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Barely a week after Damascus voters passed a controversial land use initiative, a ripple effect extended to the .

鈥淲ith recent passage of a voter initiative in Damascus requiring voter approval of all comprehensive plan and zoning actions submitted to the Department of Land Conservation and Development and Metro, it is unclear that the assurances as previously envisioned are sufficient for moving ahead to spend federal funds on planning work at this time,鈥� wrote Kirsten Pennington, ODOT planning manager for region 1, in a March 20 letter to city staffers.

Measure 3-389, which passed by a 3-to-1 margin, requires voters’ approval before Damascus City Council can submit any land-use ordinance or law to the state.

In its letter, ODOT informed city staffers that it was putting on hold development of the city’s transportation system plan 鈥� essentially withholding from Damascus $1 million that Sen. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., earmarked for that very purpose.

Steve Gaschler, the city’s community services director, said officials are disappointed in the delay.

鈥淎ny way people get around town, getting goods and services from point A to point B 鈥� it’s a fundamental foundational piece of the (comprehensive) plan,鈥� Gaschler said of the transportation system plan.

In 2008, the gave Damascus a one-year extension to complete its comprehensive plan, which is required by state law. Damascus City Council adopted a comprehensive plan in November 2010, but voters rejected it six months later.

In an attempt to keep the process moving, Gaschler said the city began concentrating on creation of a public facilities map. He said that public facilities and a transportation system are the two comprehensive plan aspects that take the longest to complete 鈥� usually requiring 12 to 18 months each. Officials have struggled to make progress.

鈥淲e are pretty much stuck at month one, and we’ve been stuck on month one for almost two years now,鈥� he said.

ODOT’s decision represents a new obstacle in the process.

鈥淲e are stewards of the federal funds and so we have a responsibility of making sure that those funds are spent wisely,鈥� said Rian Windsheimer, an ODOT policy and development manager for region 1. 鈥淎nd so there’s a process in place 鈥� including having a comprehensive plan and an idea of what that is before moving ahead 鈥� and we need some assurances of what that’s going to look like before we feel comfortable spending those funds.鈥�

Windsheimer said the transportation system needs to serve the intended use of the land, so if variables like land use or density are not identified, a working plan can be difficult to craft. Basically, ODOT doesn’t want to spend money on a plan only to find out later that it must be changed, he said.

Damascus planners last week presented City Council with a 20-year population forecast for the city. That forecast is an integral ingredient in planning transportation. According to the report, Damascus’ population is predicted to increase from 10,686 in 2010 to 15,390 in 2025 and 35,804 in 2035.

Diana Helm, president of Damascus City Council, said the situation is frustrating.

鈥淚t’s really disconcerting because when a jurisdiction like ODOT pulls out of this process, even if it’s temporary, it means that there are some red flags going up,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think it’s going to be hard for any jurisdiction, be it a water authority or anyone, to come in and partner with us in this when they don’t feel there’s ever going to be a comprehensive plan on the table.鈥�

Helm said she wasn’t sure what the next step would be. Windsheimer said ODOT and city officials would meet sometime in early April.

鈥淲e’re going to come to the table and hopefully they’ll have some answers for us and hopefully it’ll be something that we’ll be able to do,鈥� Gaschler said.