By a 60 to 40 margin, Oregon

By a 60 to 40 margin, Oregon voters approved Measure 37, a law that reverses land use regulations made over the last three decades if landowners owned their property before the restrictions when into effect. The effect on urban growth boundaries (UGBs) and smart growth efforts will be minimal, predicts John Fregonese, a planner with Fregonese Calthorpe Associates and former planning director of Portland Metro. The UGBs will stay in effect, but more large-lot development will take place outside of the UGBs, he says, adding that additional development of big box stores may occur around highway interchanges. “It won’t have a huge impact, but it does send a message,” Fregonese says, that planners have become too reliant on regulations, and building has become too encumbered by red tape. Planners will need to become “more strategic,” he adds, by trying to achieve goals through partnerships and investments rather than simply using regulatory tools. Smart growth efforts will not be greatly affected because most of them involve upzoning — that is to say, allowing more development and making land more valuable — Fregonese explains.