Everyone's worst Measure 37 nightmare became a reality for Kristi Holaas and her neighbors in rural Lane County last year. Now, Kristi and her friends are simultaneously fighting the nightmare and actively supporting Measure 49 so that others across the state may be spared their painful — and costly — experience.

When Measure 37 passed, Kristi, like many other Oregonians, assumed it would allow limited and reasonable alternative uses for the state's property owners. Did she ever suspect that a Measure 37 claim could be used to put 157 new homes on 515 acres in her back yard, with no consideration for water sources, transportation infrastructure or pollution? "Absolutely not!" she says. But that's what's taking place just east of Creswell in Lane County.

As Kristi and her neighbors would learn, the owner of the property, a longtime area resident, filed a Measure 37 claim and got the green light to build 157 homes on the land. Then he optioned the property to out-of-town developers and moved to a new home in Eastern Oregon. His former neighbors were left to deal with a potential suburban nightmare.

The property has already been essentially clear-cut, says Kristi, despite the neighbors' decision to take legal action to try to stop the project.

"This is such gorgeous country out here," she says. "Out my window, I see fir and hardwood trees, and beyond that, a beautiful view of the mountains. I'm lucky I have those trees, because they obscure the view my neighbors have of the barren hillsides where the clear-cutting has taken place."

Kristi realizes she faces an uphill battle to stop the 157-home development project. "We'll fight this all the way," she vows. But just as important to her is campaigning for the passage of Measure 49. "As soon as the neighbors are finished with their haying, we're going to meet to decide how we'll work together to support 49. We never thought this would happen here. People around the state need to know that, unless we pass Measure 49, our nightmare could become theirs."