Oregon Supreme Court Measure 37 Ruling Expected Tuesday

Future of recently enacted state law now hangs in the balance Photo By: Tim King

(Salem) - The Oregon Supreme Court is to hand down a decision Tuesday on Measure 37.

The voter-passed measure requires government to either pay landowners for property-value losses caused by regulations or forgo the regulation.

Oregon's land-use laws, which date to the 1970s, protect farming and forestry on most rural land outside urban-growth boundaries and curbs development.

Since Measure 37 passed, more than one-thousand claims have been filed with the state and 2,000 with counties.

Judge Mary James ruled October 14th in Marion County Circuit Court that the law violated five state and federal constitutional provisions, sending it to the supreme court.

Justices heard arguments last month and promised to expedite a decision, which normally would take several months.