Capacity ordinance supports goals of Community Investment Strategy
The Metro Council today approved an ordinance that will make changes in how the region plans for growth and development inside the urban growth boundary. The capacity ordinance, which passed unanimously, will amend regional policies that guide residential and employment growth over the next 20 years.
The capacity ordinance includes policies aimed at:
- prioritizing Metro’s investments to support development in town and regional centers, employment areas and transportation corridors, as a way to promote compact urban form, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and get more out of existing investments
- protecting industrial lands from conversion to non-industrial uses, such as for churches and schools and parks, to preserve that land for employers who need it for new manufacturing jobs
- making town centers and areas along major streets and transit corridors more walkable and convenient for non-auto travel
- planning more thoughtfully for future boundary expansions, ensuring that there are public structures and financing available – from private and public sources – so that growth and development can be supported once an expansion occurs.
Metro leaders anticipate that, by adopting the capacity ordinance, most of the expected housing and employment growth that our region will see over the next 20 years will occur within current urban growth boundary. Any remaining amount of growth not accommodated by the capacity ordinance will be considered by the Metro Council through possible expansions sometime in 2011.
Ordinance supports Community Investment Strategy
Policies in the capacity ordinance support Metro's Community Investment Strategy, an integrated investment approach focusing on maintaining existing public structures and community assets as well as supporting targeted new investments. The strategy calls for the region's cities, counties and businesses, along with Metro, to tackle looming financing gaps and inefficiencies that slow progress and increase costs.