Final approved documents
- Notice of Readoption of Urban and Rural Reserves, July 24, 2017
- Clackamas County, Metro, cities celebrate agreement on Stafford area urban reserves at June 28 signing ceremony, June 29, 2017
- Intergovernmental Agreement - Stafford Urban Reserve Areas, June 28, 2017
Recent activities and events
Clackamas County Board approves urban/rural reserves findings, intergovernmental agreement
(news release, May 23).
Board of County Commissioners approves reading of urban/rural reserves findings; public hearing planned for May 23 (news release, May 11)
Board of County Commissioners Special Business Meeting, including Intergovernmental Agreement between Clackamas County, Metro, and the cities of Lake Oswego, Tualatin and West Linn; and a public hearing on Ordinance to Accept Revised Findings that Affirm the Designation of Urban and Rural Reserves in the Metro Region in Response to the Remand by the Oregon Court of Appeals and the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC); 8:30 a.m., Tuesday, May 23, 4th floor public hearing room, Public Services Building, 2051 Kaen Road, Oregon City
Board of County Commissioners Business Meeting including remand ordinance and IGA – 10 a.m., Thursday, May 11; 4th floor public hearing room, Public Services Building, 2051 Kaen Road, Oregon City; public comment welcome
- Approval of an Intergovernmental Agreement [IGA] with Metro, the City of Lake Oswego, the City of Tualatin and the City of West Linn Related to the Designation of Urban Reserves in the Stafford Area
- Adoption of an Ordinance to Accept Revised Findings that Affirm the Designation of Urban and Rural Reserves in the Metro Region in Response to the Remand by the Oregon Court of Appeals and the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC)
Multnomah County Board of Commissioners meeting, Second Reading and Hearing of Ordinance Adopting Supplemental Findings Relating to Urban and Rural Reserve Designations, 9:30 a.m., May 11, 501 SE Hawthorne, Portland
Clackamas County Board set to act on urban reserves May 11; public input welcome at the meeting (news release, May 4)
Multnomah County Board of Commissioners meeting, First Reading and Hearing of Ordinance Adopting Supplemental Findings Relating to Urban and Rural Reserve Designations, 9:30 a.m., May 4, 501 SE Hawthorne, Portland
Clackamas County Board takes key step toward finalizing urban and rural reserves (news release, April 27)
Board of County Commissioners continuation of Land Use Public Hearing on Consideration of Adopting Urban and Rural Reserves Designations in Response to Remand, for deliberation only - 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, April 26; 4th floor public hearing room, Public Services Building, 2051 Kaen Road, Oregon City
- Complete revised findings, April 2017
- Testimony
Board of County Commissioners continuation of April 12 Land Use Public Hearing on Consideration of Adopting Urban and Rural Reserves Designations in Response to Remand - 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, April 19; 4th floor public hearing room, Public Services Building, 2051 Kaen Road, Oregon City
Metro Council Meeting, including consideration of adoption of urban and rural reserves designation in response to remand – 2 p.m. Thursday, April 13; Council Chambers, Metro Regional Center, 600 NE Grand Ave., Portland
Continued until 9:30 a.m., Wed., April 19 - Board of County Commissioners Land Use Public Hearing on Consideration of Adopting Urban and Rural Reserves Designations in Response to Remand - 6 p.m., Wednesday, April 12; 4th floor public hearing room, Public Services Building, 2051 Kaen Road, Oregon City; public welcome to attend and testify
- Public Hearing Notice, March 7, 2017
- Revised Findings, adopted by Metro Council in February 2016
- Supplemental Findings, presented to Metro Council on March 2, 2017
Metro Ordinance No. 17-1397, For the Purpose of Addressing State Rule Requirements Regarding the Amount of Urban Reserves and the Balance of Urban and Rural Reserves in the Metro Region – approved by the Metro Council on April 13, 2017
Draft updated Metro/County/Cities Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) – April 12, 2017
Metro Council Meeting, including consideration of adoption of urban and rural reserves designation in response to remand – 2 p.m., Thursday, March 16; Council Chambers, Metro Regional Center, 600 NE Grand Ave., Portland
Board of County Commissioners Policy Session on Adopting Urban and Rural Reserves Findings in Response to Remand – 3:30 p.m., March 28; 4th floor public hearing room, Public Services Building, 2051 Kaen Road, Oregon City; public welcome to attend to listen
DRAFT Intergovernmental Agreement Between Metro and Clackamas County, March 23, 2017
Clackamas County Responses to Questions from Stafford Hamlet, March 13, 2017
Metro Council Meeting with public hearing on urban and rural reserves, 2-5 p.m., Thursday, March 2, Metro Regional Center, 600 NE Grand Ave., Portland
agenda
County Community Forum on Stafford Reserves – 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 23; Athey Creek Middle School, 2900 SW Borland Road, West Linn
- Just the Facts: Urban and Rural Reserves, and Stafford
- Urban & Rural Reserves: Moving Forward
- Comment Form
- Letter from Jim Bernard and Tom Hughes, Jan. 24, 2017
- Map of Stafford Area Reserves
Conditions for future urbanization of Stafford urban reserves, memo from Clackamas County Administrator Don Krupp and Metro Chief Operating Officer Martha Bennett, Feb. 22, 2017
Board of County Commissioners Policy Session, Jan. 17, 2017
Background
What are reserves?
- Rural reserves are lands outside the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) on which urban development is prohibited for at least 50 years. These lands may have working farms, forests or natural features like rivers, wetlands or buttes.
- Urban reserves are lands outside the UGB that may be considered for potential urban development within the next 50 years.
- Undesignated lands are those lands outside the UGB that have not been included in either an urban reserve or a rural reserve. Generally, undesignated lands may not be used for urban development until a substantial portion of the urban reserve lands are already being developed.
What is the purpose of reserves?
Urban and rural reserves are designed to shape what our region will look like over the next 40-50 years. Reserves are intended to determine the long-term disposition of farmland and natural areas, and provide predictability about the location of future urban growth to inform future expansions of the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB).
The Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) divides areas planned for urban development and distinguishes them from areas planned for rural uses. In the Portland Metropolitan Area, the regional government (Metro) is responsible for adopting the UGB and ensuring that it contains sufficient buildable land to meet projected growth.
Before 2008, state land use laws required Metro to consider current zoning (based largely on soil quality) above everything else to determine where to expand the UGB. Many people felt that, because this approach didn't address important issues such as available infrastructure, topography, etc., it didn't result in expansion in areas best suited for developing healthy, vibrant urban communities.
In 2007, the Oregon legislature enacted a law (Senate Bill 1011) that allowed the three Portland area counties (Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington) and Metro to work together to establish urban reserves based on an expanded list of factors. Rural reserves were also allowed in order to provide long-term protection to the most valuable and financially viable farms and commercial forests, and to protect from urban development such significant natural features such as wetlands, rivers and floodplains, buttes and savannas.
2008-12
From 2008 to 2010, Metro and Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties worked with the public to identify urban reserve and rural reserve lands to serve the region for the next 50 years.
Each county designated its own rural reserve lands. Metro designated urban reserve lands throughout the metropolitan area.
On February 25, 2010, the Board of County Commissioners approved an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with Metro to designate 13,750 acres of urban reserves and 70,500 acres of rural reserves in Clackamas County for the next 50 years. (Multnomah and Washington counties approved IGAs with Metro the same week.) This action was followed in March and April 2010 by Planning Commission and the Board of County Commissioners approval of changes to the County's Comprehensive Plan to implement the reserves. In May 2010, the Board approved a revised IGA.
In response to an oral remand from the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development, reserves designations in Metro and Washington County were revised early in 2011 followed by an appeal of the regional Reserves decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals.
2014-16
February 2014: A ruling from the Oregon Court of Appeals changed some of the urban and rural reserves designated by Metro and the three counties in 2010 and 2011, and affected the urban growth boundary adjustment made by Metro in 2011.
Spring 2014: The state legislature (House Bill 4078) established new urban and rural reserves and adjusted the urban growth boundary in Washington County. The bill did not address issues raised by the Court of Appeals about a proposed rural reserve in western Multnomah County and a proposed urban reserve in the Stafford area of Clackamas County.
February 2016: Metro Council approves revised findings "for the purpose of responding to the remand from the Oregon Court of Appeals and the Land Conservation and Development Commission regarding the designation of urban reserves in Clackamas County."
Links
Documents
The urban and rural reserves process took years of study, meetings, research, public hearings and technical work involving a public committee, staff committee, the Planning Commission, the Board of County Commissioners, regional groups and dialogue with the general community.
- Overall Findings for Designation of Urban and Rural Reserves, April 21, 2011
- Revised Findings for Clackamas County Urban and Rural Reserves, April 21, 2011
- Map of Clackamas County Urban and Rural Reserves, approved Aug 21, 2010
For more information, contact Martha Fritzie, 503-742-4529.
