Oregonians In Action - Welcome
Oregonians In Action is a non-partisan, non-profit organization representing Oregon home and property owners.  As Oregon's largest property owners association, our mission is to defend the right of private property owners to make use of their property.  At the legislature, through the courts and at the ballot box, working with the media and through our many educational efforts, OIA works to change Oregon's broken land-use system, a system unlike any in the United States.
 
The California legislature did something good? Yes they did, and Oregon should follow. PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Friday, 06 January 2012 10:53
The California Supreme Court rejected a constitutional challenge to Assembly Bill 1X 26, a bill approved by the California Legislature that abolished the state's 400 redevelopment agencies.
 
Over the years, California's redevelopment agencies have abused the eminent domain process hundreds of times, taking valuable private property from California families and giving it to developers to develop condos, "smart growth" developments, and other politically correct developments that the market won't support without massive taxpayer subsidies.
 
The cost to California taxpayers has been staggering - according to the Institute for Justice, a group which has spent years fighting eminent domain abuse across the country, the California redevelopment agencies have siphoned billions of taxpayer dollars to fund these redevelopment schemes.  In the 2005-06 fiscal year alone, California's redevelopment agencies received $8.7 billion in tax revenues!
 
These taxes normally would go to fund state programs like schools, police, corrections, parks, and roads.  But instead, taxpayer dollars have been diverted to finance developments that few people want, and that the market won't support.
 
Last year, the California legislature had finally had enough.  Facing a budget shortfall of epic proportions, the legislature voted to abolish the state's redevelopment agencies and stop the siphoning of tax dollars.  Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill, and yesterday, the California Supreme Court upheld the new law.
 
Oregon also has a history of eminent domain abuse, although not nearly to the same extent as California's.  In Oregon, urban renewal districts are a favorite tool of local governments to siphon property taxes away from needed public services and towards "smart growth" developments favored by the planning elite. 
 
In addition, property taxes siphoned by urban renewal districts are used to finance public transportation pet projects like light rail systems and trolleys, while at the same time cutting back on buses and other public transportation systems.  
 
The cost of these projects is so high, and the demand so low, that the private sector would never construct these projects without enormous taxpayer subsidies.  Whether they're called redevelopment agencies or urban renewal districts, these schemes have cost American citizens billions of wasted taxpayer dollars, and hurt needed public services that we all use.
 
In Oregon, Oregonians In Action was able to put Ballot Measure 39 on the ballot in 2006, to stop state and local governments (and urban renewal districts) from using eminent domain to take private property from one person and transfer it to another private citizen or company.  
 
Measure 39 has passed and has stopped one form of eminent domain abuse in its tracks.  But it hasn't stopped urban renewal districts from taking taxpayer dollars, finding willing sellers, and building things that the free market would never support, because the public doesn't want them.
 
Stopping redevelopment agencies (or urban renewal districts) isn't a partisan battle - after all, the California legislature is controlled overwhelmingly by Democrats, and Governor Brown is also a Democrat.  Instead, it's simply a matter of having the legislature live within its means, and use taxpayer dollars for true public services, not developments designed to make our land use laws (or California's) look good.
 
This is one instance where the Oregon legislature should take a cue from their California counterparts.
Last Updated on Friday, 06 January 2012 10:57
 
Columbia River Gorge Commission Tells Farmer He Can't Farm His Land PDF Print E-mail
Written by Administrator   
Friday, 30 December 2011 11:00
When can a farmer not farm his land?  When the Columbia River Gorge Commission says so.
 
OIA is working for a property owner who owns land in east Multnomah County.  The property is within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.  Because of its location with the Scenic Area, the Columbia River Gorge Commission, along with Multnomah County, have zoning authority over the property.
 
Multnomah County and the Gorge Commission have zoned the property as farmland.  Obviously, the primary use for land zoned farmland is farming.  
 
The property owner has used the property for horse boarding for years.  Under Oregon law, boarding horses is considered a farm use.  In fact, the Oregon legislature (not LCDC) first defined farm use in the early 1960's, as a way to ensure that a uniform definition of farming applied across the state.
 
That means that in every part of the state, boarding horses is considered a farm use, just like growing wheat, harvesting apples, or ranching cattle or sheep.
 
But not in the Gorge Scenic Area.
 
The Gorge Commission has determined that it is not subject to state law, and is not bound by the definition of farm use that has existed in Oregon law for half a century.
 
According to the Gorge Commission, when the legislatures of Oregon and Washington signed the Gorge Compact (a bi-state agreement between the two states that created the Gorge Commission) in 1987, each state lost the ability to control land uses in the Scenic Area, on any land - federal, state, local, or private.
 
This isn't federal government planning - the Gorge Commission is not a federal agency.  But it's not state planning, or local planning either. 
 
In fact, despite the fact that the Gorge Commission receives its funding from the Oregon and Washington legislatures (in other words from your tax dollars), the Gorge Commission believes that it answers to no one, not even the state legislature.
 
Unfortunately for our property owner, the Gorge Commission does not believe that boarding horses is a farm use.  As a result, our property owner cannot board horses unless he applies for a conditional use permit, which costs thousands of dollars and which he may or may not receive.
 
This makes no sense.  Farmers across the state have relied on the legislature to provide them with a uniform definition of farm use.  Farmers in the Gorge Scenic Area should be able to farm their land in the same way as farmers in every other part of the state.
 
But the scary part is that the Gorge Commission believes it can ignore the Oregon legislature and the Washington legislature, while at the same time sticking its hand out and demanding that the two states fund its activities.
 
Fortunately, there is a solution, but it will require courage from our state leaders. 
 
The Oregon and Washington legislatures can and should make changes to the Gorge Compact - changes that will make the Gorge Commission accountable to legislators in both states.
 
The legislatures of each state can accomplish these changes by agreeing on the changes, and then passing identical legislation in each state. 
 
Starting in January, Oregonians In Action will be working with members of the Oregon legislature (from both parties) to make these changes.  In addition, we are making contact with Washington legislators to do the same.  
 
With effort, persistence, and dedication, we're hoping to convince the legislatures of each state of the importance to restore some control to each state over zoning and planning in the Gorge Scenic Area. 
 
It makes no sense for our state officials to turn over complete control of planning and zoning to an unelected commission who thumbs their nose at them, all the while demanding state tax dollars.  It's time to fix this problem.
 
Dave Hunnicutt
President
Oregonians In Action
Last Updated on Friday, 30 December 2011 11:04
 

Site design and hosting by WebNation and Direct Northwest