The land use approval for the Columbia River Crossing passed the Metro Council again on Thursday, eight months after the regional government gave its initial blessing to the project.
This time, though, the approval only extends to Metro's urban growth boundary, on the north shore of Hayden Island, not all the way to the Oregon-Washington state line, as the original land use final order had done.
Metro was reconsidering the land use final order after Columbia River Crossing opponents successfully argued that Metro overstepped its bounds in approving the project beyond the urban growth boundary. Their appeals on other matters were rejected by state regulators and the Oregon Supreme Court.
Because of the narrow scope of Thursday's vote, the change in the order attracted little public comment; only two people testified at the hearing, one in writing.
Not surprisingly, the Metro Council didn't seem to be in a hurry to reverse its decision from 2011. Even Councilor Carl Hosticka, a CRC opponent who voted against the land use order last year, supported Thursday's measure.
He said his support was in part because the order's process expedites appeals, saving transportation agencies and appellants years of legal wrangling before state land use review boards.
But Vancouver resident Debbie Peterson, one of the speakers at Thursday's hearing, said that's exactly why the council should have rejected the order.
"That might not be a bad thing," she said. "Look at what we've found out in the last two or three years. We found out that two years ago, the bridge design was inadequate. We found out last summer… that your Oregon State Treasurer, Mr. Wheeler, said the (environmental study) was incorrect.
"What will we find out in two years about that project?"
But Hosticka said it's time to move discussion on the project to another forum, and a more important one – government bodies that will have to pay for the $3.6 billion project.
"The decision about whether this is a good project or not is going to be made in other forums, and will be made at a time when people are going to have to commit themselves to putting money in this project," Hosticka said. "At this point, I don't look forward to another two years of legal wrangling."
Councilor Shirley Craddick echoed Hosticka's sentiments before the council's unanimous approval of the order.
"I've had questions about this project and this process, but I think we need to move forward and allow the real discussion to begin regarding the financing and design," she said.
The vote was likely Metro's last major approval of the Columbia River Crossing.
(July 15, 2011)?
(Aug. 11, 2011)
(Oct. 27, 2011)
(Feb. 16, 2012)
(April 2, 2012)