PHOTO COURTESY JIM KIGHT
This site on the Sandy River, part of the City of Troutdale's urban renewal area, will be covered under the city's new code requirements for mitigating the effects of development on sensitive habitat areas, which complies with Metro's requirements.
The Metro Council today dismissed enforcement actions against Troutdale regarding compliance with regional habitat protections, following the Troutdale City Council’s adoption of an ordinance on June 12 that brings the city into compliance with Metro’s requirements.
Metro’s Title 13 requires that cities and counties adopt policies in their land use codes that protect water quality and fish and wildlife habitat. Title 13 provides significant flexibility in meeting its requirements. It does not prevent development, but it requires measures be taken to mitigate the effects of development on sensitive habitat and water quality.
"Protecting water quality and wildlife habitat is critically important to the residents of our region, and we have worked with Troutdale to craft protection measures that are in keeping with local values and regional goals," said Metro Councilor Shirley Craddick, whose district includes Troutdale and other communities in the east portion of the region.
The ordinance adopted by the city council provides stronger criteria for evaluating the impacts of development in sensitive wildlife areas. The ordinance also applies these same rules to development on city-owned property which were not in place previously.
"This ordinance strengthens our commitment to ensuring adequate protections for sensitive wildlife habitat and water quality throughout Troutdale while not putting onerous burdens on developers and property owners," said Troutdale Mayor Jim Kight.
"We worked closely with Metro to craft a policy that meets the region’s goals for protecting wildlife habitat protection while enabling new development to occur where it is needed," added Troutdale City Councilor Doug Daoust.
Metro’s Title 13, adopted in 2005, set minimum standards for addressing the impacts of development in sensitive habitat areas. Nearly every city and county in the region has adopted policies meeting the requirements of Title 13.
Three city councilors – Daoust, Norm Thomas and Glenn White – worked with Metro officials to come up with code language that met the requirements of Metro’s code while providing the city and local property owners with enough flexibility for future development.