91ÊÓƵ

One of Oregon’s greatest assets is its diversity.

The state Republican caucus recognizes that municipalities in the Willamette Valley, along the Oregon Coast and in the Portland-metro area need to use land differently. Now an effort is under way to accommodate those needs.

The state House of Representatives last week referred a bill to the House Transportation and Economic Development subcommittee that would drastically change Oregon’s 33-year-old land-use system. In order to spur economic development, the bill – – would create five new regional land-use planning commissions that would interpret state law and judicially guide development within the specific region.

“Oregon’s land-use system has a long history, and we do not doubt that,” said Rep. Kevin Cameron, R-Salem, the House Republican leader. “But it’s a one-size-fits-all system and it just doesn’t work, considering how different the various parts of the state are.”

If the bill were passed, five seven-member land-use planning commissions would be created, each with one chairperson and six voting members serving four-year terms. The seven members would be selected through a majority ballot vote by the citizens of each region; each group would select its own chairperson.

The regions would be separated much like the climates of Oregon. There would be a coastal region, a Portland metropolitan region, a valley region, a Southern Oregon region and a Central/Eastern Oregon region.

The regional commissions’ responsibilities would be much like that of the Land Conservation and Development Commission, the statewide seven-member board that currently makes land use decisions across the entire state. The commissions would be in charge of adopting and amending rules, approving and denying comprehensive plans, coordinating planning efforts, creating land inventories and making recommendations to the LCDC while accounting for local needs and circumstances.

The regional commissions’ chairpersons would fill five of the LCDC’s seven seats. The other two seats would be appointed by Gov. John Kitzhaber and approved by the state Senate.

The LCDC would then serve more of an advisory role, making sure each region is still following state and federal law and resolving any disputes than may arise at the regional level.

The bill was introduced last week by Rep. Bill Garrard, R-Klamath Falls, and Rep. Dennis Richardson, R-Central Point. It’s so nascent that some land-use interest groups like NAIOP – the state’s commercial real estate development association – have not taken a stance yet.

“Our main priority for this session is legislation that helps provide a supply of readily available land,” said Dana Krawczuk, chairwoman of the public affairs committee of NAIOP’s Oregon chapter and an attorney with Ball Janik in Portland. “But it’s still early and we will be holding a meeting over the next few weeks where we will take time to discuss legislation like this.”

Statewide land-use advocacy group 1000 Friends of Oregon opposes the proposed bill, and is calling it “a solution in search of a problem,” according to Eric Stachon, communications director for the nonprofit organization.

“This is bad legislation because the state already requires regional representation on LCDC,” Stachon said. “All this will do is create five different interpretations of state laws.

“It would be a nightmare if an organization like (the Oregon Department of Transportation) had to follow five different sets of laws when planning out a project.”

Cameron contends that it would aid economic recovery, granting more regional control over land-use decisions.

“It’s a jobs bill for us and we can’t think of anything better to start with than a policy change that can lead to real economic development,” Cameron said.

After its first reading, the bill was referred to the House Transportation and Economic Development subcommittee. It is now up to the subcommittee’s cochairmen, Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, and Rep. Tobias Read, D-Beaverton, to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. If it were approved by the House, the bill would go through a similar process with the state Senate.