Panel Discussion Tonight on Measure 37 And Land Use Planning

Measure 37 requires governments to pay landowners for property value losses caused by regulation, or to forgo regulations.

Photo: Salem-News.com

(SALEM) - The League of Women Voters of Marion & Polk Counties has arranged a panel of speakers to help citizens sort through the complicated issue of land use planning in Oregon and the impact of Measure 37.

Other questions to be addressed are the issues of "transferability" and "regionalization" and what direction land use law will likely take during this legislative session?

Members of the panel include Mitch Rohse, who will lead off with a summary of "how we got here."

Mitch worked for many years for the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) and has written an excellent handbook, Land Use Planning in Oregon.

Another panelist will be Lane Shetterly, who was a member of the Oregon legislature for a number of years and is currently the Director of LCDC.

He will give an update about the present situation, including information about the types of complaints being received, where most complaints come from, etc.

Richard Whitman, was awarded a MA in City and Regional Planning from MIT and a JD from UC Berkeley.

He is the Chief Attorney for the Natural Resources Section of the Oregon Department of Justice and he oversees the 17 attorneys who advise Oregon agencies on environmental and natural resource issues and work on the Measure 37 court cases.

Roz Shirack, a former economist at the state legislature and former Salem Planning Commission member will present the League's position on land use and measure 37 issues.

The meeting will be tonight at 7:00 PM in the Anderson Room at the Salem Public Library.

For more information contact Rose Lewis at (503) 792-3238.