From laura.buhl at state.or.us Fri Mar 17 18:14:15 2017 From: laura.buhl at state.or.us (Buhl, Laura) Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2017 01:14:15 +0000 Subject: [LandUse-News] Land Use News for March 17, 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. ________________________________ Bills Would Ease New Dwellings on Oregon Farmland Herald and News (Klamath Falls) Two bills aimed at expanding affordable housing in rural Oregon would make it easier to build dwellings or permanently reside in recreational vehicles on farmland. Advocates of House bills 2937 and 2938 say the proposals would help mitigate the state's housing shortage without undermining protections for farmland. However, critics argue the bills would disrupt agricultural operations without having much impact on housing and could be counterproductive by encouraging short-term rentals. Lawmakers Consider On-Farm Treatment of Sewage Sludge Capital Press (Salem) Sewage sludge already serves as fertilizer on Oregon farms but a proposed bill would also permit processing the waste within farm zones. It's common for biosolids, also called human manure, to be treated at wastewater plants then applied to fields that aren't producing crops meant for human consumption. Wayne Buma, who operates AAA Advanced Septic Cleaning in Southern Oregon, wanted to use waste from septic tanks in the same way but ran into troubles with Jackson County's government. The county's objection wasn't based on sanitary issues, but rather Oregon's land use laws: It wasn't clear that sewage treatment is allowed on land zoned for "exclusive farm use." Lawmakers Back Away From Controversial Farm Property Tax Bill Capital Press (Salem) - Fierce opposition from farmers seems to have convinced Oregon lawmakers to back away from changing key agricultural property tax provisions - Intense opposition by Oregon's farmers, ranchers and forestland owners has apparently convinced lawmakers to back away from altering key property tax provisions affecting agriculture and forestry. . . . Under the original language of House Bill 2859, the property tax exemption for equipment and the farm use assessment for land would expire in 2024 unless renewed by lawmakers. Box R Ranch Near Pinehurst Gets Land-Use Victory Ashland Daily Tidings A four-decades-long battle to develop the former Box R Ranch near Pinehurst may have ended Monday when the Land Use Board of Appeals dismissed a case filed by neighbors and Rogue Advocates. "It does look good - it does look very good," said former ranch owner Don Rowlett, who sold off 950 acres of his Box R Ranch property to New Frontier Ranch. Rowlett is still involved in the case because of his previous agreements to develop the property with Jackson County. Box R still has about 500 acres at 17575 Hwy. 66, about 25 miles southeast of Ashland. Commissioners Clear the Way for Gravel Quarry Near Oakridge The Register-Guard (Eugene) Plans for a controversial quarry near Oakridge got a green light Tuesday from the Lane County Board of Commissioners. On a 4-1 vote, the board approved a land use change that would allow the quarry. The proposed 46-acre rock quarry at "TV Butte," as locals call the hill close to Oakridge, would produce gravel for roadways. Opponents may appeal the decision to the state Land Use Board of Appeals. 'We Have a Lot Of Common Ground': HR, CL Ports Talk Bridge Advocacy at Roundtable Hood River News Bridges made for a bonding point - and the crux of discussion- for the Port of Hood River and Port of Cascade Locks at a joint work session Tuesday. The ports convened to discuss future efforts concerning the Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge and Bridge of the Gods, most notably the political advocacy required to maintain or eventually replace the aging structures. Job Growth in Oregon's Thriving Software Industry Outpaced by...Booze? Willamette Week (Portland) - State's production of alcoholic beverages is a serious job creator - Small software companies seem like they are everywhere in Portland, filling up office space and the seats in the city's coffee shops. Here's how the state's economic development agency, Business Oregon, describes the industry's progress. "Software and IT is one of the fastest growing industry groups in Oregon, with more than 50% employment growth over the past 10 years," the agency's website says. "Nearly 3,700 Software and IT establishments call Oregon home." But one industry is growing even faster than software-booze. Multnomah County Hopes to Build Granny Flats to House Hundreds of Homeless Families in Portland Backyards Willamette Week (Portland) Multnomah County is preparing to make Portland homeowners a remarkable offer: It will pay to build them a granny flat in their backyard, if they let a homeless family live there for five years. The county project, called A Place for You, aims to build as many as 300 miniature, roughly 200-square-foot homes on residential properties across the metro area in the next year. County officials hope to build the first four houses, each costing up to $75,000, by June 30. Mayors Lobby Salem: Help Us Solve Oregon's Homelessness Crisis The Oregonian (Portland) A group of Oregon mayors lobbied state officials Thursday to ask for money and other help to solve their cities' homelessness problems. "Local government in America right now is the dumping ground for all of society's problems," Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler told reporters gathered in the Capitol's basement pressroom. "To be honest, we're not going to take it anymore." In Red-Hot Portland, Housing Costs Soar and Income Gap Grows. Sound Familiar? The Seattle Times But in Portland, as in other parts of the country, the recovery from the depths of the Great Recession has been profoundly uneven. The city's surging fortunes have been a source of pride but also angst, familiar to Seattle residents, as soaring home prices and rents increasingly separate the haves from the have-nots. A state analyst notes the fastest employment growth in Portland has come at polar ends of the spectrum - low-wage jobs, such as those in the hospitality industry that average $21,000 a year, and high-wage jobs, such as those in tech manufacturing, of more than $130,000. There has been scant increase in middle-income jobs. My View: Urban, Rural Reserves Policy Ready to Proceed (Opinion by Jim Bernard and Tom Hughes) Portland Tribune It is important to remember that an urban reserve designation maintains current zoning and protections from development. The designation simply identifies the area as one where local elected leaders would be allowed to expand the urban growth boundary if there is a need to do so in the future. In some areas, urban development in urban reserve areas may not occur for decades, if ever. City Loses Round In Annexation Fight Corvallis Gazette-Times The city of Corvallis has lost the first court test in its challenge to a new state law on voter-approved annexations. Benton County Circuit Court Judge Matthew Donohue has ruled in favor of the state in a summary judgment issued Friday on SB 1573, the state law signed by Gov. Kate Brown last March. The city, which was joined in the lawsuit by the city of Philomath and the League of Oregon Cities, argued that SB 1573 violates the Oregon Constitution because it infringes on the city's home rule decision-making authority and restricts citizens' rights to vote on annexations. Wheeler Plans His Own Climate Action Strategy Portland Tribune On a day when President Trump's budget director called federal spending on climate change research a "waste of money," Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler called climate change the "most pressing issue globally." "We are now the line of defense," Wheeler said at a Thursday evening Climate Action Town Hall at TaborSpace in Southeast Portland. "But I'm not going to settle for that. We are going to be the line of offense." California Won't Meet Its Climate Change Goals Without a Lot More Housing Density in Its Cities Los Angeles Times To meet the bold new climate change goals put in place last year, California will work to put millions of electric cars on the road, revolutionize its dairy industry and generate half of all power from solar panels and other renewable sources. But those efforts will come up short, warn state regulators, without dramatic changes to how Californians live and travel. Downtown Seattle's Drive-Alone Commute Share Drops to 30 Percent SSTI: State Smart Transportation Initiative Despite an influx of jobs in Seattle's downtown area, the number of people driving to work has barely changed since 2010. According to a survey from Commute Seattle, a non-profit working with downtown employers, the working population in and around downtown increased by 45,000 in the past six years, but drive-alone commutes increased by approximately 2,255 morning trips. Drive-alone commute mode share decreased from 35 percent to 30 percent in the same time period. So how did the city accomplish that? As with any transformation, there are many factors, but traffic congestion and the unreliable nature of travel time may be the most important factors. Parking is also expensive, so commuters are looking for alternatives to driving. And the city and county have been working hard to improve transit options and reliability. More people are moving into the downtown, making their commutes shorter and easier without a car. How Much Parking is Too Much Parking in Greater Boston? The Boston Globe Do we have too much parking? The very idea might make Boston and Cambridge residents scoff. But the Metropolitan Area Planning Council has compiled some numbers that suggest some Greater Boston communities have a good bit more parking than they need. 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: