[LandUse-News] LandUse-News from DLCD

Tue Oct 28 17:02:29 PST 2003

Welcome to the LandUse-News at webhost.osl.state.or.us mailing list!
LandUse-News is an electronic news clipping service provided by the Oregon
Department of Land and Conservation Development. LandUse-News emphasizes local
reporting and commentary on land use conservation and development in Oregon
and other states. The links to copyrighted news stories in LandUse-News are
not archived by DLCD, and the archiving policies of these sources varies.
Please direct requests for archived stories, or permission to reprint them, to
the original news source.
____________________________________________________________

Oct. 28: (Editorial, L.A. Times) No Way Out When Home Is in 'Firebelt'
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lopez28oct28235636,1,421899.column 
With half of Southern California ablaze in a spectacular series of killer
infernos, and no end in sight, it's only natural to want the arsonists tracked
down and tied to the nearest tree. But arson, suspected in at least two fires,
isn't the only culprit in all this death and destruction. In part, we're
witnessing the inevitable consequence of insane land management, and
generations of public officials rolling over for developers despite past
lessons. "We keep putting tens of thousands of homes in harm's way," said
author Mike Davis...

Oct. 28: (AP, Environmental News Network) Columbia Basin tribes press for
change in river health
http://www.enn.com/news/2003-10-28/s_9831.asp
MAUPIN, Ore. - The rapids of the Deschutes River thunder below Elmer Scott Jr.
as he balances on a rickety fishing platform over the ancient fishing grounds
of the Warm Springs tribe. He grasps the end of a thin pole as the net on the
other end of the stick bobs and twitches in the roiling current, a trap for
unsuspecting salmon. "Them big guys, they'll shake the whole scaffold," said
Scott, 53, who camped at the fishing grounds with his family five months out
of the year as a child. "They can really scare you." Net fishing goes back
centuries in this Columbia River tribe, where fish such as salmon, sturgeon,
and lamprey eels are central to the tribe's diet and cultural heritage...

Oct. 28: (The Oregonian) Oregon will get money from EPA for toxic site
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/front_page/106734584156170.xml

After first denying cleanup funds for one of Portland's most dangerous toxic
waste sites -- the McCormick & Baxter Creosote Co. -- the federal government
has decided to give Oregon $12 million to complete the work. The money, to be
awarded within weeks by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will allow
the state to build a cap to contain about 25 acres of highly contaminated
sediments on the Willamette River property and prevent them from spreading and
poisoning more of the river. It also paves the way for completing restoration
in 2005. McCormick & Baxter, near the University of Portland, was one of a
dozen federally designated Superfund sites nationwide that the EPA denied
funding in July. But Gov. Ted Kulongoski made a personal appeal to President
Bush aboard Air Force One during the president's August visit to Oregon,
Kulongoski spokeswoman Mary Ellen Glynn confirmed Monday...

Oct. 28: (The Oregonian) Planners hear shopping center proposal
http://www.oregonlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/metro_south_news/106734642856171.xml?oregonian?sn
CLACKAMAS -- The Clackamas County Planning Commission was meeting into the
night Monday to hear a proposal by developer Terry Emmert to build a
commercial shopping center on industrial property along Oregon 212. County
staff presented a 37-page report recommending that the proposal be denied.
Reasons ranged from a short supply of industrial land in the county to an
Oregon Department of Transportation finding that the roads couldn't handle
traffic from the development. The planning commission planned to make a
recommendation on the proposal after The Oregonian's press time Monday night.
The recommendation will go to the Clackamas County Board of Commissioners,
which is scheduled to hear the proposal Dec. 3...

Oct. 27: (The Oregonian) Plans next door surprise, rile home buyers
http://www.oregonlive.com/metrosouth/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/metro_south_news/106708364039070.xml
OREGON CITY -- People generally want government to stay out of their bedrooms.
Two weeks ago, he invited the entire Oregon City Commission into his boudoir.
Geil wanted the elected officials to get a glimpse of his future --
specifically how the path of a new road would skirt his back yard and how
headlights from passing cars could shine into his brand-new house on Trailview
Drive. He moved to the new Centex Homes subdivision in July, attracted by the
solitude, the wildlife and the forest just steps from his back door...

Oct. 27: (The Oregonian) Residents pitch ideas at North Portland's I-5 jam
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/portland_news/106708379439070.xml
Dozens of amateur traffic engineers have given the Oregon Department of
Transportation some new ideas for resolving an Interstate 5 bottleneck in
North Portland. People attending design workshops last week tinkered with
three proposals for adding a third southbound lane between Delta Park and
Lombard Avenue and added some ideas of their own. The upshot? "We really don't
know at this point," said April Siebenaler, a project leader for the state
agency. "We have a lot of facts to digest and a lot of refinements to study."

Oct. 27: (Statesman Journal) Riverfront acreage protected
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=69781
Here*s something you don*t see every day: Buying something, then giving it to
the federal government. Then again, the money came from the government. But it
was thanks to the efforts of a Portland-based conservation organization, the
Western Rivers Conservancy, that a five-year effort has added 871 acres along
the Illinois River in southwestern Oregon to the Siskiyou National Forest...

Oct. 23: (L.A. Times) Brea Hires PR Firm to Fight Development
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=1593&topicId=21355&docId=l:56620064

The city of Brea will spend $250,000 over the next two years for a public
relations effort to stop development outside city limits on thousands of acres
of hills straddling Orange and Los Angeles counties. The City Council late
Tuesday voted 3 to 1 to contract with a Newport Beach consulting firm to
develop a campaign targeting residents in six communities that would be
affected by a plan by Aera Energy to build as many as 3,600 homes on 3,000
acres in an unincorporated area bordering a wildlife corridor. "What we are
talking about is educating people [about] why these hills are worth
preserving," said Brea Mayor Bev Perry. "We want to help them understand how
they can get involved and make a difference."

Oct. 23: (The Oregonian) Updating city plan could bring pain, gain
http://www.oregonlive.com/metrosouth/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/metro_south_news/106682486283970.xml
OREGON CITY -- Next month, the city will begin public hearings on a plan that
will guide growth and development during the next 20 years. Some aspects of
the plan may prove controversial. The city is pushing for greater density in
some older neighborhoods and wants to establish a few pockets of commercial
zoning in the exclusively residential South End area. The changes are proposed
in the city's updated comprehensive plan -- a wide-ranging document that
charts a course for land use and redevelopment. Zoning and building code
changes that steer development will probably be adopted at the same time. The
plan was last revised in 1982...

Oct. 23: (The Oregonian) Troutdale considers rail yard, waterfront center
http://www.oregonlive.com/metroeast/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/metro_east_news/1066910701129130.xml
TROUTDALE -- New development proposals ranging from a commercial and cultural
center to a state-of-the-art rail and truck yard were discussed by the
Troutdale City Council on Tuesday night. Both ideas, the first from the city's
consultants for the redevelopment of Troutdale's former sewer treatment plant
and the second from the Port of Portland for the Alcoa property, were
speculative long-term plans for Troutdale's two largest pieces of
redevelopable land. "This redevelopment will shape the texture and culture of
Troutdale for many years," City Administrator Eric Kvarsten said. "It's not
just jobs creation, but also community character."

Oct. 22: (AP, Statesman Journal) Lawmakers get *F* on environment
http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=69537 
This year*s Legislature gets a failing grade on environmental issues, the
Oregon League of Conservation Voters said Tuesday in its ranking of lawmakers
on key environmental votes. The group*s 16th such scorecard on legislative
sessions stated that the 2003 Legislature*s record marks *a decade of
significant retreat from Oregon*s legacy of environmental leadership.* The
league said that lawmakers this year averaged only 39 percent favorable votes
on environmental bills considered as major by the league...

END

Cliff Voliva
Communications Officer
Department of Land Conservation and Development
635 Capitol St. NE, Suite 150
Salem, OR 97301-2540
Phone: (503) 373-0050 x268
Fax: (503) 378-6033
cliff.voliva at state.or.us
http://www.lcd.state.or.us