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Clackamas County voters in November will have multiple choices concerning how urban renewal is implemented in rural areas.

The Clackamas County Board of Commissioners on Thursday approved placing on the November ballot a measure that, if approved, would prevent creation of an urban renewal area without majority approval of voters who live within the proposed area.

The measure, which also would affect the ability to amend any existing urban renewal areas, will share the November ballot with a citizen-led measure that would require major urban renewal decisions to be approved by a majority of voters countywide.

鈥淭he decision today is about whether or not we should offer another choice for the citizens,鈥� Commissioner Ann Lininger said. 鈥淭here’s already going to be one other choice on the ballot.鈥�

Presently, creating urban renewal areas or changing existing ones in Clackamas County requires only majority approval from the Clackamas County Redevelopment Agency, a board composed of the five county commissioners.

The commission decided to move forward with its measure after a group of citizens qualified a ballot measure that would put major urban renewal decisions before all county voters.

The commission was worried that a requirement of countywide voter approval would make urban renewal efforts difficult and expensive to move forward. Voters outside of an area 鈥� such as unincorporated Oak Grove, for example 鈥� might not be likely to support an urban renewal area there because they don’t have a vested interest.

鈥淭his is about local control of decision making,鈥� Lininger said.

The idea behind the citizen-led measure, according to attorney Eric Winters, is that every voting member of the county deserves a voice in all urban renewal decisions because they can lead to property tax dollars being diverted from service districts that serve the entire district.

鈥淥urs requires a countywide vote because urban renewal debts affect the full county,鈥� said Winters, who has been working with the group behind the citizen-led measure. 鈥淭his takes gerrymandering to a whole new level. Let’s call (the commission-led measure) what it is: a sham.鈥�

Winters’ comments were made during a public testimony session held Tuesday to gauge support for the county-led measure. Of the nearly 30 people who spoke, 20 gave testimonies in support of the commission-led measure. The group included several local officials, including Metro Council President Tom Hughes and Westside Economic Alliance Executive Director Jonathan Schlueter.

鈥淯rban renewal is a good tool that has its flaws and challenges, but is a good tool to make an area compatible with its job and economic strategies,鈥� Hughes said during his testimony. 鈥淭he reason I support the (commission-led measure) is because it gives you what the citizens want 鈥� transparency 鈥� without destroying this effective economic development tool.鈥�

The commission voted 4-1 in favor of placing the county-driven measure on the ballot.

Commissioner Paul Savas dissented, and actually favored another approach: putting a measure on the ballot that would require an even more tedious process for urban renewal decisions. He proposed requiring a vote within the boundary first, and then, if it were to pass, requiring a countywide vote.