Council President David Bragdon releases a statement calling this a vote a “historic moment.” He goes on to write:

“Our work is not done. We need to refocus our efforts on how we can best invest in attracting more jobs and residents to our existing communities inside the urban growth boundary. Metro, local governments and the private sector need to work more strategically to invest limited public resources more wisely and encourage greater private investment in the communities we already call home.”

EARLIER:

The Metro Council put a final stamp of approval on a plan to guide growth in the region for the next 50-years. The vote was 5-2.

The plan creates 28,000 acres of urban reserves, areas outside the urban growth boundary that will be set aside for most new business and residential development.

It also preserves 272,000 acres as rural reserves, places protected as farmland and natural areas.

The broad outlines of this plan have changed little since it was introduced to the public earlier this year.

A series of public meetings, and an alternative plan offered by a coalition of farming and conservation groups had little impact. The coalition version called for 15,000 acres of urban reserves, saying that anything bigger could damage the metro area’s vibrant agriculture community.

In the end, the council decided to stay close to a plan that was drawn up by a group called the Core 4 committee. The committee was made up of a representative from the Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington county commissions. The fourth member was from the Metro council.

In order for any plan to succeed, it needs the approval of all four of these governments. So a version drawn up by their representatives was probably destined to survive all the others. Each of the counties approved their part of the agreement earlier today and on Tuesday.

On Thursday, the Metro Council votes on a plan to creating new urban and rural reserves in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties. Leading up to the big show on Thursday, each of the county commissions will meet separately this week to ratify the plan.

The current plan calls for setting aside 270,000 acres of land as rural reserves. These are areas being preserved for farmland and nature. It also includes 28,000 acres for urban reserves- areas where most development will take place. These are areas outside the Urban Growth Boundary.

In terms of the overall acreage, not much has changed since Metro’s Core 4 committee drew up this plan in late December. Farming and conservation groups tried to convince Metro and other government officials to reduce the size of urban reserves in half, to about 15,000 acres. But that effort mostly fell on deaf ears.

See: Farmers, Conservation Groups Come Together On Urban Growth

Save Helvetia, a grassroots group representing farmers and residents in north Washington County fared a lot better. The original proposals from Washington County set aside 10,000 acres in the Helvetia as urban reserves. In the proposal before Metro, that’s been pared down to 300 acres.

But the group is warily watching a 700 acre section of land north of US 26 that’s been labeled as “undesignated”. Metro is using that label as a way of keeping its options open, should the demand for developing land turn out to be stronger than expected. Considering that Metro is planning for 50-years, some flexibility makes sense.

Cherry Amabisca with Save Helvetia says it also creates uncertainty for the farmers in that area, making them less willing to take on long range projects like planting orchards or vineyards. “Once an area is labeled undesignated,” she says, “farmers don’t invest.”

So while she’s pleased that most of Helvetia is safe, “We can’t relax because that undesignated area is still at risk.”

For More Information See:

Blue Oregon: Urban and rural reserves battle may have barely begun

Here’s the schedule of meetings.

Washington County Board of Commissioners
6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 23
155 N. First Ave., Hillsboro

Clackamas County Board of Commissioners
10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 25
2051 Kaen Road, Oregon City

Multnomah County Board of Commissioners
11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 25
501 SE Hawthorne Blvd., Portland.

Metro Council
2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25
600 NE Grand Ave., Portland

The latest plan, as proposed by a committee called the Core 4, includes setting aside 27,000 acres for urban reserves and 270,000 acres for rural reserves. That leaves about 2300 acres in the “undecided” category.

It’s the latest step in an unbelievably complicated process that will determine how the Portland metro areas grows and develops over the next four or five decades.

Metro may be best known for the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) around the Portland region. That’s the magical line that roughly divides the urban areas from the rural areas.

What it’s looking at now is how to plan growth outside the UGB. A new state law says Metro needs to figure out what are the best places to set aside for future development (urban reserves) and what are the best places to preserve as farmland and natural areas (rural reserves). And if that wasn’t difficult enough, officials from Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties, plus the Metro government, all have to agree on the same plan!

This is supposed to be wrapped up by the end of February. The Metro Council has a meeting scheduled for the 25th.

What happened today is that the Core 4 committee drew up a plan that covers 99.5% of the area outside the UGB. They couldn’t agree on what to do with the remaining half-percent. So each of the three counties will hold separate talks with Metro on working out those details.

Metro held six public events during January that were attended by hundreds of people who wanted to look at urban reserves maps, ask questions, and testify before the Council.

See: VIDEO: Jobs and the Economy Drive Metro’s First Hearing on Urban Reserves

The amount of land set aside for urban reserves is still almost twice as large as a proposal from a coalition of environmental and agricultural groups. They wanted Metro to set side only 15,000 acres for urban reserves. The biggest disagreement came over how much land to allow for development in Washington County. But the coalition proposal never gained traction with Metro officials.

See: Farmers, Conservation Groups Come Together On Urban Growth

A two week period of open houses and public hearings wraps up this evening at the Wilsonville City Hall, 29799 SW Town Center Loop E. The open house starts at 430pm and the public hearing begins at 6pm. Metro is also taking online comments through 5pm Friday.

Metro, plus Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties, are drawing up a plan that will guide the region’s growth for the next 40-50 years. Areas called urban reserves will be set aside for future business, industrial and residential development. Rural reserves are preserved for farmland, forests and natural areas.

There’s been considerable debate over just how much land should be put into urban reserves, and where those areas should be located. The current plan being discussed by Metro includes about 29,000 acres, with half of them in Washington County. An alternative proposed by a coalition of conservation and agriculture groups calls for about 15,000 acres of urban reserves.

The message to Metro councilors was clear. Speaker after speaker told them that supporting economic growth should be their primary consideration as they plan for the region’s future.

Monday night’s hearing in Gresham is the first in a series of six events Metro is holding on public reserves. The official plan put before the public calls for setting aside about 29,000 acres of land in the three county metro region for urban reserves. These are areas where development will be focused for the next 40 to 50 years.

After the video, the list for the rest of the hearings.

Video: Highlights From The Urban Reserves Hearing

The remaining hearings resume Thursday.

Thursday, Jan. 14
4:30 to 6:30 p.m. open house
Metro Regional Center
600 NE Grand Ave., Portland

Saturday, Jan. 16
9 to 11 a.m. open house
Washington County Public Services Building
155 N. First Ave., Hillsboro

Tuesday, Jan. 19
4:30 to 6:30 p.m. open house
Clackamas County Development Services Building
150 Beavercreek Road, Oregon City

Wednesday, Jan. 20
4:30 to 6:30 p.m. open house
6 p.m. Metro Council hearing
Sherwood Library/City Hall
22560 SW Pine St., Sherwood

Thursday, Jan. 21
4:30 to 6:30 p.m. open house
6 p.m. Metro Council hearing
Wilsonville City Hall
29799 SW Town Center Loop E., Wilsonville