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Growth boundary expands Jacksonville pulls new areas inside By Melissa Martin JACKSONVILLE � With fear and trembling, the Jacksonville City Council and Jackson County Commission pushed Jacksonville�s urban growth boundary past the city limits Monday. They treaded softly for fear of stirring up lawsuits from property owners who might use the newly-approved Ballot Measure 7 to seek compensation for government restrictions on their land. "It�s like driving in a fog bank and all you can see is the white line," said Doug McGeary, assistant county counsel. "If you�re passing a rule that expands your power and affects someone�s property, you may be bringing up a Measure 7 issue. You may end up paying a person who wants to do something else with their property." City Council members and Jackson County commissioners in separate votes unanimously approved Jacksonville�s new urban growth boundary, the line that determines where the city will grow. Jacksonville had the distinction of being the only city in Oregon with an urban growth boundary drawn inside its city limits. The new map includes all property in the city limits, plus three sections outside the city limits � 10, 11 and 19, located near Shafer Road, South Third and Hill streets. They chose the city limit portion because it wouldn�t be considered a government restriction to draw a growth line around what is already in the city limits. And they chose the noncity-limit sections because, during public hearings held earlier this fall, no one testified against being included on the new map, said Paul Wyntergreen, city administrator. "This is a defensible map," said council member John Dodero. The new urban growth boundary excludes the most controversial portion, section 17. That section includes a pear orchard that the owner wants to sell, an upscale subdivision and land that the city earmarked for a future truck route. "We were glad to see Section 17 excluded," said Bruce Woolf, who lives just outside the city limits. "There�s an amphitheater affect on that hillside and if they put a truck route through, the noise would be deafening." Dodero was also glad to see the pear orchard preserved. "It would set a bad precedent to take in resource land when we�ve consistently talked about saving resource land because it provides the setting we like for Jacksonville," Dodero said. Jacksonville should grow like a village, filling in the middle, not developing around the edges, he said. The Jacksonville bypass may get in the way, he said. "The amount of land we have available for growth and the less we have, the more expensive the land will be, unfortunately, but the slower we�ll grow. I don�t think we should be putting in more than we really need." While several property owners were glad to be left off the map, Ruth and Dwight Howser rejoiced because they were included. They own 10 acres on Wells Fargo Drive that they want to develop. "We�ve been waiting 10 years to be included in the urban growth boundary," Ruth Howser said. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.