Reporting from Stafford
Proceed - with caution.
That was the message from Stafford hamlet board members Monday night, who took a small step toward a feasibility study about urbanizing the area between Lake Oswego, West Linn and Tualatin.
The letter wasn't a request to urbanize now, or anytime soon. Instead, the letter notified Clackamas County commissioners of the board's support for the results of a vote at an April 9 town hall about some of the issues surrounding the eventual development of Stafford.
Forty-five percent of the voters at that town hall said that any study of the feasibility of urbanization for the Borland Road subdivision should include a study of the entire Stafford area, including a study of "density transfer" - developing some areas, such as the Borland corridor, at a higher density so that other areas of the Stafford area could include lower density development.
The Borland Neighborhood Association, which includes landowners in what could eventually be a town center for the Stafford area, are pushing for the study. A report from the group was delivered to Metro planners last week, and not without controversy — Dave Leland, the president of the consulting group that drafted the report, said his company erroneously made it look as though Clackamas County itself was behind the report.
He apologized for the mistake Monday, but not before Stafford neighbors expressed concern that Clackamas County was moving forward with a push for urbanization without asking Stafford residents. Clackamas County Chair Charlotte Lehan emphasized on Monday that the county would not be making any request unless Stafford asked for it.
After a thoughtful one hour conversation among about 30 community members about the significance of studying if and how Stafford should be urbanized, board members convened to discuss their message to county commissioners.
The only board member to vote against sending the letter, which will be sent this week, was Dave Adams. He expressed concern that community members hadn't had enough time to mull whether the study should go forward.
"Many in the hamlet are going to see this as a betrayal," Adams said.
"You feel it sends the message to Metro and Clackamas County that we're ready to go and want to be included in the UGB, and sends the message to hamlet residents that we're in agreement with this?" asked Adam Klugman, another hamlet board member.
"I'm equally concerned about the message we're sending to Metro and residents in the hamlet," Adams said.
Dave Coles, another board member, said he thought a study would bring some certainty for residents.
"The feasibility study is going to bring some reality to the process, instead of speculation," Coles said. "Residents of the hamlet, if this study is done objectively and reality is part of it, they're going to be happy with the outcome. I'm not as afraid."
Anticipating an urban growth boundary expansion in 2010, Metro staff last year studied the feasibility of bringing certain urban reserve areas into the urban growth boundary. The studies looked at the services available for potential new developments, the cost of building infrastructure for those new communities and the ability of nearby governments to handle those expansions.
The Metro Council delayed its urban growth boundary decision until this year, and staff will update those studies.
A copy of the letter will be posted as soon as it becomes available.