Oregon Public Broadcasting

A little-known series of meetings may have a big effect on what the Portland area’s urban landscape looks like for the next half century.

The Land Conservation and Development commission is having one of its few open hearings on the proposed rules Thursday, as Rob Manning reports.

Last legislative session, the state’s land use board was asked to rewrite how the Metro regional government deals with Portland’s urban growth boundary.

Currently, state law directs Metro to evaluate what lands can be developed based on whether the soil is good for farming.

Under new rules being considered, Metro could use factors like the cost of infrastructure, or economic benefits, in designating “urban” or “rural” reserves.

Urban reserves would be the first areas open to development. Rural reserves have never been tried in Oregon, and they would be hands-off to development for decades.

Both are likely to be controversial. Some property owners may advocate for being in an urban reserve, because they could sell their land to developers. But, current residents might oppose the increased housing density and traffic.

Rural reserves mean maintaining the farm lifestyle, but losing out on development dollars.

The rules will be final in January.