From laura.buhl at state.or.us Fri Jan 13 19:17:48 2017 From: laura.buhl at state.or.us (Buhl, Laura) Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2017 03:17:48 +0000 Subject: [LandUse-News] Land Use News for January 13, 2017 Message-ID: Welcome to this week's roundup of the Land Use News! The Land Use News is an electronic news clipping service provided by the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD). Land Use News emphasizes local reporting and commentary on land use in Oregon and other states. 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 may be found here: http://listsmart.osl.state.or.us/pipermail/landuse-news Anyone may subscribe, unsubscribe, or change their subscription to the free service by visiting this site: http://listsmart.osl.state.or.us/mailman/listinfo/landuse-news. ________________________________ Grants Available through State Historic Preservation Office East Oregonian (Pendleton) - A variety of grants for preserving historic buildings, cemeteries and museums are open for applications - Thousands of dollars in state grants are up for grabs for qualifying historic and Main Street projects. The State Historic Preservation Office is offering up to $20,000 matching grants for buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. Oregon Lawmakers' Multimillion-Dollar Transportation Dream Meets Reality: How to Pay for it? The Oregonian (Portland) Weeks before lawmakers return to the Capitol for what's shaping up as a difficult 2017 session, one of their signature goals is facing serious challenges. A special committee that toured the state for months to craft plans for shoring up Oregon's transportation system has yet to agree on what a multimillion-dollar proposal should look like. COIC Buys Property for New Redmond Bus Station The Bulletin (Bend) A new transit hub is coming to Redmond. The Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, which oversees regional transit provider Cascades East Transit, purchased property for a new transit hub last month for $788,891, according to COIC Senior Transit Planner Jackson Lester. Local Transportation Projects Total $50 Million Mail Tribune (Medford) Nearly $50 million worth of transportation projects in Jackson and Josephine counties will be reviewed by a regional panel Tuesday. Rogue Valley Area Commission on Transportation will take comment on 21 improvement projects ticketed for 2018-21, including a pair of $7-million-plus enhancements and a game-changing roundabout tying Highway 140 and Foothill Road together. Southern Oregon Company Plans West Eugene Industrial Complex That Could Accommodate Dozens of Pot Growers, Processors The Register-Guard (Eugene) The latest sign of the marijuana industry's move into the mainstream: a multimillion-dollar growing and processing complex planned for west Eugene by a publicly traded real estate company. The project would have room for more than 30 pot ventures in steel buildings that would resemble tall storage units. Big Change: Medical Marijuana Dispensaries No Longer Selling Rec Pot The Oregonian (Portland) Oregon this month passed the latest marijuana milestone: the end of recreational sales at medical marijuana dispensaries. Before Bend Expands, it Needs Money For Roads, Sewers The Bulletin (Bend) -City councilors must make a plan to pay for new development- Last month, the state gave Bend permission to expand outward by 2,380 acres space that's desperately needed in a city facing a severe housing shortage. There's only one problem nothing can be built there until the city finds a way to pay for new sewers, waterlines and roads. Plan For Housing on Mine Near Terrebonne Could Return The Bulletin (Bend) -Developer must complete environmental review for proposal to go forward- Controversial plans for a subdivision to be built on a potentially hazardous former mining site near Terrebonne were withdrawn by the developer last summer, but a new proposal could come up for county approval again this year. Lane County May Seek State Money to Buy Eugene's City Hall Block The Register-Guard (Eugene) -County commissioners are looking at $8 million that Tillamook County didn't use after it abandoned its own courthouse project- Last month, the Tillamook County commissioners pulled the plug on their proposal for a new courthouse annex, because of a lack of money. Opponents Call Foul on Mega-Dairy Construction East Oregonian (Pendleton) -A coalition of health and environmental groups are asking the state to investigate construction of an as yet permitted mega-dairy- While it remains unclear whether state agencies will sign off on a controversial 30,000-cow dairy farm in Morrow County, that hasn't stopped construction from moving quickly ahead. The question now is whether Lost Valley Ranch broke the law by breaking ground well before it secured the necessary permits. Counties Pressured to Exit $1.4 Billion Forest Lawsuit Portland Tribune -Environmental groups press case that forests have value beyond their timber- Fifteen Oregon counties must soon decide whether to opt out of a class action lawsuit seeking $1.4 billion for allegedly insufficient logging in state forests. Study Documents Tree Species Decline Due to Climate Warming The Daily Astorian -A casualty of global warming- A type of tree that thrives in soggy soil from Alaska to Northern California and is valued for its commercial and cultural uses could become a noticeable casualty of climate warming over the next 50 years, an independent study has concluded. Yellow cedar, named for its distinctive yellow wood, already is under consideration for federal listing as a threatened or endangered species. Climate Cycles Drive Shellfish Toxins Corvallis Gazette-Times A new study by Oregon State University researchers and others could help predict the spikes in toxic algae that have led to periodic closures of shellfish harvests on the West Coast. The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds a strong connection between warm ocean conditions caused by two major climatic cycles El Nino and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, or PDO and periodic increases in domoic acid in shellfish. Final Willamette River Cleanup Plan Oregon Public Broadcasting The Environmental Protection Agency has released its final plan for cleaning up the polluted 11-mile stretch of the Willamette river known as the Portland Harbor Superfund Site. Ted Wheeler becomes Mayor, names ONI as "most in need of reform" (tied with the Police Bureau) Livable Portland (Blog) The current issue of Portland's Willamette Week has a "pop quiz" for the newly inaugurated Mayor Wheeler, who starts his position today. One of the eyebrow-raising questions concerned the Office of Neighborhood Involvement, or ONI: "True or false: ONI is the city bureau most in need of reform." His response: "It's tied for first place." (With the Police Bureau, we later learned. The Office of Neighborhood Involvement is a feature of pride for a city that has a reputation for citizen activism and strong neighborhood representation in government affairs. But recent developments have exposed deep problems in the department, and perhaps in the City's wider culture of stakeholder representation. State Comes Through With Housing Funds The Bulletin (Bend) -LIFT program boosts 90-unit build- Housing Works, the public housing authority for Central Oregon, plans to build 90 apartment and townhome units for low-income households in Sisters and La Pine. Oregon Housing and Community Services awarded the housing authority $3.6 million in state funding to underwrite construction, which also relies on low-income housing tax credits. The total cost to build the two projects comes to about $14.5 million. The state share is part of the Local Innovation and Fast Track Housing Program. The Worst Of Portland's Housing Crunch May Be Over Willamette Week (Portland) -State economist says developers are producing more units in response to higher prices and consumers finally have more money to spend.- Josh Lehner is not given to flights of fancy or wild speculation. A state economist who writes a blog when he's not crunching numbers, Lehner declared this week, with the caveats characteristic of his profession, that the worst of Portland's housing crisis may be over. Inclusionary Housing Policy Has Skeptics Portland Tribune Although every state but Texas has long allowed local inclusionary housing or zoning policies, some developers said Portland's policy is much broader than those in other cities, which have exemptions intended to accommodate different kinds of projects at various locations. One Solution to Southern California's Housing Crisis: Building in Tight Spaces, Small Lots Los Angeles Times Much of today's residential development has been focused on city centers, such as in Los Angeles where thousands of apartments and condos aimed at young professionals are being built in towers mushrooming in downtown. But experts say the regional housing shortage also needs to be addressed by building more infill developments in outlying communities, where many families might prefer a town home or small house to an urban high-rise. Seattle Is Creating a Ton of Low-Income Housing. How Do We Decide Who Gets It? Seattle Weekly Seattle recently became one of the nation's most in-demand housing markets. Unsurprisingly, our city also is undergoing a severe crisis in affordable housing. In an effort to address the city's housing affordability crisis, Murray's Housing Affordability and Livability (HALA) action plan is gradually growing the limited pool of housing units set aside for low-income people-places like Abbey Court. However, few believe the supply of affordable housing in Seattle will ever meet the demand, which means snagging one of the newly minted units is an ordeal in itself. How Agriculture in Ada County is Being Edged Off the Map Boise Weekly - What some advocates are doing to save farming in Boise- . . . subdivisions in places like Boise, Meridian and Kuna have reduced connectivity between farms and unleashed economic forces that have caused them to cede ground-literally. "It starts a downward path because the more houses that are closer to farmland, the harder it is to farm that remaining land, and farmers start making decisions about whether they're going to farm their land or sell it so someone can build houses . . ." Erskine hopes to stall or even reverse that trend. As Ada County prepares to implement its 2025 Comprehensive Plan, she has lobbied for the county to take decisive action to protect farmers in order to preserve agriculture as a way of life, but she said there are side benefits to keeping farming in Ada County. Can America's Aging Stay in Their Homes? The Atlantic City Lab - A recent report outlines a number of challenges to aging in place - The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies recently published a report with stunning statistics on housing and aging. . . . The report highlights accessibility challenges, as well as other hurdles for an aging population: affordability, the need for in-home care, and the potential for isolation. . . . nearly half of all adults will age in low-density places, which may lack public transport or nearby neighbors and services. "Even though many people express a desire to age in place, doing so can be isolating without ways to connect with the surrounding community," Molinsky says. What would it take to make an age-friendly city? The Guardian (U.S. Edition) Planned, multi-generational communities might be great for those who can afford them. The rest of us need cities better equipped for older people. Giving up a piece of the street for the sake of Philly pedestrians The Philadelphia Inquirer When a big construction project in Philadelphia needs extra space to spread out, the pedestrian is usually the one who has to give up turf. Sidewalks are ordered closed, yet somehow a way is found to keep the streets clear for motorists. . . . With so much construction throughout the city, navigating all the sidewalk closures makes a walk more like a game of Russian roulette, especially for the elderly, blind, and disabled. . . . the Gallery renovation represents a big step forward for Philadelphia's beleaguered pedestrians. Mapping the Urban Tree Canopy in Major Cities The Atlantic City Lab - MIT's Treepedia reveals where the streets are greenest, and which ones could use more work - Which cities have the greenest streets? MIT's Senseable City Lab is pushing toward an answer to this question with a new project called Treepedia. A map website that catalogues the density of the tree canopy in 10 global cities, Treepedia uses information from Google Street View to create what it calls the Green View Index-a rating that quantifies how green a street view looks according to the number of trees it contains. A Smokescreen for Bigotry: Disguising Anti-Muslim Bias With Land-Use Objections The Washington Post (Washington, D.C.) Sewage lines, traffic patterns and zoning ordinances. Meet the instruments of bigotry in America today. It's happened three times in Virginia already, cases where development regulations and mundane municipal laws have been used to smokescreen surging Islamophobia. Five Ways Federal Infrastructure Spending Makes Cities Poorer Strong Towns (Blog) The United States Congress seems poised to spend a trillion dollars or more on infrastructure in a bipartisan consensus to stimulate the economy. Without major changes in our approach, this spending is going to make our cities poorer, weaken our country and -- once the temporary stimulus has passed -- leave America in worse financial shape. Here are five ways a federal infrastructure program will make our cities, towns and neighborhoods poorer. Good Luck! Laura Buhl, AICP, CNU-A | Land Use & Transportation Planner Planning Services Division | Transportation & Growth Management Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development 635 Capitol Street NE, Suite 150 | Salem, OR 97301-2540 Direct: (503) 934-0073 | Main: (503) 373-0050 laura.buhl at state.or.us | www.oregon.gov/LCD/TGM -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: