The court of appeals affirmed a district court judgment. The court held that Oregon committed no constitutional taking when it modified the remedies available under a statewide measure requiring state and local governments to compensate property owners for the reduction in value of their real property due to land use regulations.
Oregon’s Measure 37, a voter’s initiative, required state and local governments to compensate private property owners for the reduction in the fair market value of their real property that resulted from any land use regulations that restricted the use of the properties. Landowners were entitled to an award of “just compensation” from a public entity where it enforced land use regulations that reduced a property’s fair market value, even if the reduction did not rise to the level of a constitutional taking. Thousands of claims were filed under Measure 37 after its 2005 enactment.
