News Item

NEWS ITEM: Measure 37, a law which compensates land owners for "lost value" due to land use regulation, was passed on the myth of little old Dorothy English-- the small-time rural landowner who just wanted to build an extra house on her rural property, but couldn't because of land use laws passed in the 1970's that wouldn't allow it. It turns out that the beneficiaries of Measure 37 by far are entities with large land holdings in rural areas that can now be subdivided at tremendous private profit and public cost: the timber companies. Small-time rural land-owners, who are seeing their landscape bulldozed and their water resources disappear are supporting Measure 49, which would allow without restriction the construction of three homes on any rural parcel, allow 10 homes with restrictions, and ban any number of homes higher than that.