Oregon Land Use Update
August 31, 2006

In this issue:

1000 FRIENDS OF OREGON

• Envision Oregon Town Hall in Portland a great success
• Come to a town hall Envision Oregon event in La Grande, Medford, or Bend
• 1000 Friends of Oregon seeks Legislative Director
• Marion County Farm Bureau and 1000 Friends appeal Woodburn expansion

OREGON NEWS

• Measure 37 waivers overwhelm farmland
• Small farms and Measure 37 claims growing in Willamette Valley
• Salem's Kuebler Blvd. proposal to line I-5 interchange with 1,481 new houses
• Florence told to keep urban services in urban areas: no sewer outside of city
• Smaller Oregon farms rely on land use planning
• Defining sustainable forestry in Oregon
• Jacksonville residents' vision for their town
• Who pays for growth in Oregon
• Stafford residents begin creating a vision to shape growth

NATIONAL NEWS

• Farmers losing water to new residential development
• Washington home builders and realtors less enthusiastic about I-933
• "New Urbanism" works in small towns, too
• Utah: Planning how to grow protects quality of life
• Resources:  green infrastructure
• Ballot-box planning for Dalidio Ranch project in California

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Envision Oregon Town Hall in Portland a great success

Earlier this month, 1000 Friends and 21 other cosponsors hosted another Envision Oregon town hall, this time in Portland.  Thanks to the 500 or so of you who packed the largest room in the Governor Hotel in downtown Portland to talk about your values and vision for Oregon.  See pictures of Oregonians sharing ideas, read more about what people said, and review the report to the Oregon Task Force on Land Use Planning about the event here.

More town hall events are scheduled for this fall.  The next event is in La Grande on October 12, followed by Medford on October 26 and Bend on November 18.  The events are free, but please register so we can provide enough food to keep you going. The events are hands-on, not lectures.  Find out more and register online.

Each legislative session presents new challenges for protecting Oregon's future.  1000 Friends is looking for a full-time legislative director to join our team of people dedicated to enhancing our quality of life.  The next legislative session begin in January 2007, so now is the time to put in your application.  Learn more about the position and how to apply.

Farmers and 1000 Friends again joined together to oppose expansion of Woodburn's urban growth boundary. Woodburn is seeking to expand by about 1,000 acres, based in part on an assumption that high-tech companies will want to locate there.  The proposed expansion would take prime farmland out of production.  The groups sent their objections to the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development. Read more.

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OREGON NEWS

Measure 37 waivers overwhelm farmland

We hear about Measure 37 claims, but where are they exactly? The people at Portland State University's Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies has put together a series of ten maps showing Metro area Measure 37 claims.  You can see where they are, how large they area, current zoning, what kind of development claimants are seeking, and more here.  

The PSU maps show which Measure 37 claims are in the North Willamette Valley are on farmland, and Nick Andrews, small farms extension agent, helps small farmers in the area stay in business. See details on small farmer resources.

In addition to the Measure37 claims that would allow more houses to be built, in South Salem, a 186-acre site is being eyed for a massive new housing project with homes costing $300,000 to $450,000. Learn more.

The Land Use Board of Appeals ruled that Florence cannot lawfully extend sewer services outside the Florence urban area, consistent with Oregon's priority of keeping urban services inside urban areas to promote thriving cities and protect rural areas. Read more.

There are many faces of Oregon agriculture: from the ranchlands and wheat fields east of the Cascades to the vineyards, seed and row crop farms on the west, and small farmers around urban areas.  There are an increasing number of small, family farms in Oregon.  Some of these farms help city residents have a personal connection to where their food comes from and taste some of the bounty that is Oregon.  Sound land use planning helps protect Oregon's family farmers' investment in their farm.  Learn more.

The Oregon Board of Forestry will look at 19 proposed indicators of sustainability for Oregon's forests at its September 6 meeting in Salem.  A draft was prepared by a 20-person Ad Hoc Sustainable Forest Management Advisory Committee, which was formed in March 2005 to develop this list.  Read the story. Find details on the project. Read information about the Board's meeting.

Last week, 150 Jacksonville residents testified about  their vision for their Jacksonville's future. For most, that vision would be to protect the "treasure of a city" by managing growth wisely.  It's not too late to lend your voice: the record is still open and another hearing is scheduled for November 9 at 6 pm.  Read more.

If you have a vision for your southern Oregon community that you would like to share, you can also attend Envision Oregon's town hall meeting in Medford on October 26 starting at 5:30.  The event is free (as is the food), but we need you to register to make sure we have enough for everyone.

Baker City does not have system development charges, but it does have growth that will cost taxpayers more money.  Most cities in Oregon have these charges and Baker City is finding out why. Read more.

When change is coming at you, it is easy to get frozen into inaction.  In Stafford, residents know that change is coming and want to shape that change to protect their community.  Should their aim to be a hamlet or a city?   They need a common vision to do growth as well as many area Measure 37 claims.  The conversation has started.

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NATIONAL NEWS

Farmers losing water to new residential development

In the arid west, water is key to survival.  Water conflicts in Ketchum, Idaho are the first of many conflicts between land and water use that most states have yet to integrate in their decision-making.  Read the story.

Eleven years ago Washington home builders and realtors associations were on the bandwagon to unravel Washington's Growth Management Act. But times have changed and this year the associations do not place a priority on adopting a Measure 37-type initiative in Washington, in part due to the new round of lawsuits the initiative would spawn. Learn more.

The term "urban" often leaves more rural communities feeling left out of the smart growth conversation.  But the principles of growth management promote a better quality of life at any scale, as Colorado communities are proving. Learn more.

If you do not want wildlife in your yard, and want to avoid seeing your house slide down a slope, then planning for growth is good news for you.  Comprehensive planning takes into account what we need for our quality of life and shapes growth to match those needs, or so writes one Utah observer.

To find out more about what is happening around the country on green infrastructure, visit this site.

A developer has taken to the ballot box to get voter approval for his development.  The proposal would create its own zone and regulations for it that planners could not alter. Learn more.

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Credits/Subscription Info

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Land Use Update is edited by Kate Kimball and brought to you by 1000 Friends of Oregon, a statewide organization dedicated to protecting Oregon's quality of life.

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