Catch your breath.
That was the message Thursday night from some of the speakers at the Metro Council’s third public hearing on its proposed capacity ordinance, this one the first of two in Portland.
“The current economy provides an opportunity to focus the region’s investments and other tools on our region’s existing communities and local aspirations,” said Mary Kyle McCurdy, the policy director for 1000 Friends of Oregon. “There are not enough private or public dollars to pay for the region’s current infrastructure needs inside the UGB, much less on new land.
“This is an opportunity to implement what Chief Operating Officer Michael Jordan is calling for in the Community Investment Strategy – focus and coordinate investments to repair, improve and provide infrastructure inside the UGB," McCurdy said.
Jordan and his staff are working on assembling a task force to address what infrastructure needs should be addressed and how they should be paid for; that group is expected to be announced early in 2011. But the group won’t be done with its work for months or years; McCurdy called on the Metro Council to aim low in its capacity ordinance.
“We hope that you will decide next year that for the next 5-year UGB cycle, metro and local governments will focus solely on making the investment and policy decisions to realize more of that capacity,” McCurdy said.
Also calling for a scaled-back capacity ordinance was Mara Gross, policy director for the Coalition for a Livable Future (a coalition that includes 1000 Friends as a member). Gross questioned whether the AmberGlen and Tanasbourne area in northeast Hillsboro should be designated a regional center, making it a priority for transportation funding.
“We are already struggling to meet the aspirations in the centers we have,” she said, adding that it was unclear what criteria Metro is even supposed to use to decide what should be a regional center.
Gross also called on the agency to further spell out the region’s commitment to health, equity, public participation and climate change, and said the agency’s proposed affordable housing regulations in Title 11 should be strengthened.
Despite the hearing being in left-leaning Portland, many of the speakers urged the council to take moves to strengthen the suburban economy. Tualatin Mayor Lou Ogden called for industrial land to be added to the urban growth boundary near his city; Trey Chanter from the South Metro Business Alliance urged the agency to focus on transportation issues south of Tigard; Hillsboro brought out several business owners to testify, followed by city development director John Southgate reminding the council that small businesses rely on large industries to flourish.
While the council won’t be voting on whether to expand the urban growth boundary this year, decisions it makes now could impact whether it has to expand the boundary next year.
The council is set to vote on the capacity ordinance following a final hearing at 2 p.m. Dec. 16 at the Metro Regional Center.