Washington County Redistricting Hearing - THIS Friday, April 8
9:00 AM, PCC Rock Creek, Building 3 Auditorium


Did you know that Washington County added 85,000 new residents over the last ten years?  The high rate of growth in our county has a huge impact on our representation in Salem over the next ten years, and you have a chance to tell lawmakers how to incorporate your community into a legislative district that reflects the people who live there.


The Senate and House Committees on Redistricting will be in Washington County this Friday to gather input about communities of common interest. Input from all the diverse areas across the state of Oregon is crucial to ensuring that legislators have accurate and sufficient information to create new accurate, representative districts.  Washington County has grown faster than any other part of the state, and this fact makes it even more important that legislators hear from local citizens about our communities of interest and links to areas around us.


Please come to the hearing this Friday to sign up and speak before the committee.  You may bring written testimony to submit to the committee, and each person who signs up will have about 2 - 3 minutes to speak.  Talking to the committee is simple, easy, and very helpful to enlighten legislators about all of the distinct parts of Washington County. 


If you cannot make the meeting this Friday, you may submit written testimony to oregon.redistricting@state.or.us.


Washington County Redistricting Hearing - THIS Friday, April 8
9:00 AM, PCC Rock Creek, Building 3 Auditorium


Contact Tom Powers at (503) 936-7456 if you are interested in coming to the hearing on Friday or need more information.  He can also provide you with facts and population figures for the current set of house districts as well as sample testimony.


oregon.redistricting@state.or.us  

Bringing in the reserves
Published: Friday, March 18, 2011, 8:35 AM By Kurt Eckert, The Hillsboro Argus 
A little more than two years ago, the Pittsburgh Steelers were still fresh off their record-setting sixth Super Bowl title. President Obama was still in his first 100 days in office. Michael Jackson and Ted Kennedy were still alive.

And the process of designating urban and rural reserves was just getting under way.

Though it comes far from making everyone completely happy, a palpable relief cut the air Tuesday night when a joint meeting of the Washington County Board of Commissioners and the Metro Council finally ended in a compromise on the issue.

The commissioners voted 3 to 2, and the council 6 to 1, to approve an intergovernmental agreement on 13,817 acres of urban reserves and 151,574 acres of rural reserves in Washington County — including splitting two contentious parcels along lines both entities think will be acceptable to the state’s Land Conservation and Development Commission, which must approve the agreement.

The reserves process was supposed to be a consensus plan developed by Metro and Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties to designate the best areas for urban expansion and agricultural protection for the next 50 years, but when that process dissolved early on, each county was left to make individual deals with Metro.

After months of infighting and aggravation, hard work and haggling, frustration and consideration — and more than a few surprises, the county submitted its original plan to the development commission in early 2010.

But in October 2010, LCDC sent the entire package back for reconsideration, saying 624 acres of “foundation farmland” north of Cornelius and a small parcel north of Forest Grove were unacceptable as urban reserves.

Greg Macpherson, an LCDC member, said March 12 that studies show land north of Council Creek is some of the best temperate zone soil in the country, he said.

“North of Cornelius was so beyond the pale, we were able to reject it,” Macpherson said.

Controversy stirred again in February, when Hughes and Commission Chair Andy Duyck answered LCDC’s remand with a plan splitting the Cornelius acreage into rural reserves and undesignated land and adding a 585-acre urban reserve on formerly undesignated land in the Helvetia area — north of Highway 26 and south of West Union Road. The plan angered Helvetia conservationists, and confounded Cornelius expansionists.

After hearing from several upset citizens in early March, the county’s Planning Commission recommended giving at least some industrial expansion land to Cornelius, and removing the urban designation from Helvetia. The planning commission serves as a volunteer advisory body appointed by the county commissioners, and its decisions are not binding.

Dozens of the same people testified again Tuesday, but within the parameters of the LCDC instructions, what they wanted was not possible, Duyck said. But an attempt to pass the Hughes/Ducyk plan as-is failed 3 to 2.

The compromise reached after several more unsuccessful votes essentially turns the Hughes/Ducyk proposal on its ear. Instead of being divided to the west and east by Susbauer Road, there will now be 363 acres of undesignated land on the south and 260 acres of rural reserves to the north, divided by Hobbs Road.

Urban reserves in Helvetia were nearly halved, with Groveland Road now dividing 233 undesignated acres from 352 acres of urban reserves.

The small Forest Grove parcel went from urban to undesignated, and a new undesignated parcel was designated southwest of Aloha.

In the end, Cornelius doesn’t get the urban reserves designation it wanted, and part of Helvetia still ends up as urban reserves, but for a couple of months, at least, it’s over. The county has scheduled two public hearings in April on a binding ordinance before the LCDC presumably gets another chance to consider the entire package in August.

Cornelius officials say they desperately needed the urban designation, and now all seems lost, said Cornelius City Manager Dave Waffle.

“It’s better than a rural designation, that clearly would lock it up for 50 years,” Waffle said. “(But) I characterize this as now the glass is half-empty. It’s got something in it we might be able to drink sometime in the future.”

Hughes said Metro staff will continue to work to convince the state there is land north of Cornelius that is suited for industrial development, and isn’t particularly valuable as farmland.

“You want to get the big picture right, so you can lock that into place, then you can work to make changes around those over time,” Hughes said. “But I don’t think Cornelius got anything close to what they wanted.”

Duyck said the marathon hearing and extended debate proves the government tried to get every viewpoint.

“In the final analysis, we were all just glad to come to an agreement,” Duyck said. “We can now move forward with the reserves.”

Feb. 22, 2011


On behalf of the staff and elected officials of Washington County and Metro we are pleased to report there is a new urban and rural reserves proposal that responds to the direction provided by the Land Conservation and Development Commission in October.
As you may know, the Commission voted unanimously last fall to approve urban and rural reserve designations in Clackamas and Multnomah counties, and most of the urban reserve designations in Washington County.
Two urban reserve areas were sent back to Metro and Washington County by the Commission. One was just north of Cornelius and the other was just north of Forest Grove. The Commission provided oral direction to Washington County and Metro to remove the urban reserve designation near Cornelius, and to strengthen the findings of the area near Forest Grove.
Our entire region benefits when elected and community leaders reach for and support compromise even when their strongest supporters urge a different path. When we put the region's needs ahead of any individual interest, we build on Oregon's great legacy of land use innovation and leadership created by our parents and grandparents.
To this end we are proposing targeted changes to address the Commission's direction. Our first commitment is always to the people of our region and their desire to provide long-term protection for valuable farm and forestlands, while also providing land for good jobs and homes now and in the future. Equally important, we believe this proposal thoroughly addresses all of the concerns raised by the Commission while providing certainty to farmers, businesses and working families.
If approved the proposal will result in 50 years of protection for 266,992 acres of valuable farmland, forest land and natural areas for current and future generations. The proposal also provides 28,548 acres of developable land across the region to ensure we can provide good jobs and homes for everyone now and in the future, in a way the makes the most of our existing cities and neighborhoods.
This proposal is the result of unprecedented partnerships and participation from local governments, advocacy organizations and thousands of citizens. It's a one-of-a-kind, collaborative roadmap for the effective utilization of land that no other region in the United States has achieved. But let's be clear: our work will not be done until the public has a chance to thoroughly review and comment on this important decision.
So take a look at the proposal, map and other information on Metro's web site. The Metro Council and Washington County Board of Commissioners will hold a joint hearing in Hillsboro on Tuesday, March 15, to consider your comments on this proposal and to vote on a revised reserves agreement.
If a final agreement is approved by both bodies on March 15, each would proceed to formal adoption of ordinances, findings of fact, and maps in April. At each step Metro and Washington County will provide opportunities for public testimony.
Finally, Clackamas County and Multnomah County will also need to take formal action on the overall findings for the reserves program because of the revisions required by LCDC. After formal adoption, the revised urban and rural reserves will be presented to LCDC for review.
We are proud of our work and look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,

 Andy Duyck
Chair,
Washington County Board of CommissionersTom Hughes
Metro Council President