the only good ground is paved ground.

[Brian]

Peter, good estimate. A neighbor needs to have some grading work done and knows the going hourly rate for a D8, operator, and such. He and I mentally added up about $30,000 for the week's work.

Yes, it's almost certainly money wasted. Construction work without a permit isn't going to count toward vesting. I don't know why Laack and his co-owners would throw money away like that, but, hey, if people want to go broke on their Measure 37 claim, feel free.

However, the land will be worth more for a vineyard after Measure 49 passes if it isn't all messed up.

(The three home sites to which they'll be entitled will need to be clustered on the least valuable farmland, but the road construction is taking place on the best farmland -- crazy.)

[GLENN]

The construction without permits says it all about Oregon lans use planning. Until we fix local government and the planning department
it won't matter about measure 37 and 49.

The local planning department in your area and around the state is the source of great
conflict, the average citizen is treated very different then the well connected.

None of the very questionable development in my area has anything to do with measure 37.