Helvetia, Stafford, the Columbia River Crossing and proposed connections between Interstate 5 and Highway 99W all received considerable attention last Thursday at the final public hearing of a 30-day public comment period on a comprehensive set of land use and transportation policy and investment recommendations before the Metro Council.
Representatives from Sherwood and Tualatin were out in force to defend a plan for connections between Interstate 5 and Highway 99W after residents raised concerns about the project earlier this week.
The supporters included Tualatin City Councilor Monique Beikman, Sherwood Mayor Keith Mays, and business leaders from Tualatin and Wilsonville. Linda Moholt, CEO for the Tualatin Chamber of Commerce, urged the Metro Council to support the planned arterial routes, called "Alternative 7." She said the region's economy depends on it.
"We need to work very hard not only to retain our current existing employers, but to attract new ones," Moholt said. "We believe that a southern connector is critical."
Metro Councilor Carl Hosticka asked Moholt about the potential for the connectors to increase commuter traffic from Yamhill County. Moholt said that's part of why the arterials are needed.
"We know the people are coming. They have to have somewhere to go," she said.
But the project's detractors showed up, too. Stephan Lashbrook, assistant community development director for the City of Wilsonville, said his city worries about earmarking millions of dollars for a project that isn't fully defined. Delores Hurtado told the Metro Council that the southern connection should be removed from Metro's draft Regional Transportation Plan because it won't serve the community and will create more traffic problems. She also had a personal reason for opposing the plan.
"It would increase a road that goes through an industrial area, and then through my house!" Hurtado said.
The issue took center stage at the Metro Council's final public hearing on Metro chief operating officer Michael Jordan's growth recommendations, entitled "Making the Greatest Place: Strategies for a sustainable and prosperous region." Nearly 80 people testified before the Metro Council during the five-hour meeting, mostly addressing how their own neighborhoods would be affected by Jordan's recommendations. Some areas, like Stafford and Helvetia, got more attention than others.
Jay Minor, Stafford Hamlet chairman, reiterated the community's ' desire to remain undesignated. But Councilors didn't see eye to eye on Minor's assertions that remaining undesignated would allow Stafford to do its own urban planning without Metro.
Metro Councilor Carlotta Collette told Minor that Metro could not help Stafford develop as an undesignated area until all other urban reserves in the region are developed. That could set back Stafford's community vision for years, she said.
"I don't see an undesignated designation as the best vehicle to accomplish your vision," she said.
Both Metro Councilors Kathryn Harrington and Robert Liberty took issue with Stafford's vision as a whole. Liberty didn't think creating large lots for people who want to feel like they're living in the country is' good for the region. And Harrington said Metro should be focusing its efforts on more populated areas that will yield more benefits for the region, not on ex-urban areas like Stafford.
Several Helvetia farmers also came to support Metro's recommendation that the area be designated as a rural reserve to preserve the thriving farm community. Some even said development close to farms could cause real problems for farmers trying to get their work done. Dairy farmer Casey Schoch said her family just invested in a new creamery and that residential neighbors would likely object to noise and odors associated with their dairy farm operations.
"The success of this creamery would be directly dependent on a rural environment," Schoch said.
While Thursday's discussion focused mainly on a road project to the south, it started with a road project to the north. Steve Stuart, a Clark County Commissioner, told the Metro Council the Columbia River Crossing project is too big and will encourage more commuter traffic on the freeway connecting Vancouver and Portland. He also said the project will need to be supported with tolls.
"In my opinion, we need to downsize the project," Stuart said. "We need a project that represents the values of our communities."
Business leaders also came to offer their thoughts on the Making the Greatest Place recommendations, which they felt gave inadequate attention to creating jobs in the region. Westside Economic Alliance executive director Jonathan Schlueter said the recommendations wrote off manufacturing jobs, and Port of Portland manager Susie Lahsene said Metro's land use regulations discourage new employers from coming to the area. Sharon Nasset, a Portland real estate agent, said Metro's plan of focusing growth inside the urban growth boundary is doomed.
"Every large community that has fallen has fallen when it was packed to the gills," Nasset said.
Echoing that sentiment, Bob LeFeber, a commercial real estate agent, said Metro should allocate larger urban reserves because growth is so hard to predict.
"They're only if we need them, so why not make them generous?" LeFeber said.
The environment also got some attention from those gathered to testify. Mara Gross, policy director for the Coalition for a Livable Future, came to Metro to talk about climate change. Though she was generally supportive of the recommendations, she said they included too much focus on new roads and not enough emphasis on transportation choice.
"Roads are expensive, and it doesn't leave much money for other needs," Gross said.
Metro also heard from a frustrated Intel employee who said there isn't enough attention being paid to creating housing for young, single people who want smaller housing like apartments or condos. She said Hillsboro in particular is frustrating because there is too much emphasis on family housing, and not enough for the growing contingent of people like her.
"If there were viable living options close to the MAX, not only would people use them," she said, "they would actually seek to live there."
Councilor Harrington told Arnold that the Hillsboro City Council is in the midst of its own planning right now and would welcome Arnold's input and enthusiasm.
Although most people were generally supportive of the recommendations, or at least appreciative of the work that went into them, the night ended with Jim Karlock telling the Council that forced high density and mass transit are not creating a livable community. He urged Metro to look beyond the report and to the community to see what was good for the region.
"Quit listening to your planning staff and start listening to the outside world," Karlock said.
Comments received at the public hearing and others submitted over the past month will inform decisions by the Metro Council and other public bodies later this year and in 2010 on transportation policies and investments, land supply, urban and rural reserves and public investments within the existing town and regional centers, corridors and employment areas.
- by Sean Breslin, Metro staff