Oregon Public Broadcasting

If a committee vote in Salem yesterday is any indication, Oregon may be reaching a détente in the long-standing battle over land-use planning in the state.

Rob Manning reports on a unanimous vote by the House Land Use Committee - sending a bill that was four years in the making, to the House floor.

Four years ago, lawmakers deadlocked over how to balance conservation of farmland with the rights of property owners. So they did what politicians frequently do: they formed a panel.

The Big Look Task Force worked on and off for three years. It finally crafted a bill that bases Oregon’s land-use system on four principles: a prosperous economy, good quality of life, a healthy environment and equity for all Oregonians.

Wilsonville Republican Matt Wingard says the principles, and the details of the 24-page bill, were worth support.

Matt Wingard: “I do want to make sure that the members of the Big Look Task Force are thanked for their efforts - and it turns out it was not for naught. We will pass a good bill today. Thanks, Madam Chair.”

Wingard, the Democratic committee chair, and everyone on the House Land Use Committee voted to send the bill to the floor, with an approval recommendation.

But the bill didn’t start out with a lot of support, even for committee members.

Sal Esquivel: “I’ll be candid with you, I didn’t think this thing had a chance. So be it.”

That’s Medford area Republican, Sal Esquivel.

Advocates on either side of the land-use debate had major problems with the bill from the start. But where four years ago property rights advocates and environmental groups fought, this year, they compromised.

For instance, the bill’s biggest potential change is that counties have an easier path to re-zone land for development. That’s a win for property rights’ advocates. But environmental groups got a check on that re-zoning.

Counties will have to ensure that new development won’t lead to wildfires, and won’t hurt farms, forests or natural areas - among other things. 

The advocates on both sides have disappointments, too.  The Big Look launched before climate change had registered as the issue it is now, and environmental groups feel it should have been a priority in the bill.

Property rights’ advocates lament the timing for a different reason: the down economy and lack of tax receipts means that counties simply don’t have the money to take advantage of the opportunity to re-zone land.