Articles by Eric de Place

Property rights measures are about stifling community

You see, this is what I was talking about.

From today's Oregonian:

The Clackamas County Board of Commissioners decided Tuesday to speed the processing of claims made under Oregon's Measure 37 property rights law by preventing residents from testifying about filings. The commissioners will approve valid Measure 37 claims without question or public comment.

Is required green development smart public policy?

Here's a potentially good idea about which I'm rather ambivalent: rules requiring in-city developers to include robust landscaping features such as green roofs and vegetation-covered walls. It's easy on the eyes, but it may not be smart public policy.

To begin with, it's unclear how much burden Seattle's cutting-edge new rules would impose; and it's unclear how much benefit they'd achieve. But if most developers are skeptical -- and they are, at least according to this article -- then policymakers should listen very carefully.

Burdening developers with additional layers of regulatory complexity, especially here in regulation-heavy Seattle, may not be such a hot idea. Those regulations tend to reduce the viability of further in-city development or raise the cost. Either is bad.

No, I haven't been reading Milton Friedman over the holidays. It's just that when it comes to urban development, I'm not sure that we need a lot of elaborate new policies and procedures. In some case, we simply need less red tape.

Here's why ...

Property owners bribe their own communities

Here's a perfect example of why pay-or-waive laws don't work. In the rural Oregon community of Prineville, a property owner filed a claim under Measure 37 demanding to be allowed to build his house on a specific portion of his property that's zoned otherwise. Instead of waiving the zoning law, the county council became the first in Oregon to offer taxpayer compensation instead -- to the tune of about $47,000.

Takings initiatives die deserved death

Five outta six ain't bad.

As I mentioned earlier, the takings measures in Montana and Nevada were yanked by the courts. Then last night, the good news just kept on coming.

Voters in three Western states -- California, Idaho, and Washington -- soundly rejected ballot measures that aimed to hamstring local governments and cripple environmental protections.

It wasn't close. In most places voter's message was deafening: we want to protect our communities and our natural heritage.