Property Rights Movement Taking Its Toll On Cities

Oregon's Measure 37 was just the first of a series of campaigns from the ideological right -- all dressed up in populist rhetoric -- that favor developers and limit the abilities of cities to plan.

1 minute read

July 31, 2006, 9:57 AM PDT

By Michael Dudley

"Since Measure 37's passing, Oregon has come to know the true cost of the radical right's legal theories. Local governments are completely overwhelmed with requests for compensation for various regulations. And in some cases, the requests border on the absurd. Landowners literally are demanding millions of dollars in compensation if local governments refuse to let them build huge, environmentally-disastrous mines on their land.

In short, communities are being held hostage. A single landowner can now demand of his neighbors that they either accept his new strip mine or buy him off to not build it."

FULL STORY: Eminent Absurdity

Monday, July 31, 2006 in Tom Paine Common Sense

Government / Politics United States

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