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The state of Oregon has drawn the line on a proposed 1,200-acre expansion of McMinnville‘s urban growth boundary 鈥� essentially leaving it unchanged from 2000.

On Feb. 28, the remanded McMinnville’s UGB amendment to the city, after a July 2011 decision by the Oregon Court of Appeals found that the expansion violated state laws. The decision signals a victory for conservationists and presents a huge question mark for city planners.

Doug Montgomery, planning director for the city of McMinnville, said the decision was a huge disappointment and one that came after significant time and money was expended. He said the city must now either try to re-justify its proposed expansions or look for new locations to plan for future growth and development.

鈥淏ut frankly, at this point in time, we won’t do either of those,鈥� Montgomery said. 鈥淲e’ll probably put the project to the side until we have more financial resources or political will to move this thing forward.鈥�

Montgomery said the city in 1995 realized it was running out of land for future growth. From 1980 to 2003, McMinnville’s population doubled to 28,500 residents, according to a study commissioned by the city. The study estimated the city would add 15,545 more people over the next 20 years.

So the city began planning for a UGB expansion, and in 2008 the LCDC approved its application. Shortly thereafter, , and other interested groups appealed that decision to the Court of Appeals 鈥� claiming that the UGB expansion added too much land and that it improperly sought to re-designate prime agricultural land for urban uses 鈥� and won.

鈥淲hen people 鈥� when developers and other boosters talk about economic development, it’s important to remember that we have a thriving (agricultural) industry,鈥� said Sid Friedman of Friends of Yamhill County. 鈥淚t’s the second largest industry in our state, and we shouldn’t be undercutting what we already have in search of the golden goose.鈥�

According to the organization, agriculture accounts for 10 percent of Oregon’s total sales and 12 percent of its jobs. Friedman said conversion of prime farmland for urban growth should be a last resort, especially when better alternatives exist.

McMinnville’s UGB expansion would have included approximately 800 acres of buildable land that 1000 Friends of Oregon considers prime farmland. Mary Kyle McCurdy, a staff attorney for the organization, said that land was unnecessary for expansion because other undeveloped sites within the UGB can accommodate growth.

McCurdy said the group, however, approved of the city’s plan to create Neighborhood Activity Centers 鈥� essentially, highly walkable retail- and commercial-anchored communities.

鈥淲e support that, but we think that the housing mix and densities that they were proposing were not realistic,鈥� McCurdy said. 鈥淭hey didn’t meet either the projected needs of the future residents of McMinnville, nor were they designed in a way that we thought would be very effective.鈥�

She said 1000 Friends of Oregon has experience in designing these types of developments and that it hopes to work with McMinnville to that end.

But Montgomery said that even with those parcels, the city would still lack land. He said those existing sites on the city’s edges would not suit compact, centralized neighborhoods, but rather invite strip developments.

鈥淲e were trying to contain future development within some of the ridgelines and creeks and river that form the natural or physical boundaries of the geography of McMinnville,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ome of these areas that they were pointing to would extend into open farmland without anything adjacent to it to stop further development beyond that.鈥�

Both McCurdy and Montgomery said development costs would be significantly different for the parceled sites than for the 800 acres of open farmland 鈥� though they disagree on which would be more expensive.

McCurdy said sites within the UGB would be less expensive in the long run because they are already partially served by services, whereas the expansion would require construction of new utility lines. She said that although cities are required to compare the costs of developing new sites in a UGB expansion, they usually don’t compare them to the costs of developing sites already within the boundary.

Montgomery contended that existing sites face slope and transportation access issues. He said he believes the city won’t be able to grow if it cannot expand into farmland.

鈥淣early any direction we step outside the current boundary, we’re going to be touching farmland,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o to not do so and suggest we could put another 16,000 people inside our current boundary, on lands that are small three-acre and four-acre parcels, which people are enjoying now in a very rural lifestyle 鈥� seems a little difficult to imagine.鈥�

He said the end result would likely interest other cities like Bend, Woodburn and Newberg, which are engaged in UGB amendment processes. And the LCDC, though it carried out the court’s decision, has cited concerns with the outcome 鈥� especially that such a long process yielded an 鈥渦ncertain conclusion鈥� for McMinnville.

鈥淚t certainly kind of puts a question mark for other cities going through this,鈥� Montgomery said.