Regional policy makers have spent
considerable time over the past year looking at maps of
the Metro area, and making comments about where they
should - and shouldn’t - develop. As they make
determinations about what lands should be protected for
the next 40 or 50 years, one thing has become abundantly
clear.
No elected official wants to talk about French Prairie.
After what seems like countless hours in meetings at Clackamas County and Metro, we have heard fewer than five minutes of discussion from policy makers about the area south of the Willamette River. This is a disservice to the process.
It’s not a matter of having the discussion simply to forge controversy. But while the I-5/99W connector issue gets debated – as it should – we believe the rural designation of French Prairie has just as much impact to the local area.
This rural designation means that the property cannot be developed, divided, rezoned or changed in any land-use sense for the next 40 years. Forty years and not one high-level Metro discussion about the property. Not a peep from the Clackamas County Commissioners in a public hearing in the last two months.
It has received its rural designation, and that, it would seem, is that.
Yet, not everyone has the same inclination. The revelation of a recent Klamath Tribe letter and vote that would put at least 385 acres of the French Prairie into development merits attention. Elected officials must examine the impact such an agreement would create. There are questions that need to be answered.
If the southern Oregon tribes are able to place the Maletis properties into trust, they will not be required to pay property taxes or follow Oregon land use laws. This is troubling.
We question whether the efforts of Clackamas County commissioners to fight the Klamath’s efforts ultimately will be successful. If they cannot stop the development, it could mean millions of dollars in lost property tax revenue, not to mention absolutely no say in what the tribes choose to develop on the property.
Metro councilors need to ask themselves: Is the Maletis property an island? Tom and Chris Maletis think so. It has a regional airport to the south, a residential development to the north, and three thoroughfares running through it. It has transportation infrastructure, location and one land owner.
It’s a large enough area for campus-style development and even the state of Oregon is split on whether it should be developed.
Only Business Oregon has broken from other state agencies in suggesting the area be considered for development.
A rural designation will not prevent the Maletis’ property from the development of the Klamath Tribes. We expect to see a legal battle that could last a decade. But when the dust settles, it’s very possible the tribes will get what they want, and we will see that property developed in our lifetime.
To have any control at all, elected officials from Metro, Clackamas County and the city of Wilsonville must consider at least talking to both current and potential property owners. They must keep an open mind in the process, rather than the blanket “no” it seems they’ve delivered.
The city of Wilsonville already proved that patience and determination pays off. It took 15 years to develop the Fred Meyer property, but both the city and Fred Meyer, along with state transportation officials, inked a deal that seemed to make everybody happy.
French Prairie deserves more than perfunctory comments at the end of a meeting. Taxpayers on both sides of the debate deserve more.
Simply ignoring it will not make it go away.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
No elected official wants to talk about French Prairie.
After what seems like countless hours in meetings at Clackamas County and Metro, we have heard fewer than five minutes of discussion from policy makers about the area south of the Willamette River. This is a disservice to the process.
It’s not a matter of having the discussion simply to forge controversy. But while the I-5/99W connector issue gets debated – as it should – we believe the rural designation of French Prairie has just as much impact to the local area.
This rural designation means that the property cannot be developed, divided, rezoned or changed in any land-use sense for the next 40 years. Forty years and not one high-level Metro discussion about the property. Not a peep from the Clackamas County Commissioners in a public hearing in the last two months.
It has received its rural designation, and that, it would seem, is that.
Yet, not everyone has the same inclination. The revelation of a recent Klamath Tribe letter and vote that would put at least 385 acres of the French Prairie into development merits attention. Elected officials must examine the impact such an agreement would create. There are questions that need to be answered.
If the southern Oregon tribes are able to place the Maletis properties into trust, they will not be required to pay property taxes or follow Oregon land use laws. This is troubling.
We question whether the efforts of Clackamas County commissioners to fight the Klamath’s efforts ultimately will be successful. If they cannot stop the development, it could mean millions of dollars in lost property tax revenue, not to mention absolutely no say in what the tribes choose to develop on the property.
Metro councilors need to ask themselves: Is the Maletis property an island? Tom and Chris Maletis think so. It has a regional airport to the south, a residential development to the north, and three thoroughfares running through it. It has transportation infrastructure, location and one land owner.
It’s a large enough area for campus-style development and even the state of Oregon is split on whether it should be developed.
Only Business Oregon has broken from other state agencies in suggesting the area be considered for development.
A rural designation will not prevent the Maletis’ property from the development of the Klamath Tribes. We expect to see a legal battle that could last a decade. But when the dust settles, it’s very possible the tribes will get what they want, and we will see that property developed in our lifetime.
To have any control at all, elected officials from Metro, Clackamas County and the city of Wilsonville must consider at least talking to both current and potential property owners. They must keep an open mind in the process, rather than the blanket “no” it seems they’ve delivered.
The city of Wilsonville already proved that patience and determination pays off. It took 15 years to develop the Fred Meyer property, but both the city and Fred Meyer, along with state transportation officials, inked a deal that seemed to make everybody happy.
French Prairie deserves more than perfunctory comments at the end of a meeting. Taxpayers on both sides of the debate deserve more.
Simply ignoring it will not make it go away.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml