The Facts on Ballot Measure 49

• Ballot Measure 49 protects the property rights of small individual landowners by immediately allowing them up to 3 houses on their property, if the law allowed it when they bought their land. And it will pass those rights on to a surviving spouse or to someone who purchases the property from the current owner — something that Measure 37 did not do. Measure 49 does not require claims to be refiled, they’ll simply continue through the process.
• Additionally, property owners can build up to 10 houses if they can document a financial loss equal to the value of the additional houses — as voters intended with passing 37.
• If property is high-value farmland, forests or places with limited water supplies — as defined in the act, then only up to 3 homesites may be added.
• Ballot Measure 49 closes the loopholes and protects the places that make Oregon special, stopping the abuse of huge housing subdivisions, strip malls and industrial development where they simply don’t belong. Following passage of Measure 49, commercial and industrial development, as well as large subdivisions, must proceed through the existing land use planning and development processes.

What if it fails?

• No limits on industrial and commercial development on farmland, forests or places where water supplies are limited. That means claims in progress, including the rock blasting and quarrying operations, riverfront landfills and shopping malls, can proceed.
• No relief to the mess facing taxpayers — billions of dollars in compensation demands on the one hand or the huge cost of infrastructure for sprawling development on the other.
• No limit on the size of housing subdivisions, even in places where roads, water supplies and other infrastructure simply cannot handle such large-scale development.
• No requirement for claimants to actually prove they have suffered the losses that would trigger the right the build.
• No ability for landowners to transfer development rights. This will hurt individuals and families who just want to provide a home or two for their children.
• Oregon says goodbye to its farmland, forests and natural resources at an unprecedented rate, just like other parts of the world where land is usurped without the benefit of land use regulations. This isn’t just about quality of life: These resources are critical to a strong economy for our children and grandchildren.

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