The Metro Council voted 6-1 Thursday to adopt the last piece of an historic 50-year plan for protecting farm and forest land while allowing for additional housing and jobs in limited areas outside the current urban growth boundary and focusing additional investment and redevelopment in existing communities.
The ordinance establishes the urban and rural reserves map for Washington County in Metro’s code, along with the findings that support those reserves. This is the last product of nearly four years’ effort on the part of Metro and Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties, plus citizens, land owners, business leaders, city and county officials, farmers and others, to allow for sufficient land needed to support future growth while protecting farms and forests that contribute to the local economy and define the character of the region.
Last October the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission approved urban and rural reserve maps for Clackamas and Multnomah counties but did not approve the map proposed for Washington County, citing concerns about potential development on farmland north of Cornelius and in areas north of Forest Grove. LCDC asked Washington County and Metro to revise the map to address those concerns. LCDC allowed enough flexibility for the two governments to replace the lost urban reserve acreage while ensuring continued protection of valuable farm and forest lands.
The revised proposal, agreed to by the Metro Council and Washington County Board of Commissioners on March 15, includes approximately 13,500 acres of urban reserves. Combined with more than 14,000 acres of urban reserves in Clackamas and Multnomah counties, this proposal provides an overview of areas that are best suited to provide for additional jobs and housing as they are needed over the next 50 years while supporting continued growth and investment in existing cities and neighborhoods.
Nine individuals testified before the Metro Council, all in opposition to the proposed ordinance, with many expressing particular concern about a proposed 352-acre urban reserve in the Helvetia area north of Hwy. 26. This is in addition to an urban reserve of 86 acres in that area that LCDC approved last October.
"Hillsboro doesn’t need the 440 acres north of Hwy. 26," said Cherry Amabisca, one of the leaders of the Save Helvetia organization that has sought to keep the Helvetia area out of urban reserves. “This has been part of Helvetia’s economic engine for 150 years.”
Mary Kyle McCurdy from 1000 Friends of Oregon also raised concerns about the proposal, but focused her comments on lands north of Council Creek near Cornelius and Forest Grove. She raised concerns about the proposed undesignated 360 acres of undesignated land north of Cornelius that was previously rejected by LCDC as an urban reserve. "The area north of Cornelius is not good for urban reserve. Why leave it undesignated?" she asked. "It qualifies as rural reserve because it is agricultural."
Amy Scheckla-Cox, a member of the Cornelius planning commission, urged the Metro Council to consider putting in a smaller urban reserve north of Cornelius, as was proposed in a "compromise map" endorsed by the Washington County Planning Commission in early March. "There is this worry that LCDC won’t like any urban reserve north of Cornelius, but that has not been backed up with a legal written notice," she said.
During the Council’s deliberations before the vote, Metro Councilor Kathryn Harrington noted the historic nature of the agreement. "Today, I celebrate," she said. "I celebrate that we are helping our region provide for good jobs now and in the future, while providing significant protections for the valuable farm and forest lands that are essential to our economy and define the character of our region."
Councilor Shirley Craddick cast the lone dissenting vote on the ordinance. She was also the only no vote on the Metro Council on the final agreement with Washington County at the March 15 joint meeting. While noting her support for the process that has led to urban and rural reserves, and her support for urban and rural reserves already acknowledged in Clackamas and Multnomah counties, "I am not happy with the decision in Washington County. I believe too much farmland is in urban reserve. I have to stay with my values."
The Washington County Board of Commissioners must adopt its land use ordinance to account for the revised urban and rural reserves. The board is holding one additional public hearing, on Tuesday, April 26, beginning at 6:30 p.m., at which it is scheduled to vote on that ordinance. If Washington County’s ordinance is adopted, and if the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners adopts the revised set of findings at its meeting on Thursday, April 28, the revised urban and rural reserves proposal for Washington County will go back to LCDC for its review and approval. (The Clackamas County Board of Commissioners adopted the revised reserves findings at its meeting on Thursday.) It is expected that LCDC will consider the Washington County reserves package at its meeting in Portland in August.