Reporting from Hillsboro
Some Washington County residents urged county commissioners Tuesday to make changes to the urban and rural reserves agreement hammered out a month ago between the county and Metro.
About 10 people spoke at a public hearing about a proposed agreement between Metro and the county, formalizing the compromise from a March 15 joint meeting of the Metro Council and county commission. None spoke in favor of the agreement.
Linda Peters, a former Washington County Chair, didn't speak about any area in particular. She, instead, focused on the process that created the reserves agreement.
"Nobody from the beginning in Washington County, and not enough throughout the region, took seriously the principle that it was as much about protecting farmland as it was about providing for urban growth," she said. "People didn't come at it with the understanding that the smart growth we are after… comes from revitalizing the areas we already have in the UGB."
Cherry Amabisca, one of the leaders of Save Helvetia, said her group is likely to sue over the agreement, which created a new urban reserve north of U.S. 26, west of Helvetia Road.
"Now that you've decided to add another of 350 acres of urban reserves north of Sunset Highway, it makes our decision (on whether to go to court) a whole lot easier," she said.
She said Metro and Washington County were under no obligation to make up for the urban reserve lost when the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission voted last October to spike an urban reserve north of Cornelius. And, she said, Hillsboro doesn't need to add industrial land in the area.
"I was at (Metro Policy Advisory Committee) Meetings where Jerry Willey declined to commit (land north of Hillsboro) as industrial," she said. The area north of U.S. 26, Amabisca said, "has been Helvetia's economic engine for 150 years."
Later, Helvetia resident Anna Becker called any plan to add an urban reserve north of U.S. 26 "disastrous."
"I will greatly profit from this decision," she said. "But there are many more important issues than this.
"Metro is exuding white lies and propagandizing their own agenda of short-term thinking and profit," Becker said in her testimony.
As much as Helvetia doesn't want an urban reserve north of U.S. 26, Cornelius still wants an urban reserve north of Council Creek. With no written record of LCDC's October decision, Cornelius boosters want to see a smaller urban reserve proposal north of the city.
By only cutting the city's original urban reserves ask in half, the urban reserve could be accepted, said Cornelius resident Sheila Griffey.
"Both Metro and LCDC will be happy for a compromise that results in a finished product," she said. "Cornelius has addressed (LCDC)'s concerns with the Community Farmland Compromise."
Washington County Commissioner Roy Rogers was not as optimistic.
"There's not traction for your proposal," he said. "I appreciate you making your remarks. I appreciate your position and Helvetia's position. If I could swap those two and I were king for a day I'd do it in a nanosecond."
The Metro Council will have a hearing and a scheduled vote on reserves Thursday. Washington County is scheduled for another hearing and vote next Tuesday night.