Comments on: Innovative industrial land plan proposed for Oregon

By: Michael McCulloch AIA

Michael McCulloch AIA — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 17:53:11 +0000

The idea of making land immediately available is not necessarily connected to governmental or agency ownership. Why not create a small commission to review potential lands with the directive to analyze the restrictions in order to expedite permitting, thus preparing the sites to be ready for purchase and development?

This compact commission would need to protect the safety and civil issues, but it could manage a local process that represents the development industry instead of the regulators. An inventory of these lands could be distributed to all commercial realtors so there is maximum awareness in any locale. The only expense to the landowners would be the analytical and reporting costs that they would have to bear in any case. And what landowner – and potential buyer – wouldn’t be happier having land they knew was in fact developable instead of going through the negotiations that now take place during protracted due-dilligence processes that often result in lower prices if not failed deals?

The goal is to lower the threshold to successful development and to show industry we want to make the land part of their difficult endeavors be simpler and more predictable.

By: Peasant Pundit

Peasant Pundit — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:48:51 +0000

Are these the same business officials who always argue more taxes and gov’t spending are a drain on commerce, especially taxes on the wealthy? I hope not – because this program could cost the public dearly in the short run to fix problems left behind by private landholders.
Yet, the problem exists, and I agree being able to clean up and bundle lots for industrial use – specifically manufacturing (not simple warehousing) is a good idea.
So the funding mechanism should be industry-based. Let a commercial real estate transfer tax serve as the feed source. Way down the road, when properties can actually be sold and the fund replenished, fees could be reduced.

By: Bob Clark

Bob Clark — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 01:16:59 +0000

I want a smaller state government, not a bigger one. How about the state free new land for industrial development rather than restricting property owners from free use and sale of their property. There are still vast amounts of these green field lands. Allowing more greenfield development might lower the price of brownfield land to a point it compensates businesses for taking on the added costs of qualifying brownfields for development. Even if you are o.k with current size of state government, the state government has serious financial issues impinging its ability to be a land and development agency.