An attorney for a developer hoping for an urban growth boundary expansion near Hillsboro says it's still possible for the state to sign off on some urban reserves in Washington County this year.
The Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission voted Oct. 29 to remand Washington County's rural reserves, as part of a plan to allow the county to designate new urban reserves. Under state law, once rural reserves are designated, they can't be developed for 50 years. But the state's codes also say urban reserves can't exist in a county unless rural reserves do, as well – while the commission had few problems with most of Washington County's urban reserves, their designation is on hold while the rural reserves remain undetermined.
The county and Metro must also re-evaluate planned urban reserves near Cornelius and Forest Grove, which the commission remanded.
Jeff Bachrach, an attorney for Newland Communities, a developer of the planned South Hillsboro development, said this week the state has some wiggle-room to allow a growth boundary expansion.
"Until it's put in writing and brought back to the commission, there's still policy discretion to exercise," he said. "Based on my 25-plus years of land-use experience, I can tell you that after a political body like LCDC announces its tentative oral decision, there is always some discretion to be exercised and policy judgments to be made when crafting the final order and in its adoption by the commission."
Richard Whitman, director of the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, said his staff is working on a formal order memorializing the commission's Oct. 29 reserves vote. That process should take about a month, he said. At that point, commission chair John VanLandingham would sign the order.
South Hillsboro looked like it was headed towards annexation into the urban growth boundary, until the commission made its decision. Metro Chief Operating Officer Michael Jordan said the area near Reedville was his top recommendation for a boundary expansion this year, noting the likelihood it would be developed in the near future. The Metro Policy Advisory Committee recommended the Metro Council agree there is a need for more home sites in the region's 20-year inventory; if the council finds that need exists, it has to expand the boundary.
Metro attorney Dick Benner said the urban reserves in Washington County, including South Hillsboro, won't formally exist until Metro and Washington County re-adopt both urban and rural reserves.
"The Metro Council will re-adopt most of the urban reserves because LCDC will not have a problem with them," Benner said. "And Washington County will adopt new rural reserves or slightly revised rural reserves."
That likely won't happen until March, Benner said, because Washington County's charter says plan amendments can only happen in October or March.
"Each of the four local governments has adopted a plan map that shows the urban and rural reserves and has adopted policy that applies to those areas," Benner said. "There would have to be an amendment to the map, and they can't do it until March."
To expand the boundary in Washington County, Benner said, Metro would have to prove that it couldn't use urban reserves in Clackamas and Multnomah counties – which the commission accepted – to fill the residential or industrial needs the council might want to fill in Washington County.
Metro had also been eyeing a boundary expansion for potential industrial sites north of Hillsboro.
"We would have to be able to demonstrate in the other two counties we can't find urban reserves that could satisfy this need," Benner said.
The Metro Council has two other options, Benner said. It could expand the boundary onto urban reserves in Clackamas or Multnomah counties. Or, he said, it could say that through efficiency measures, at least half of the projected residential need has been met inside the existing boundary.
It could then come back later, potentially as early as next spring, to re-examine the boundary, presumably after Washington County's urban and rural reserves are formalized.
Correction – An earlier version of this story had the incorrect date of the Land Conservation and Development Commission vote. The vote was on Oct. 29.