KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Klamath County commissioners have rezoned farmland subject to a Measure 37 claim, a new tack in the struggle over land use law.
A legal challenge is likely to the move that could open thousands of rural acres to development in the county.
The commissioners voted 3-0 Tuesday to rezone a 36-acre parcel south of Klamath Falls from farming to residential use. That would allow two-acre lots. The owners, who filed a Measure 37 claim in 2005, are likely to sell the property to a developer, their lawyer said.
The state is likely to challenge the decision before the state Land Use Board of Appeals, said Lane Shetterly, director of the state Department of Land Conservation and Development.
“We know that it’s going to get challenged,” said Bill Brown, chairman of the Klamath commissioners.
With a rezoning, the commissioners bypassed a point of contention over the initiated land-use law.
Measure 37 gives property owners whose land-use regulations have been tightened the option of asking for compensation for the lost value or for a waiver of the regulations. A question about the initiated measure is whether it allows the owners to transfer that option when they sell the property.
The Klamath County action shifts the debate by changing the underlying zoning, which would follow the property in a sale
“If the effect of a zone change is to change the law as it applies to a land on a permanent basis, you effectively created a transfer of a right that we don’t think exists,” said Lane Shetterly, director of the state Department of Land Conservation and Development.
Michael Spencer, attorney for owner Wayne Cole, said the commissioners’ decision “allows Mr. Cole to do what every landowner should be able to do with their property, which is sell it for its highest and best use. It restores value.”
“It’s hard to even imagine the amount of development capacity that’s being created,” said county planner Alwin Turiel. “It’s almost mind-boggling.”
“We have one ranch that’s 5,600 acres, roughly the size of Klamath Falls, that would like to have one-acre minimum lot size,” Turiel said.
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