Farmers up in arms over urban, rural reserves
Published 11:38 pm Saturday, February 27, 2010
By MITCH LIES
Capital Press
Oregon farm interests are up in arms this week over a decision by Portland Metro area officials to set aside more than 28,000 acres of farmland for urbanization.
The decision, they said, threatens the agricultural viability of the region.
Metro councilors and commissioners from the area’s three counties, meanwhile, hailed the agreement reached Feb. 25 as a milestone in land-use planning.
Metro Council President David Bragdon characterized it as “a historic moment for our region.”
The council in collaboration with commissioners from Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties reserved 272,100 acres for rural uses for the next 50 years and 28,100 acres for urban uses.
Councilors Rod Park, a Gresham farmer, and Robert Liberty, former executive director of the land-use watchdog 1000 Friends of Oregon, voted against the reserves.
Half the area set aside for urban reserves is in Washington County, and farmers there were particularly upset by the actions.
“They have industrial land that has been sitting idle for 20 years, but that’s not enough,” said Hillsboro-area farmer Dave Vanasche. “They want all this land to the north.
“We keep telling them, if you’re going to take as much as you’ve proposed, take it all, because we won’t have the infrastructure to keep farming,” Vanasche said.
“They’ve already lost a lot of ground over the years and this puts them at risk of losing even more of their land base and infrastructure,” Oregon Farm Bureau President Barry Bushue said. “Clearly there are going to be impacts on a very strong, vital industry.”
Farm and conservation interests have identified several areas of concern in the urban reserves, including about 700 acres north of Hillsboro between Council Creek and Dairy Creek.
“You can’t justify going above Council Creek, legally or otherwise,” Oregon Association of Nursery government affairs director Jeff Stone said. Stone was one of two farm representatives on a 30-person Metro steering committee that helped develop the reserves.
“That’s a road map for a 50-year war,” Stone said.
Oregon Department of Agriculture land-use specialist Jim Johnson, who also served on the steering committee, said the designation has implications beyond just the 700 acres.
“It is a protrusion into core agricultural land,” Johnson said. “It casts a shadow on adjacent farmland and has long-term implications on surrounding farms.”
Farm interests said they will air their objections to the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission, which must sign off on the reserves before they are ratified.
After that, objections would go to the Oregon Court of Appeals.