Here come the billboards.

Byline: The Register-Guard

It's a safe bet that most Oregonians who voted for Measure 37 three years ago didn't think the property rights measure would increase the number of billboards on highways across the state.

That's hardly surprising. Measure 37 has done lots of things voters didn't anticipate. It has brought proposals for huge subdivisions and developments on forest and farm lands. It has spawned the prospect of legal brawls pitting property owners seeking to cash in on the measure against neighbors desperate to preserve their quality of life and property values from the threat of haphazardand unregulateddevelopment.

But billboards? It's doubtful anyone anticipated that Measure 37 would combine with an Oregon Supreme Court free speech ruling to open state highways to more billboard advertising.

But that's exactly what's happening. More than 100 new highway billboards have been put up in the past two years, understandably dismaying Oregonians who treasure this state's scenic vistas.

The federal Highway Beautification Act of 1965, which threatened to cut federal transportation funding to states that didn't control billboards, helped concentrate billboards in urban commercial and industrial zones across the nation. In 1971, Oregon went even further by passing a law that limited the number of permits for billboards along state and federal highways.

The state also bought and took down thousands of old signs that did not comply with the new standards. Owners of those signs received credits to replace them with new signs that complied with new rules regarding appearance and location.

As a result, Oregon ended up with a cap of 2,500 billboard permits, hundreds of relocation credits for unbuilt signs - and uncluttered highway vistas that were the envy of the nation.

In 2006, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that the state Department of Transportation's method for issuing billboard permits violated the state Constitution's expansive free speech protections. The ruling was followed by a boom of sign construction, including at least 100 new billboards along Interstates 5 and 84.

Meanwhile, at least 54 property owners have filed Measure 37 claims to put up signs in the Portland area alone. While a new state permit system is in effect, transportation officials say new billboards resulting from Measure 37 claims will receive permits retroactively and increase the state's cap on billboards.

Measure 37 supporters correctly note that claims seeking permission to put up billboards represent a tiny percentage of the 7,500 development claims filed to date. But that fails to account for the thousands of claims that don't identify what kind of development the property owners are seeking and that might well include billboards, given the premium rates being paid by advertisers eager for sign space. Those rates currently range from up to $15,000 a month in the Portland area to $6,000 in Eugene to $3,000 in Eastern Oregon.

Oregonians can help stem the incoming tide of billboards by voting this November to approve Measure 49, the legislative rewrite of Measure 37 that would limit commercial development such as billboards.

Measure 49 also would protect Oregon's farmlands and forests and ban commercial buildings and subdivisions of more than 10 homes. And it would expedite the claims of individual property owners who want to build a couple of homes - the little guys who most voters believed they were helping when they passed Measure 37.

But for many Oregonians, the opportunity alone to protect their unimpeded view of this state's incomparable vistas may provide sufficient motivation to vote for Measure 49.