In 1971, Grace Rye moved with her husband, Jack, to a home about half a mile outside of Monmouth when he took a job as an administrator at Western Oregon University.

Rye, 92, and now a widow, discovered in February that the city was proposing to swap 90 acres of land within its urban growth boundary with a 75-acre parcel that nearly borders her country home. The prospect of hundreds of new houses and apartments rising nearby doesn’t appeal to Rye.

“It’s not a good idea,” she said.

Numerous people who live in and around Monmouth voiced their displeasure of the proposed land swap to the city council during its regular meeting on April 7. Nevertheless, the council voted 4-2 to approve the proposal and adopt a legislative amendment. Councilors John Oberst, Carol McKiel, Jon Carey and Christopher Lopez voted yes, and Roxanne Beltz and Jason Ridgeway voted no.

The approval still needs to come back before the council in the form of an ordinance for adoption, Monmouth Community Development Director Suzanne Dufner said. The land swap would then have to be approved by Polk County and the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development.

When House Bill 2647, which was sponsored by Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, and Sen. Deb Patterson, D-Salem, became law in 2025, it gave Monmouth an expedited process to swap the 90 acres southwest of the city for the 75 acres to the west of the city.

Though there are other processes for cities to expand, UGB swaps through the state legislature have become increasingly common.

Portland State University projects Monmouth to gain 3,400 new residents by 2040 and the need for 1,200 new housing units to accommodate that growth. If so, the city would add nearly one-third of its current population of 11,651, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2025 American Community Survey estimates.

The city applied strategies to allow growth, including increasing density and allowing housing downtown, Carey said.

“The city is doing a lot of things to solve the problem,” he said. “Many of those are applicable to new development. Not all, but most. The city’s been doing a lot of work. We’re still constrained by the land.”

Monmouth has fewer than a dozen developable properties within current city limits, Dufner said.

“All the easy properties to develop have been developed,” she said.

So, Monmouth looked at ways it could incorporate more land into the city.

City staffers project the swap could result in Monmouth gaining 525 to 1,050 new housing units.

The 90 acres the city will remove was owned by people not interested in selling, contains wetlands (making development difficult), and is prone to flooding because of its proximity to the south fork of Ash Creek.

The 75 acres on the west side of town, however, is mostly flat and would be easier to develop with city utilities like water, sewer and power. Also, the property owners want to sell.

Monmouth Public Works Director David Karr Jr. said the parcel that is leaving the UGB could be connected to utilities but would require infrastructure like a pump station for sewer services — something the incoming parcel won’t need.

The city held two planning commission meetings about the proposal, and the city council held a public hearing about it in February, Dufner said.

“The public participation part has been happening,” Monmouth Mayor Cec Koontz said.

But some people, including Rye, said they never received notice about the planned swap or any new development on the land.

In a staff report, the city officials say they posted signs visible from the street 10 days before the first public hearing, a mailer was sent to property owners that would be directly impacted, a notice was published in a newspaper and on the city’s website, and notices were sent to other affected public agencies like fire districts and school districts.

One person asked the people in the packed council chambers if they felt they had been heard during the public process. One person raised a hand. When he asked if they felt they had not been represented, most people in the crowd raised a hand.

“We have to acknowledge a real tension in growing communities,” Beltz said.

People also brought up potential problems including traffic and infrastructure issues, environmental concerns, the impact on Western Oregon University, the potential loss of farmland, and the city’s ability to bring in utilities like water and power.

Land use conservation group 1000 Friends of Oregon argued in a letter to the city council that the 75 acres being swapped into the urban growth boundary is not contiguous to the city limits and therefore does not comply with House Bill 2647.

John Moore, who lives on Mistletoe Road, said new development would produce multiple three-story buildings mere feet from his rural home.

“If I want to live in a city, I’d live in a city,” he said. “We like to live in the country.”

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in The Statesman Journal and then was distributed on the USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.

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HUDSONVILLE — Global energy company RWE held a public hearing March 17 to hear concerns from the public about a proposed 1,900-acre solar development in Zeeland Township and Jamestown Township.

The hearing was part of a pre-application process for the Michigan Public Service Commission under PA 233. Two more hearings followed at Zeeland Township offices.

The proposed 200-megawatt development, Silver Maple Solar, would occupy agricultural-zoned land south of Interstate 196 near Ottawa Executive Airport.

“There’s been communities in this world for hundreds of years that have gotten by without electricity, but never one that got by without food,” resident Loran Moyer said during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting.

The $330 million, 35-year project could power more than 34,000 homes, according to RWE. It’s hoping to start construction as early as 2027, but that timeline depends on which approval process developers choose to pursue.

PA 233 allows developers of utility-scale solar, wind and battery energy storage projects to seek approval directly from MPSC, unless all affected local governments have adopted ordinances that are no more restrictive than state standards. Zeeland Township previously indicated an interest in adopting a “Workable Incompatible Ordinance,” which permits large-scale projects, but has more constraints than a Compatible Renewable Energy Ordinance. Jamestown Township passed an ordinance in July 2025.

WIOs offer developers a feasible alternative to the more expensive, time-consuming and backlash-prone state process, but there’s no guarantee RWE will be interested — particularly after planning commissioners in Zeeland Township earlier this month leaned toward passing an Unworkable Incompatible Ordinance.

RWE hasn’t yet filed an application with MPSC, according to the state’s website. The site plan and documents can be viewed at tinyurl.com/ynzc2e9z.​

RWE began Tuesday’s hearing with a brief presentation and general overview of the project, including the process of approval through MPSC, economic impacts and permitting.

Development Manager Joe Brochu said the project’s location was chosen for transmission line capacity, flat and buildable land, landowner interest, proximity to areas with electricity need, and reliable permitting. During the hearing, RWE said the land would be restored for agricultural use after the development is decommissioned.

The project would reportedly produce $31.6 million in tax revenue, with about $15 million going toward local school districts.

“We are confident this is a big positive for (Zeeland Township),” Brochu told The Holland Sentinel.

Despite taking steps toward an application with MPSC, he added, RWE’s preference is to permit locally.

“A local route … provides the best opportunity to work directly with the townships, directly with the people who are going to live by the project,” Brochu told The Holland Sentinel. “Local routes usually take less time to approve. It’s less costly to draft the application … local is always our preference.”

RWE doesn’t plan to “close the door” on local permitting until it submits an official application, according to Brochu, largely because Zeeland Township is actively working on an ordinance.

“We’re focused right now on preparing for (the state) path while also having conversations locally,” he said. “We intend to proceed with the best permitting option available.”

Brochu said public opposition isn’t new for RWE.

“Any type of land use is always going to have multiple opinions, whether it’s a housing development, whether it’s solar,” he said. “We respect all those views — that’s why we have these public hearings.”

Most of the attendees, more than 100 in total, stood firmly against the project and clapped after each public comment.

“We will be fighting this (until) the very end,” Cadence DeVree said. “We will win because we actually care about our community.”

The crowd included multiple politicians, including gubernatorial candidate Tom Leonard and Ottawa County Commissioner Joe Moss. Representatives of Laborers Local 355 and several farmers who’ve chosen to lease their land to RWE also attended.

Dan Elzinga farmed his land for 42 years, but rising costs encouraged him to partner with RWE.

“We think this is a great opportunity to partner with solar because … we keep the land and there’s a real need right now for energy,” he said. “We see this as a way to keep the land in the family for the foreseeable future and, at some point in time, if our grandchildren or great-grandchildren want to farm, they’ll have an opportunity.”

“This land is my parents’ 401(k),” said Lisa Rumsey, the daughter of another farmer leasing to RWE. “I don’t understand why so many people have the right to dictate what they do. The contract with RWE is saving my family farm by allowing it to remain in the family and be utilized for purposes other than agricultural farming.”

Residents, however, worry about water and soil contamination, the loss of local control, decommissioning and impact on property values.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the Holland Sentinel and then was distributed on the USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect.

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