The Metro Council on Dec. 17 voted to approve the Regional Transportation Plan and to submit a draft intergovernmental agreement on urban and rural reserves for public comment in January 2010. Both actions support Metro's larger "Making the Greatest Place" initiative which guides how the region grows and how people travel for the next 25 to 50 years to achieve the public desire for jobs, protection of farm and forestland, and investment in existing areas inside the urban growth boundary before expanding outside.
Together, the Regional Transportation Plan and the reserves process represent unprecedented regional efforts to integrate land use and transportation decisions and weigh the impacts on greenhouse gas emissions, regional equity and the kinds of communities we live in. Both the RTP and the reserves process require multi-jurisdictional buy-in and support and will offer further public comment opportunities before final adoption in 2010.
Regional Transportation Plan
The council voted 7-0 to accept the Regional Transportation Plan which, in addition to a list of potential projects submitted by local jurisdictions, also includes performance measures linking transportation investments to job creation, compact urban form and enhancing travel options for residents across the region.
Councilor Rex Burkholder, who along with Councilor Rod Park was the lead Councilor in the four-year process of developing the RTP, praised the plan as being visionary and comprehensive. Contrary to some criticism of the plan as increasing overall greenhouse gas emissions, supporters advocate for the RTP as a crucial first step toward addressing climate change through a variety of measures, including transportation, land use and material consumption.
"This is the first RTP in the country to address climate change," said Burkholder. "This plan will reduce per capita greenhouse gas emissions and per capita vehicle miles traveled and provide for record amounts of investments in bicycle, transit and pedestrian modes of transportation."
Park, who chaired the Regional Freight Task Force, noted the importance of the freight plan on the region's economy. "The freight plan gives us a base to guide our freight investments in order to support the jobs we want in this region," he noted.
Among other elements, the new RTP contains:
- the first high-capacity transit plan since the early 1980s, which outlines priorities for future investments in an expanded light-rail network, bus rapid transit and other high-capacity transit corridors
- a regional freight plan that looks at how freight can move more efficiently through the region's transportation system
- the first comprehensive plan for transportation systems management and operations to make the most of investments already made in the transportation network
- the first climate change action plan to address how an integrated set of transportation investments, land use policies and other strategies can most effectively reduce greenhouse gases.
Yesterday's council vote followed a Dec. 10 action of the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation which voted 11-3 to endorse the plan.
Following the air quality conformity analysis, the plan will undergo further public comment in spring 2010. After public comment, JPACT and the Metro Council are expected to formally adopt the RTP in June.
Urban and rural reserves
The Metro Council also voted 7-0 to accept a draft map and intergovernmental agreement for urban and rural reserves for release for public comment. The Council's action came one day after the Core 4, representatives of the Metro Council and Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties, met to approve a "best effort" map and agreement language.
The Core 4 map includes approximately 24,000 acres of proposed urban reserves and 224,000 acres of proposed rural reserves throughout the region. While much of the Core 4 map reflects a consensus on which areas should be considered for urban and rural reserves, unresolved issues remain on some areas including Sherwood, Stafford, Oregon City, Boring and the West Hills. Public comment will be collected on all areas of the proposal, but is especially sought in the areas where the Core 4 did not reach agreement.
"This is a regional, best effort proposal," said Councilor Kathryn Harrington, the Metro Council's representative on the Core 4. "Let me make this abundantly clear: everything is open to comment."
The Metro Council received a considerable amount of testimony from farmers, land owners and other advocates expressing reservations about the proposed urban and rural reserve areas indicated on the Core 4 map, with most urging smaller urban reserves and stronger protection for agricultural land around the region.
Jeff Stone, director of government relations for the Oregon Association of Nurseries, encouraged the Council to look at the economic impacts of the agricultural industry noting, "Agricultural land is employment land. We don't count that in any of our metrics."
West Linn City Councilor Teri Cummings advocated against urban reserve designations in the Stafford area. "Please err on the side of conservation," she asked, noting that the surrounding cities of West Linn, Lake Oswego and Tualatin had previously expressed an unwillingness to provide necessary services to support urban development in Stafford.
Former Washington County Chair Linda Peters underscored the importance of rural reserves, and not just for protecting agriculture. "It is important that we protect farmland because it forms a ring around the region and it forces us to keep our cities lively and active," she remarked.
The Metro Council noted that several council members still had concerns about multiple proposed urban and rural reserves indicated on the map. Therefore, in addition to the proposed map and intergovernmental agreement, the Metro Council unanimously adopted a second resolution communicating its guiding principles, objectives and concerns to the public and the three metro-area counties involved in the negotiations of urban and rural reserve areas.
If the Core 4 is unable to reach agreement in 2010 on urban and rural reserves, the region will need to default to the "old" process of requiring the Metro Council to review the urban growth boundary every five years and add land based on a state tiered system rather than a comprehensive look at regional growth for the next 40 to 50 years.
Public comment will be accepted on the proposed reserves agreement through open houses from January 6 to 21 and through a "virtual open house" on the Metro web site. The Metro Council and the boards of commissioners for each of the three counties are expected to adopt final intergovernmental agreements in February, followed by the formal designation of urban and rural reserves.