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53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, November 14, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend November 14, 2004 Bill and Linda Rennick have high hopes for their family property off North Phoenix Road now that Measure 37 has been approved by voters. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Looser rules for private land Measure 37: Its effects here may be less dramatic than elsewhere By DAMIAN MANN Mail Tribune With Measure 37 soon to be law, Bill Rennick’s 120-acre family farm could finally be worth a bundle. " I just want the land to be opened up so I can do what I want to do with it," said Rennick, whose farm off North Phoenix Road was established by Dutch immigrants in 1900. Rennick, 53, is one of 28 property owners with a combined 1,349 acres southeast of Medford and east of Interstate 5 that could be exempt from zoning restrictions because of Measure 37, the property rights law passed by voters that takes effect Dec. 2. Jackson County, which conducted a two-week study of this area because it is under pressure for potential development, wanted to gauge how far-reaching the effects of the new law might be locally. Opponents of the measure say it could change the face of Oregon, while supporters say it will help many property owners who have been hamstrung by overly strict state land-use laws. Advertisement Dave Hunnicutt, executive director of Oregonians in Action and architect of the measure, said opponents’ fears are unfounded. "The predicted doom and gloom from the planning community just simply isn’t going to occur," he said. Hunnicutt said the measure could benefit properties like Rennick’s, but insisted it wouldn’t pave the way for subdivision-like developments. Rennick, who was surprised to learn that his land could be developed, said the news explains recent interest in his property — particularly a phone call he received about a week ago. "I guess that’s why I’m having people from Riverside, California, wanting to buy the property," he said. Rennick, who admits he didn’t vote in the election, said he is disappointed in land-use laws enacted about 25 years ago that have limited his ability to build a few houses on his property, most of which is used for cattle grazing. The county study identified properties belonging to families dating back before 1973 when there were few, if any, restrictions on how land could be developed. It is properties like these that will benefit the most from Measure 37. "It is amazing," said County Planning Director Ali Turiel, commenting on the number of parcels in this relatively small area of the county. Her department is bracing for Dec. 2, when the first claims from property owners can be filed. More than 400 acres of these properties that could qualify under Measure 37 surround the Rogue Valley Manor, which is building a championship golf course. Referring to the study area, Turiel said, "This area has a huge amount of development pressure on it." Another dozen properties in the study area were purchased between 1973 and 1979 when minimal land-use laws existed. Turiel said this study gives an inkling of the overall effects of the measure on the county, placing a big question mark over the possibility of developing large tracts of forestland held for generations in private ownership. In Douglas County, which undertook an even more comprehensive study, 65 percent of its properties could qualify for zoning exemptions under Measure 37, said Turiel. The measure requires counties to compensate property owners for zoning restrictions that have led to a devaluation of the land since the original date of purchase. Since most counties don’t have the money, they likely would be forced to allow some kind of development. Counties are also bracing for potential legal actions to resolve some disputes. While the county has identified some of the parcels potentially qualifying under Measure 37, Turiel said it is difficult to pinpoint them all because the ownership might not be clear in the county records. "We’re going to have to become genealogists to figure this out," she said. Even in the study area, the county couldn’t determine how far back the family history extended on more than two dozen parcels. Rennick’s farm is one example, where the county shows only 60 acres as being eligible under the measure. He says he owns two different parcels that together total 120 acres. The 53-year-old farmer, who hasn’t yet figured out what his property would be worth, said he would be happy to sell the farm and become a "snowbird," dividing his time between Brookings and a warmer area such as Palm Springs or Hawaii. While some property owners would benefit from the measure, others could find their panoramic views or rural setting disrupted if large-scale developments occur. Turiel said increased development could also eventually drive down prices of existing homes throughout the county as supply outpaces demand. Rick Sawyer, who has owned five acres since 1985 on Terri Drive near Payne Road east of Phoenix, admitted that he was unfamiliar with the measure and wasn’t sure, at first, how he voted because he was so preoccupied with the presidential election. He ultimately figured out that he had voted against it. "Like so many people in the state or county, there are very few people who know how to vote on these issues," he said. "The initiative process and all the ballots we face drive us all nuts." Sawyer, who was alarmed to hear how far-reaching the measure could be, said he had this vague impression that it was designed to help some elderly woman in some rural area make a little money off her family property. With that in mind, he said, "Why wouldn’t you vote for it?" He said that many voters probably didn’t pay too much attention to the measure because of the attention on the presidential election. "It makes me feel like the measure was blown past me under the guise of something that it wasn’t," he said. "It rode on the coattails of a very hard-fought political election on the national level." After learning how many properties around him could be exempt from zoning laws, Sawyer said, "That’s going to make a lot of money for the lawyers. "It’s unbelievable how we can lose control without even knowing it," he said. County Commissioner Jack Walker, who supports Measure 37, was surprised at the amount of acreage in the sample area, but downplayed its significance. "I think it’s a lot of property, but I don’t think that there’s a big percentage that would be developed," he said. Water and sewer issues, he said, would ultimately limit parcels that could be turned into large-scale developments like subdivisions. He thinks the measure will help some local residents who wanted to build a couple of homes but were thwarted by restrictive land-use laws passed in the ’80s. He predicted that the measure would ultimately be of use to only a small number of property owners in the county. "The interpretation of what could happen from this is as varied as anything I’ve ever seen," he said. "Everybody’s got this idea that everybody is going to want to build their property out to the extreme." Ashland Mayor Alan DeBoer, a critic of the measure, agreed that the wholesale development of land in the county won’t happen as a result of its passage. "At this point everybody ought to relax," he said. He agreed with Walker that sewer and water concerns would be a major stumbling block for widespread development. In Ashland, a regional sewage treatment plant cost $35 million, he noted. DeBoer believes the Legislature will have to tweak the measure because it is poorly written. Still, he hopes that the state will allow room for development of some properties that are now virtually without value. He cites as an example a seven-acre parcel he owns in the county that he can’t use as farmland because it doesn’t have enough water, and after spending $30,000 battling the state Land Use Board of Appeals, he still can’t build a house on it. With so many gray areas, and so many problems in the way it’s worded, DeBoer said the measure won’t open the floodgates to massive development. " I think most people aren’t going to exercise a claim," he said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Measure 37 rights are based on when owners got their land Dave Hunnicutt, executive director for Oregonians In Action and one of the architects of Measure 37, cautioned property owners that the only rights they have are at the time they purchased or inherited the property. "That’s a common misunderstanding," he said. "Even if your grandfather bought the property in 1920, you would be limited to say 2000 (rights) if you inherited the property at that date," he said. However, he did say that corporations or family trusts would have rights that extended back to the time they were created. In the case of Bill and Linda Rennick’s property, which is part of a family trust, Hunnicutt said that the parcel south of Medford would still be outside the urban-growth boundary and would be considered rural property. "He’d be entitled to divide that property into rural home sites," Hunnicutt said. He said the lot sizes could be about two acres in size, requiring wells and septic systems. "At the same time, they would be subject to all the public safety requirements," he said. In addition, the property would have to meet all current zoning requirements for roads, he said. Contrary to what some opponents have claimed, Hunnicutt said the measure doesn’t open up rural property to subdivision-size lots. 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