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A look at the `livability' plan Gov. John Kitzhaber's proposal for the 21st Century Community Fund to carry out his "livability initiative": Public works: $40 million in lottery-backed bonds for grants and loans for water and sewer lines and other projects. Downtown revitalization: $25 million in lottery-backed bonds. Affordable housing: $5 million. Water systems: Matching money required to obtain federal funds of $25 million for loans. Special transportation: $10 million from the tax-supported general fund to match $10 million in federal funds for elderly and disabled passengers. Bus and rail network: $14 million from the general fund for a bus network to connect Southern Oregon and other outlying areas with the Willamette Valley, and high-speed rail linking Portland, Salem and Eugene. Highway rights of way: $20 million in bonds backed by gasoline taxes for projects to get motorists on and off state highways safely. Secondary streets: $30 million in bonds backed by gasoline taxes for projects to improve local access and ease congestion on state highways. (Source: proposed 1999-2001 state budget) Kitzhaber, property backer split on growth Bill counters governor's `livability' plan By PETER WONG SALEM -- Gov. John Kitzhaber, a vigorous defender of Oregon's land-use planning restrictions, and the head of a statewide property-rights group agree on one point this legislative session: The state must deal with the consequences of growth that has pushed Oregon's population well past 3 million this decade. But they still differ about how the state ought to go about it. Larry George, executive director of Oregonians in Action, said he would like to loosen restrictions on development of some rural lands to relieve pressures of growth on cities. But he also doubts that the Legislature will take any far-reaching steps this session. "We see this as a session where a lot of action may not be taken, but people are going to come together to work on some solutions," said George, whose group is based in Tigard. George said the state has protected nearly all rural lands, but not necessarily the best farmland, against development. Democrat Kitzhaber generally has opposed bills put forth the past two sessions, when Republicans have controlled the Legislature, to loosen state requirements for city and county plans. He has supported the 25-year-old system, which confines population within urban growth boundaries of cities and protects most rural lands for farming and forestry. "Today I think we are reaching the limits of regulation as a primary tool to manage growth," Kitzhaber said at a recent speech to the Salem City Club. "We've got a problem now of how we develop inside urban growth boundaries. There are two things Oregonians hate. They hate sprawl -- and they hate density." But Kitzhaber said the answer is not to loosen state restrictions, as has been proposed in many of the more than 100 bills introduced so far this session. "It's not that I am closed to any change in land-use laws," he said in an interview. "But we have a set of principles, and most of these bills loosen things up, make it easier to build houses on farmland and harder for local governments to enforce local land-use plans. "I am not going to go there. Everyone knows it." Instead Kitzhaber is advocating his "livability initiative," the outlines of which he unveiled during his re-election campaign last fall. He has proposed $140 million, mostly in bonds backed by lottery proceeds and gasoline taxes, to pay for community water and sewer lines and ways to relieve traffic congestion. Some of the money would go toward incentives for lower-cost housing and renovation of downtowns. Kitzhaber said he also supports efforts, such as those going on in Jackson County for more than three years, for some regions to shape their own planning. Commissioner Sue Kupillas said that is why she is not worried about changing state laws. "If we see there are specific changes we need to make in Jackson County, I think this is our avenue to do this," she said. "We do have legislation that says we can work outside the box if we come to the state with suggestions." Larry George said he's holding Kitzhaber to a pledge, made four years ago to then-Sen. Rod Johnson of Roseburg, to map rural lands that might be suitable for uses other than farming and forestry. Senate Bill 99, scheduled for 1 p.m. today in the Senate Water and Land Use Committee, would propose some definitions and require the state land-use agency to hire an outside contractor to map each county. George said a future Legislature would decide whether to open up those lands to other uses. "All we are trying to get to this session is for us to be able to find out what is on our rural lands, where our best soils are, where our farmers are farming and where our good forest lands are," he said. "Then we can come back next session and decide if they are good tests for `secondary lands' and whether more or less need to be approved." But even that two-stage process bothers advocates of Oregon's requirements. Porter Lombard of Medford, a horticulturalist and a retired Oregon State University Extension agent, said the bill would classify much of Jackson County's farmland in production as "secondary" because of soil quality. "Those are lands we use for orchards and vineyards," said Lombard, who's president of the Jackson County Citizens League, an affiliate of 1000 Friends of Oregon. "You do not need the most fertile soils for vineyards and orchards, particularly vineyards, because they do not have to be irrigated in Western Oregon. What these standards would allow is development of those lands." According to a 1000 Friends analysis of a similar bill in 1995, two-thirds to three-quarters of the 245,000 acres zoned for exclusive farm use in Jackson County could be designated as "secondary" and opened to development. The Legislature loosened some restrictions on less productive rural lands in 1993, and tightened protections for more productive lands, chiefly in the Willamette Valley. Dick Benner, director of the state Department of Land Conservation and Development, believes the 1993 law has worked. But he said he is concerned about legislation that would open up more rural land to development. "There will be a flood of new residences on farmland, and we can anticipate additional conflicts over farming practices," he said. "Conflicts are a growing problem for farmers, particularly outside metropolitan areas." According to county reports submitted to the state, counties approved 1,137 houses on farmland in 1994, 1,008 in 1995, 1,028 in 1996 and 1,258 in 1997. Counties approved 704 houses on forest land in 1994, 599 in 1995, 567 in 1996 and 436 in 1997. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA