Clean air and water do not stop at jurisdictional boundaries. Neither does the need for jobs, affordable housing and multi-modal transportation choices. Regional planning and coordination is often applauded as the solution to addressing region-wide problems, but even with the best of intentions, efforts at regionalism are wrought with challenges.
Civic leaders across the Portland metro area are now engaged in a collaborative planning process to consider the region’s growth patterns for the next 40-50 years. As part of this work, Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties and Metro (the regional planning body) are leading a regional effort to identify lands that will be reserved for or protected from urbanization. As with many regional efforts, the debates are heating up as the maps are being drawn.
A New Way to Plan for Growth
Portland metro area growth is now considered incrementally—every five years Metro calculates how much acreage is needed for a 20-year supply of buildable land to accommodate projected population and employment growth, and then adjusts the urban growth boundary (UGB) accordingly. To streamline this grueling, incremental process the Oregon State Legislature enacted Senate Bill 1011 (SB 1011) in 2007, enabling Metro and Metro-area counties to designate "Urban and Rural Reserves."
The urban reserves, once designated, identify where UGBs in the Portland metro region will expand to accommodate population and employment growth in the next 40 to 50 years. The designation of rural reserves will provide the region with a means to protect valuable and financially viable farms, commercial forests and significant natural features from urbanization. This new regionally coordinated approach to planning for growth is meant to give local governments, businesses and private property owners more certainty when prioritizing community investments.
As stated in Oregon’s Administrative Rules, “the objective of [the new program] is a balance in the designation of urban and rural reserves that, in its entirety, best achieves livable communities, the viability and vitality of the agricultural and forest industries and protection of the important natural landscape features that define the region for its residents.”
Prior to SB 1011’s passage, state land use laws required Metro to consider soil quality above every other factor when expanding the UGB—an overly simplistic methodology that ignored the conditions necessary for developing vibrant urban communities. The new process allows Metro to coordinate with affected jurisdictions to consider where to urbanize based on a broad set of factors such as whether the land:
- Can be urbanized in a way that makes efficient use of infrastructure investments.
- Includes sufficient development capacity to support a healthy economy and a range of housing types.
- Can be served efficiently with urban-level public facilities and services and a well-connected multi-modal transportation system.
- Can be developed to preserve and enhance natural ecological systems and landscape features, and minimize adverse effects on resource lands and rural reserves.
Metro-area counties also have an opportunity to identify and select lands for designation as rural reserves in order to provide long-term protection to the agriculture and forest industries and important natural landscape features, or both. Factors to be considered in designating rural reserves include:
- Are situated in an area that is slated for urbanization.
- Are capable of sustaining long-term agricultural or forest operations taking into account soil type, water availability, surrounding land use patterns, parcelization, ownership and adequate infrastructure provisions.
- Includes natural hazards, important fish, plant or wildlife habitat, protect water supply or quality, provide a sense of place for the region, separate cities, or provide recreational opportunities.
These additional factors for designating land for urban growth have provided flexibility, but they’ve also created additional complexity for the regional partners collaborating in this effort.
Regional Coordination: Devil in the Details
Urban and rural reserves are to be addressed concurrently; designated simultaneously through intergovernmental agreements between Metro and counties. The agreement-based process allows a diverse group of representatives to make recommendations to Metro and the three counties as they designate urban and rural reserves, a process which is overseen by the State of Oregon.
This diverse stakeholder group may face challenges in agreeing on growth management priorities for the region. For example, suburban cities such as Beaverton and Hillsboro are generally more concerned than their urban partners with reserving land for employment growth.
"Not everyone is a graphic artist and wants to go to the pub," said Beaverton Mayor Dennis Doyle in a recent Oregonian article. And "not everyone wants the same as downtown Portland," Wilsonville Mayor Tim Knapp remarked in the same article.
There is also concern around the potential urbanization of areas such as Stafford, a rural enclave in Clackamas county. At a recent open house in West Linn, city councilors expressed dismay over Metro’s preliminary designation of the area as an urban reserve.
"Local aspirations can't be the only deciding factor," Metro Councilor Carlotta Collette said in response to the councilors’ concerns. "The recommendation is that we be looking at it from a regional perspective, not a local government perspective."
State agencies expressed similar concerns in their letter to the Metro Regional Reserves Steering Committee dated Oct. 14. On the topics of employment lands and the equity and efficiency in deciding how the region will grow, state agencies said:
Metro has a responsibility to allocate land needs by geographic area within the region to meet long term needs for population and employment. We understand that this responsibility is complicated by the reserves process. Metro and the counties should first achieve consensus on how much lands the region will need for population and employment, and then (separately) decide how those lands should be allocated between the three counties…
A related concern is that different parts of the region will grow at different rates. If the differences are substantial and sustained, Metro and the counties should anticipate revisiting reserve designations in 20 to 25 years to adjust reserve designations and policies to respond to such trends and to correct regional imbalances.
These aren’t the only points of contention in the process to designate urban and rural reserves. Also at issue is whether urban reserves should include large stream corridors and other natural resources. As pointed out by state agencies, Washington County and Clackamas County have taken very different approaches toward the inclusion of stream corridors; Washington County’s preliminary urban reserves abut several salmon-bearing streams, while Clackamas County’s preliminary designation map generally recommends stream corridors for rural designation.
“These differing approaches may lead to some confusion as to what the region's intent is regarding future stream/riparian area protections. The state agencies recommend the counties agree on a consistent approach that makes it clear to the public that important stream corridors will be protected,” said the report.
The counties are also at odds in their designation of rural reserves. According to the state agencies, the purpose of rural reserves is to protect agriculture lands, forest lands or important natural features from urbanization. Proximity of land to the UGB is a measure of the degree to which lands are subject to urbanization. Many of the areas identified by the counties as potential rural reserves are detached from the UGB, and in some instances are located a great distance away.
“It is somewhat puzzling to observe how Washington and Clackamas County are applying the threat of urbanization factor to reserves,” said the report. Washington County has designated most rural lands located beyond three miles from the existing Metro UGB as rural reserves, while Clackamas County’s approach has been more selective.
Will Portland Metro Partners Pass the Test?
It is apparent that the regional coordination process established with SB 1011 is being tested this year. The reserves process under way is a unique collaborative approach to land use planning. It is complex and challenging. To be effective, it requires people across the region to consider the interests of the larger community over the long term and make decisions accordingly.
While the law does not stipulate an exact timeline or schedule, the three county commissions and Metro Council intend to reach agreements and designate urban and rural reserves by the end of 2009. On this schedule, urban reserves will be established when Metro considers the next urban growth boundary expansion in 2010. If they are not able to reach agreements, the jurisdictions go back to their historic roles and the established system.
