[LandUse-News] Land Use News from DLCD - Dec. 16, 2008

[Cliff Voliva]

Welcome to the Land Use News e-mail list!

Land Use News is an electronic news clipping service provided by the
Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development. Land Use News
emphasizes local reporting and commentary on land use in Oregon and
other states. (Measure 49 articles have headlines in ALL CAPS.)

The links to copyrighted news stories in Land Use News are not archived
by DLCD, and the archiving policies of these sources vary. The stories,
if available, reside on the site of the original news source. Please
direct requests for archived stories, or permission to reprint them, to
the original news source.

Past Land Use News weekly e-mails can be found here:
http://listsmart.osl.state.or.us/pipermail/landuse-news/ 

Anyone can subscribe to the free service by visiting this site:
http://listsmart.osl.state.or.us/mailman/listinfo/landuse-news 
____________________________________________________________

Dec. 16: (Commentary, The Oregonian) Sky's the limit in Old Town
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf?/base/news/1229396111290500.xml&coll=7
One of the things I found fascinating about Portland in the last half
of the 20th century is that so many blocks within 300 feet of the
Willamette River were more valuable as parking lots than anything
else...

Dec. 16: (Medford Mail Tribune) Open house lays out future of
transportation in the valley
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081216/NEWS/812160330
MEDFORD — An outlook on transportation in the Rogue Valley over the
next 25 years will be offered at an open house today from 5 to 7 p.m. at
Medford's Central Library...

Dec. 15: (Portland Tribune) Region's future beginning to take shape
http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=122927877035369500
Potential winners and losers are beginning to emerge from Metro’s
two-year study of where and how the region should grow in the future.
Regional leaders meeting last Wednesday expressed strong support for
concentrating new development in existing urban centers and along major
transportation corridors...

Dec. 15: (Editorial, The Oregonian) DELIVER ON 'EXPRESS LAND' PROMISE
http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2008/12/deliver_on_express_lane_promis.html

It was an inspired metaphor. Problem is, it's also starting to look
like a gross exaggeration. Or worse. In 2007, Gov. Ted Kulongoski helped
to win voter support for a land-use compromise, Measure 49...

Dec. 15: (Daily Journal of Commerce) East Portland Action Plan items
are prioritized
http://www.djcoregon.com/articleDetail.htm/2008/12/15/East-Portland-Action-Plan-items-are-prioritized-City-Council-to-determine-whether-to-adopt-plan-at-m

At the Dec. 17 City Council meeting, Mayor Tom Potter and city
commissioners will consider whether to adopt the East Portland Action
Plan...

Dec. 12: (Editorial, McMinnville News-Register) There's much to like in
transportation plan
http://www.newsregister.com/article/23645-editorial-there039s-much-transportation-plan

Transportation infrastructure improvement projects are at the top of
governmental “to do” lists at all levels these days. In fact,
McMinnville’s Transportation Advisory Committee got its first look at
the city’s draft plan earlier this month...

Dec. 12: (Eugene Register-Guard) 15 firms apply to help develop plan
for EWEB’s riverfront property
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/4094393-45/story.csp

Consultants from as far away as Dallas, Texas, and New York City want
the opportunity to help Eugene come up with a development vision for
about 18 waterfront acres...

Dec. 12: (Guest Commentary, Statesman Journal) Land-use planning: One
size can fit all
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20081212/OPINION/812120315/1049

As the Big Look Task Force readies its report on Oregon's land- use
planning system, its chief conclusion seems to be that "one size doesn't
fit all." Oregon deserves more than such simplistic sound bites...

Dec. 11: (Guest Commentary, Daily Journal of Commerce) STRAIGHTENING
OUT MEASURES 37, 49
http://www.djcoregon.com/articleDetail.htm/2008/12/11/Straightening-out-Measures-37-49-The-Panner-decision-A-bump-in-the-road-for-Oregon-land-use-planning

Just when Oregon appeared to achieve a level of stability in the
Measures 37/49 controversy, a U.S. District Court decision made life
much more interesting...

Dec. 11: (Capital Press) Larger dam means less land, again
http://www.capitalpress.com/main.asp?SectionID=67&SubSectionID=618&ArticleID=47023&TM=66935.47
Staring into the placid depths of Hagg Lake, farmer and forester Hank
Scott sees more than a 50,000-acre-foot reservoir. Beneath the lake's
surface once stood a handful of homes, a church, a grade school...

Dec. 11: (The Oregonian) Palomar files formal papers to start
controversial gas line
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/12/palomar_files_formal_papers_to.html

It's official: Palomar Gas Transmission LLC filed its formal federal
application Thursday to build a 217-mile natural gas pipeline from a
liquefied natural gas terminal on the lower Columbia River to an
interstate gas hub in central Oregon...

Dec. 11: (Medford Mail Tribune) Jacksonville council takes another look
at RPS plan
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081211/NEWS/812110333

JACKSONVILLE - An eight-year effort to shape the growth of Jackson
County may be in jeopardy after the City Council Tuesday reversed an
earlier decision to support the plan...

Dec. 11: (Daily Journal of Commerce) Gramor Development files
pre-application with Vancouver for Columbia Waterfront project
http://www.djcoregon.com/articleDetail.htm/2008/12/11/Gramor-Development-files-preapplication-with-Vancouver-for-Columbia-Waterfront-project-With-a-1-bill

Vancouver’s catalytic mixed-use project encompassing 32 acres of
Columbia River property officially entered the pre-application phase
Tuesday, signaling a step forward for the $1 billion project...

Dec. 11: (Bend Bulletin) Redmond using SDC credits to lure developers
http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081211/BIZ01/812110388/1001/NEWS01&nav_category=NEWS01

REDMOND - A new plan to help attract affordable-housing development to
Redmond could be before the City Council by January...

Dec. 11: (Medford Mail Tribune) MEASURE 37 CASE FALLS UNDER BROAD
SCRUTINY
http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081211/NEWS/812110332

Jackson County Board of Commissioners temporarily backed off from a
decision on a Measure 37 claim Wednesday after the head of state lands
sent a letter warning that any action might be unlawful...

Dec. 10: (The Oregonian) Goodbye to those ugly infill houses?
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1228877714128080.xml&coll=7
Portland City Commissioner Randy Leonard wondered aloud Tuesday what it
would take to require design standards for new homes here...

Dec. 10: (Newport News) Lincoln City denies VRD appeal
http://www.newportnewstimes.com/articles/2008/12/10/news/news02.txt
There are no guarantees in life. The City Council of Lincoln City put
aside the precedent it set in September, and set a new one during Monday
evening's session when it turned down an appeal protesting a vacation
rental dwelling permit for a residentially zoned home...

Dec. 10: (Statesman Journal) Community debates proposed transit center
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20081210/COMMUNITIES/812100340/1106

Controversy continues to slow the Keizer transit center project. After
a public hearing last week, Keizer City Council chose not to accept a
text amendment that would have paved the way for a Keizer transit
center...

Dec. 10: (Coos Bay World) Gov tells feds Coos Bay LNG report is flawed
http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2008/12/10/news/doc493eb8f1ce891718638172.txt

Gov. Ted Kulongoski has criticized a federal report on the local
liquefied natural gas terminal project. He suggests it failed to
consider alternative energy sources and provided little assurance of
environmental protections...

Dec. 10: (Bend Bulletin) UGB presents ethics issues for Bend officials
http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081210/NEWS01/812100387/1001/NEWS01&nav_category=NEWS01

Since it began more than a year ago, the process of expanding Bend’s
urban growth boundary has attracted attention from landowners and
developers hoping their properties will be included and possibly go up
in value...

Dec. 10: (Ashland Daily Tidings) Siskiyou condos approved
http://www.dailytidings.com/2008/1210/stories/1210_planningfolo.php 
Come next fall, there will likely be 13 new condos on Siskiyou
Boulevard, as the Planning Commission gave the go-ahead to the
developer, even though neighbors argued the area was already too crowded
at the Tuesday night meeting...

Dec. 9: (Commentary, New York Times) This Old House
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/opinion/09brooks.html?_r=1 
The 1980s and 1990s made up the era of the great dispersal. Forty-three
million people moved every year, and basically they moved outward - from
inner-ring suburbs to far-flung exurbs on the metro fringe...

Dec. 9: (Roseburg News-Review) Opponents of UGB expansion air views
http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20081209/NEWS/812099937/1001/NONE&parentprofile=1055&title=Opponents%20of%20UGB%20expansion%20air%20views

Don Bailey has been raising sheep and cattle on his ranch north of the
Charter Oaks neighborhood since the early 1960s. But he fears a proposal
to absorb his 481 acres into Roseburg’s Urban Growth Boundary will
change that...

Dec. 9: (Roseburg News-Review) Development charges may be trimmed
http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20081210/NEWS/812109979/1001/NONE&parentprofile=1055&title=Development%20charges%20may%20be%20trimmed

A proposed change that could make it cheaper to develop new homes and
businesses within Roseburg will be considered by a city commission on
Thursday, according to city staff...

END

Cliff Voliva | Communications Officer
OregonDept. of Land Conservation and Development
635 Capitol Street NE, Suite 150 | Salem, OR 97301-2540
Office: (503) 373-0050 ext. 268 | Fax: (503) 378-5518
cliff.voliva at state.or.us| www.oregon.gov/LCD