Help Protect Oreon's Land Use — Support These Key Bills! |
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If you have not had an opportunity to view the film, the Oregon story, there are now a full-length and 25-minute version. Links to both are on our website www.anoregonstory.com. Oregon is a great place for farming and we all want to keep it that way. One very important factor in the success of Oregon agriculture is our unique land-use planning program. l’m eternally grateful to the farsighted and dedicated Oregon leaders, farmers and concerned citizens who created this program that has protected our fertile farmland from urban sprawl for more than 50 years. I’ve made my living growing nursery stock here in south Clackamas County for over 40 years and, instead of being surrounded by strip malls and subdivisions, my neighbors raise cattle and grow blueberries, hazelnuts, and vegetables. Protecting our farmland has not been easy. There have been many challenges over the years and development pressure continues. Country estates with large, expensive homes and large scale “home occupations” like hotels and body shops, have made the land far too expensive for farming and increased the prices of farmland overall. This year, for the first time, we have the opportunity to reverse this trend. Several important bills have been introduced in the current legislative session to strengthen and improve the rules that govern development on our precious agricultural land. Please show your support for protecting Oregon’s fertile farmland! Email committee members and request their support for Senate Bills 73, 77, 78, and 79. Your email is very important to show broad support for these bills. Below are brief descriptions of the bills and the email addresses of the members of the Senate Natural Resources and Wildfire Committee, which will be considering these bills. If you click here, you will see a sample letter — the one I sent to committee members. Feel free to personalize it and use it. When you write to the committee members, it’s good to copy Senator Golden, the committee chair. Thank you for helping keep Oregon farmers growing food and other crops for years to come! Jim Gilbert MEMBERS OF SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES AND WILDFIRE COMMITTEE Sen. Golden — sen.jeffgolden [at] oregonlegislature.gov Below is a brief summary of four bills that will soon have a hearing before the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire. 1) SB 78: Replacement Dwelling Reform. Stops the conversion of agricultural and forest land for luxury residential development through “replacement” dwellings. 2) SB 77: Home Occupation Reform. Closes the loophole that allows large-scale hospitality and entertainment facilities being approved on land designated for agricultural and timber production. 3) SB 73: Spot Zoning Reform. Stops the case-by-case rezoning of individual ag and forest properties to residential and industrial 4) SB 79: Non-resource Dwelling Reform. Prohibits new houses that have nothing to do with agriculture or forest management from being built in critical groundwater areas, priority wildlife habitat and migration corridors, and on high value farmland. |
