From laura.buhl at state.or.us Fri Mar 24 18:46:43 2017 From: laura.buhl at state.or.us (Buhl, Laura) Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2017 01:46:43 +0000 Subject: [LandUse-News] Land Use News for March 24, 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. ________________________________ Amazon Keeps Building Data Centers in Umatilla, Morrow Counties East Oregonian (Pendleton) Another batch of data centers is in the works for Umatilla County. Online retail giant Amazon, which operates two server farms near Boardman and one near Umatilla, is proposing a third complex west of Hermiston consisting of four additional data centers. The company recently purchased about 120 acres of land between Westland and Cottonwood Bend roads, adjacent to the Hermiston Generating Plant near the intersection interstates 84 and 82. Bill Would Help East Oregon Better Compete Against Idaho Capital Press (Salem) East Oregon's farming industry is supporting a bill that would create a special economic development region in Eastern Oregon with the goal of helping the area compete on a more level playing field with Idaho. House Bill 2012, co-sponsored by House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, and Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, would provide $10 million to invest in economic and workforce development in Eastern Oregon. Sisters Airport Controversies Escalate: Some Claim Runway Built on Wetland The Bulletin (Bend) Sisters residents who are frustrated about what they see as increased airplane traffic and questionable runway construction at Sisters Eagle Airport have taken their concerns to all levels of the U.S. government. Deschutes County, Oregon's Department of Transportation and its Department of State Lands, and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers are all looking into issues that the airport's neighbors reported as early as last summer, according to officials at all of those agencies and letters sent by Sisters residents. State Agency Backs Developer in Timberhill Case Corvallis Gazette-Times A Timberhill land owner has won its case before a state agency. The state Land Conservation and Development Commission voted unanimously Monday to back a hearings officer's recommendation that the city of Corvallis has violated state land-use laws in rejecting the applications of GPA1. GPA1 is a development firm that owns 200-plus acres of land north of the Kings Boulevard-Walnut Boulevard intersection. Affordable Rentals For Portlanders Displaced by Gentrification to Rise Along MLK The Oregonian (Portland) In 1932, a female African American attorney in Portland ran for state office. Though Beatrice Morrow lost, her decision to run for office when African-Americans were not allowed to vote made her a "hidden hero," said Maxine Fitzpatrick, executive director of an African American-led Portland housing development group. If all goes as planned, Fitzpatrick's non-profit agency will erect a five-story, 80-unit affordable apartment complex named for Morrow on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard just south of Fremont Street. Portland's Poker Rooms Are Licensed by the City, Wildly Popular-and Too Illegal to Last Willamette Week (Portland) - The downfall and death of card-room impresario John Ogai reveals a maze of contradictory laws around gambling - Unlike the shadowy underground clubs featured in movies such as Rounders, Portland poker clubs are licensed by the city and the Oregon Liquor Control Commission and operate out in the open. Yet officials say nearly everything about them regularly violates city ordinances and state law. Illogical as it may seem, the clubs are both legal and yet operating illegally. Metro Council Poised to Certify Urban Reserves The Outlook (Gresham) Despite last-minute pleas from landowners and three cities, the Metro Council is poised to declare the region's amount of land - including Stafford in Clackamas County - open to urban development in the next 50 years. But after another hearing March 16, the council put off action until April 13, mostly because of new documents submitted. The public record will close at 5 p.m. March 23. The council plans to act only on whether the designated 23,031 acres - 6,230 acres of them in Stafford, between Tualatin, Lake Oswego and West Linn - are sufficient for urban reserves open to development in the next 50 years. Jefferson's Legal Fees Adding Up Over Annexation Albany Democrat-Herald The city of Jefferson has spent $38,000 in legal fees dealing with an annexation, a subsequent appeal and lawsuit, said City Recorder Sarah Cook. The costs are expected to grow, but the city budgeted just $20,000 for legal expenses this fiscal year, she said. . . . On March 16, the Marion County Circuit Court awarded attorney's fees and costs of $10,000 to the city, which won a case that sought to force Jefferson to process a referendum petition and put the annexation before voters. The case has been appealed and the award could be, as well, Cook said. Loss of Block Grants Would Hurt Local Communities Mail Tribune (Medford) Local officials are bracing for the possible end of a federal grant program that has helped the Medford Senior Center, homeless teens and local parks. "The community is very anxious, waiting to find out what will happen," said Linda Reid, housing program specialist with the city of Ashland. "We don't have the money to backfill those services." Under President Donald Trump's proposed budget, the nationwide $3 billion Community Development Block Grant program would end. The 42-year-old program helps pay for services such as Meals on Wheels in many parts of the country. Oregon DEQ Prepares For Big Staff Cuts Under Trump Oregon Public Broadcasting The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality expects to lose more than 30 people in the agency's core programs protecting air and water quality because of President Trump's proposed cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency budget, according to an internal DEQ memo. If the preliminary numbers hold true, those cuts would further weaken an agency already struggling with staff and funding shortages. The DEQ's water and air quality programs have been criticized for lengthy permit backlogs and heavy metals pollution in Portland that went undetected for years. Jordan Cove Touts Project Changes at Open House The World (Coos Bay) It's been five years since The Jordan Cove Energy Project held its last open house. On Tuesday afternoon, that changed when more than 40 Jordan Cove Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline representatives fielded questions, gave presentations and tried to alleviate concerns for four hours at The Mill Casino. The open house received hundreds of attendees. It was the first of four to be held over the next few days in Coos, Douglas, Jackson and Klamath counties. Downtown Showing Signs of Recovery The World (Coos Bay) After years of economic downturn and stagnation, Coos Bay's downtown appears to be on the road to recovery. Within the next few months, the area will add a total of six new businesses, with others filling gaps in and around it. "This is the most activity around here I've seen in fifteen years," said Councilor Stephanie Kramer, who chairs the city's Urban Renewal Agency (URA). According to Tom Dixon, Coos Bay's planning administrator, unlike the past two years, which saw several businesses shuffle in and out of various buildings downtown, the new ones moving in should be there to stay for the long haul. Census: Deschutes, Crook County Growth Among Nation's Fastest The Bulletin (Bend) Deschutes and Crook counties are among the fastest-growing communities in the nation, according to new population estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Bend-Redmond metropolitan area, consisting of Deschutes County, is listed as the third-fastest-growing Metropolitan Statistical Area from July 1, 2015, to July 1, 2016. The local area's population grew from an estimated 174,942 to 181,307, a 3.6 percent increase. Farmworker Housing Operations Tax Credit Bill Moving Through Legislature Portland Tribune A proposed tax credit to compensate farmers for half the operational costs of providing worker housing has made some headway in the Oregon Legislature. Senate Bill 1, which is supported by a coalition of agriculture and housing groups, has moved out of the Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue. The impacts to Oregon's revenues and budget from SB 1 have yet to be determined. Unemployment Rate Drops to Historic Low in February Portland Tribune Oregon's unemployment rate dropped in February to 4 percent, the lowest it has been in 41 years. The state added about 8,200 jobs in February, up from about 700 jobs added in January, when the unemployment rate was 4.3 percent. Nationally, the rate was 4.7 percent in February. Oregon Bottle Deposit to Increase to 10 Cents Statesman Journal (Salem) If you have a bag of soda cans, beer bottles and water containers accumulating in the garage, you might want to wait to redeem them - at least for another nine days. On April 1, Oregon's 5-cent bottle deposit refund will increase for the first time, doubling to 10 cents, in an effort to perk up lagging redemption rates. The state became the first in the country to introduce a bottle bill back in 1971. How Seattle Killed Micro-Housing, Again Sightline Institute (Seattle) At the request of the mayor of Seattle, the Construction Code Advisory Board (CCAB), an obscure but powerful citizens' panel that oversees interpretation and revision of Seattle's building codes, agreed to take a second look at some of its recent interpretations, this time with Seattle's affordability goals in mind. . . . During these meetings, I had a front row seat from which to listen to the concerns of CCAB members and participate in the discussion. Since CCAB is a technical review board, I had expected that its area of review might reasonably be confined to the purview of the building codes, namely issues of structural integrity, life safety, and health. The committee exhibited no such restraint. The meetings produced free-wheeling discussions touching on urban planning, politics, and morality that generated more heat than light. Autonomous Cars Will Turn Back the Clock on Sustainable Cities Cities of the Future Within the next 10 years autonomous cars could reverse the trend to free cities from private vehicles, instead flooding the streets with even more cars, undermining public transit, and leaving no space for other uses. During a recent conference about streetcars and public transport, former NYC Traffic Commissioner Samuel Schwartz, a.k.a. Gridlock Sam, author of "Street Smart: The Rise of Cities and the Fall of Cars", said that the arrival of autonomous cars will increase the Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT), reverse the millennial trend eschewing driving, decimate public transport, and increase the occurrence of inactivity related illnesses. D.C. Wants Employers to Pay Workers Not to Drive to Work The Washington Post D.C. officials and transit advocates are pursuing a shift in the way employers offer commuting benefits to encourage more biking, walking and transit over solo driving. A D.C. Council proposal would require employers who provide their employees with free or subsidized parking to give them the choice to cash out. With that option, workers would be more likely to ditch the car for a more sustainable mode of travel to work, officials say. Sadiq Khan: Ban Cars From Roads Near Schools To Stop Kids Breathing Toxic Air Evening Standard (London, U.K.) Sadiq Khan has said cars should be banned from roads near schools in order to reduce air pollution. The mayor of London accused the Government of "ignoring" toxic air and criticised Philip Hammond for not raising taxes for the most polluting vehicles in Wednesday's Budget. It comes after a recent study found that tens of thousands of children in London's schools are exposed to illegal levels of air pollution that can damage their health permanently. HUD Explained: Ben Carson, Potential Budget Cuts, and How Federal Housing Policy Works Curbed During the nascent Trump era, the Department of Housing and Urban Development has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. The president's choice to run the agency, neurosurgeon and former presidential candidate Ben Carson, has been criticized by housing advocates for being unprepared for the position and under-informed about the role that this massive agency plays in the lives of many Americans. More recently, the Trump administration has just proposed a $6 billion cut in the HUD's funding. As a provider of public housing, a highly politicized topic embroiled in a legacy of segregation, HUD already deals in its fair share of hot-debated topics. But its big-picture issues can distract from the agency's everyday scope, mission, and impact. While HUD's future is being discussed in Washington, here's a primer on how the agency was formed and how it operates. Trump's Budget Takes an Axe to Transit Streetsblog USA The Trump administration has released its budget blueprint [PDF], and it's a bloodbath for everything that's not defense spending. In keeping with the budget's general hostility to cities, transit would be hit especially hard. The Trump budget would eliminate funding for transit expansion projects unless a funding agreement is already in place, the Washington Post reports. For transit projects that have yet to reach that stage, funding from the Federal Transit Administration's New Starts program - currently budgeted for $2.3 billion annually through 2020 [PDF] - would no longer be available. Feared Dead, Math's Back: Planning Nerds Vindicated Place Makers Lately, owing to chaos at the federal level, we've appeared all in for a going-with-the-gut planning strategy. Even when it was clear the gut was on a fact-free diet. But there's evidence that, at least in some policy-making categories, rational analysis using, you know, data might be making a comeback. 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: