Fred Robinson is semi-retired and enjoys life on 33 acres in the Chehalem Valley outside of Newberg. He grows Christmas trees and leases part of the land to a grass seed grower. He’s also proudly restoring a riparian area on his property.

The rural area where Fred lives consists mostly of orchards and fields where grass is grown for seed. The narrow roads attract many cyclists for the scenery and the lack of traffic. Fred is happy to call this area home.

One Measure 37 claim could change all of that. One of Fred’s neighbors has filed to turn 400 acres into 400 one-acre home sites.

“I’m concerned about how unfair Measure 37 claims like this are to neighbors,” says Fred.

Fred knows that thousands of Measure 37 claims for similarly inappropriate development stand to effect many Oregonians. “Turning rural land into a large subdivision means we suffer all of the negative consequences—the noise, the traffic, the added pollution of our groundwater. It will destroy our quality of life. I don’t think that’s what voters intended Measure 37 would do.” Fred Robinson supports Measure 49 because it will protect groundwater, productive farmland, and the places that make Oregon special.

Read more Oregon stories for Measure 49.