Washington farm bureau files land-use initiative
Property owners would be paid for restrictions
The Washington Farm Bureau filed an initiative Wednesday that would require governments to compensate landowners who've suffered financially or lost use of their land because of regulations passed in the past 10 years.
"Our ... initiative would require government to understand the impact that its laws and regulations have on landowners, both financial and personal," said Steve Appel, a Whitman County wheat grower and state Farm Bureau president. "Who can argue with that?"
In Seattle and other urban areas, the initiative could force cities to pay for stricter environmental protections, such as rules preventing landowners from building a garage close to sensitive wetlands or developing landslide-prone slopes.
"We think it's wrong," said Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis. "The real impact would be on the environmental side -- if you're increasing buffers along the shoreline, which we're doing, that probably would be something that people would seek damages or compensation for."
The measure would require cities and counties to consider who will be affected by a regulation, the extent to which it prevented people from using or enjoying their land and whether the same public benefits could be achieved through voluntary or collaborative programs.
If government officials chose to enact a regulation that restricts uses that were allowed a decade ago or lowers property values, they would have to pay property owners for those damages.
Environmental groups, city leaders and even some farmers say the initiative -- similar to Oregon's Measure 37 -- would gut protections for everything from salmon to open space and threaten rural lifestyles. Most cash-strapped governments would simply choose not to enforce those regulations.
In Oregon, rural landowners who initially supported the initiative were upset when their neighbors filed multimillion-dollar claims to build casino resorts on farmland and massive residential subdivisions in the midst of vineyards, said Rex Burkholder, a councilor for the regional government serving the Portland metropolitan area.
"It's a disaster. It kind of says let's trim your fingernails with a meat cleaver and you end up causing lots of damage," he said. "Many people who voted for it are pretty shocked when their neighbors start wanting to take advantage of the limitations on regulation and they find they have nothing to say about it."
Landowners have filed nearly 3,000 claims for compensation in Oregon, though many jurisdictions are no longer processing them until the state Supreme Court decides whether the measure is constitutional.
Continue reading this story from the Seattle P-I:
Farm bureau files land-use initiative
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#783 - Frank Sutton
I am a resident of Covington trying to build a small workshop on my landscaped property, which is in a wetland buffer zone. My application has been denied because of the wetland issue. How are my rights and investment protected if I cannot use my land as I see fit? Isn't this equivalent to taking without compensation?
#918 - john ball
we bought 2 acrs on whidbey island, not knowing the property behind had wet lands that put us in a buffer. co. want s 5 feet from our front doot to the slope, and nothing but vegetation to the back door, ot even grass that can be mowed. we are sick and looking at mega money loss