In order to limit new expansion of the urban growth boundary into rural areas, governments are going to have to be a lot wiser with how they spend public money.
That's the message Metro chief operating officer Michael Jordon stressed Friday while meeting with state legislators about Metro staff's growth plan.
"We're going to have to be deadly efficient in how we invest the public's money,"Jordan said, adding that different levels of government cannot work independent of one another. "We have got to figure out ways to collaborate, to make decisions together."
That means investing in existing infrastructure, repairing and revitalizing existing town centers and corridors, renovating dilapidated buildings and maintaining existing transportation systems.
"We believe that the first focus of those expenditures should be repairing and maintaining what we've already built," Jordan said. "We've got a fairly good system and by golly we'd better take care of it."
Jordan's comments came during a Friday morning meeting among the Metro Council and staff and regional representatives from the state legislature to discuss Jordan's growth recommendations, titled "Making the Greatest Place: Strategies for a sustainable and prosperous region." The report encourages channeling most growth into the existing urban growth boundary, investing in repairing and maintaining existing buildings and infrastructure, and holding Metro and its local government partners accountable for the goals they put in place for the region.
The legislators were generally positive about Jordan's recommendations, though many said this was their first look at his report and that they had not yet analyzed all of its points. But Sen. Martha Schrader, a Democrat from Canby, said she's concerned about area businesses' tepid response to the report. Local business groups have worried that Jordan's recommendations could limit economic growth. Schrader said those concerns shouldn't be taken lightly.
"Our business community knows what drives the economy," Schrader said.
As Jordan outlined the report's goals to invest in existing infrastructure, he told the legislators that "infrastructure" means different things to different people. And for many, the popular definition of the word is changing.
"People are saying 'I want a plaza near my home where there will be a farmers market on Saturday,'" Jordan said. "That's what kind of investments we're talking about. Investments need to be made in town centers."
Throughout the meeting, legislators frequently interjected with questions for Jordan and the Metro Council. Portland Democrat Rep. Mitch Greenlick asked the council how Jordan's report relates to specific pieces of legislation.
"[Jordan's] recommendation will be the foundation for at least three pieces of legislation," said Metro Council President David Bragdon: adopting the Regional Transportation Plan, the urban growth report, and the urban and rural Reserves.
Portland Democrat Rep. Mary Nolan asked how Jordan and Metro staff weighted different factors in developing the growth forecast in the report.
"What things that we don't control make the biggest difference?" Nolan asked.
Jordan said the job market played a key role and that the staff had broken the job market into different sectors rather than looking at employment as one factor. For example, technology development and technology manufacturing are different sectors, Jordan said.
"We believe we'll still be a leader in high tech, but we won't be a leader in the manufacturing of high tech," Jordan said of the forecast.
Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder added that population growth was "the basic fundamental driver" that deserved high attention.
"All of these policy streams are inextricably linked," Jordan said.
The meeting also addressed recommended urban reserves, a process that gets the most attention in the press, Jordan lamented.
"Any time you talk about the edge [of the urban growth boundary], it's controversial," Jordan said. He said Metro staff believe that the urban growth boundary may not have to move at all during this round of decision-making, and if at all then very minimally.
The process of designating reserves tries to balance agriculture, natural resources and urban areas. It's not an easy task, Jordan said. Focusing growth inside the boundary could leave much of the current boundary unchanged, Jordan said.
Metro Councilor Carl Hosticka tried to stem fears that focusing growth inside the urban growth boundary could affect single-family neighborhoods, alluding to the recommendation's emphasis on focusing new development in downtowns and along main streets.
"Nothing that we're doing assumes that we're going to increase the density in single-family neighborhoods," he said.
As the planning process moves forward, Jordan said he hopes this round of urban planning goes more smoothly than in 2004, when plans were constantly challenged in court.
"It was excruciatingly difficult and highly unsatisfying," Jordan said. "Every point on the political compass was at least in agreement on that."
– by Sean Breslin, Metro staff