Portland's Urban Growth Boundary Can Accomodate Thousands More Without Moving
Portland, OR March 27, 2009 9:32 a.m.
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downloadPortland’s urban growth boundary does NOT have to move to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of new residents expected in the next 20 years. That’s a conclusion of a new urban growth report from the Portland area’s land-use agency. Rob Manning reports.
Urban growth boundary decisions can be hard-knuckle affairs.
Developers want Metro to let the boundary expand, so homebuilders can respond to the market, rather than regulations. But conservation groups like 1000 Friends of Oregon want tight boundaries, to prevent sprawl and protect farmland.
1000 Friends’ director, Bob Stacey, likes the new report.
Bob Stacey: “There’s no surprise to me, that Metro’s conclusion is that even if the doors blow off, and we grow at a very rapid rate between now and 2030, we have room in the existing urban growth boundary.”
The staff report is a first step toward an urban growth boundary decision for the Metro Council. And councilor Carl Hosticka says he is a long way from drawing Stacey’s conclusion.
Hosticka: “If we look at how we can meet that population growth within our existing urban growth boundary, or through an expansion, there’s a whole range of options.”
But Metro critic, and one-time council candidate, Tom Cox, says the Metro report stacks the deck against a boundary expansion.
Cox: “One of the reasons that Metro claims that we don’t need a lot more land is because most of the people still live within the original boundary, and that when they expanded the boundary, a lot of folks didn’t moved into those new areas. What they omit to tell you is that most of the land that they brought in is essentially unbuildable.”
Metro staff disagree and argue the problem with building on expansion areas has been the high cost of providing roads and sewer lines.
Metro will meet to discuss the growth report next Tuesday, but decisions about actually moving the boundary are months away.
© 2009 OPB
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