On Thursday the Metro Council gave direction to its Core 4 representative, Councilor Kathryn Harrington, to negotiate for particular types of urban and rural reserves in selected areas at the next meeting of the Core 4 on Dec. 16. At that Dec. 16 meeting it is expected that the Core 4 will come to agreement on a draft intergovernmental agreement for urban and rural reserves that will be adopted by the Metro Council and the county commissions for further public review in January.
The Council put forward a map, proposed by Council President David Bragdon and Councilor Carl Hosticka, that outlines more than 28,000 acres of proposed urban reserves and more than 240,000 acres of rural reserves throughout the region. The map largely reflects many areas of agreement among Core 4 members and proposes specific urban and rural reserve designations (and a few proposed undesignated areas) in places where there is not yet a consensus among Core 4 and the three county boards of commissioners who must agree to the reserves designations.
"Our intention is to accelerate discussion through Core 4 by having a specific proposal on the table to which people can react," said Hosticka. "We're offering this as a result of a number of negotiations that have occurred. From my point of view, this proposal is our best effort to report the state of the negotiations."
Councilors Robert Liberty and Rod Park offered a substitute map that greatly reduced the total size of urban reserves to about 18,700 acres and increased the total amount of rural reserves to more than 254,000 acres.
"We want to do more to protect foundation farmland as well as important farmland. We want to do more to protect natural features. We want to make better use of land already set aside for urban development, and we want to protect taxpayers' investments in existing communities," Liberty explained.
A divided Council expressed concerns over whether the Liberty-Park map would gain acceptance with the other three counties involved in the negotiations. The motion to substitute the Liberty-Park map for the Bragdon-Hosticka map was defeated on a 3-4 vote, with Councilors Carlotta Collette, Bragdon, Hosticka and Harrington voting no.
The Bragdon-Hosticka map, with the addition of a 327-acre proposed urban reserve on conflicted farmland in the David Hill area north and west of Forest Grove, proposed by Harrington, was accepted by the Council by a vote of 4-2 with Park abstaining. (Councilors Rex Burkholder and Liberty voted no.)
Next week the Core 4 is expected to reach agreement on a draft map and intergovernmental agreement language for review and acceptance by the Metro Council and the three county boards of commissioners, which would then be released for public comment and hearings to be held in January. Final action to adopt intergovernmental agreements is expected in late January with formal land use actions to designate urban and rural reserves scheduled to take place before the end of February.