December 17, 2007
By RODGER NICHOLS
The Dalles Chronicle

The Columbia River Gorge Commission has had its share of epic policy fights — the Bea house, the View Point Inn, and the current Broughton Landing controversy among them. All of them are likely to pale in comparison to the battle looming between cities seeking to expand their boundaries to accommodate growth, and advocates determined to prevent any expansion.

Congress designated 13 cities and towns as Urban Areas: Cascade Locks, Hood River, Mosier and The Dalles, in Oregon; and Bingen, Carson, Dallesport, Home Valley, Lyle, North Bonneville, Stevenson, White Salmon and Wishram, in Washington. Together, those areas represent about 10 percent of the land inside the National Scenic Area.

The provisions of the National Scenic Act and the rules of the Gorge Commission do not apply inside those areas.

Now the two largest cities in the Gorge, The Dalles and Hood River, are preparing to file requests to increase the size of their urban exempt areas.

Any expansion on their part would remove land from the National Scenic Area, transferring control to the city.

That’s why the Gorge Commission devoted the bulk of its meeting Tuesday to a work session on the subject.

It’s not the first time the subject of boundaries has come before the commission, but the three previous cases were brought under a different section of the act, dealing with the correction of original mapping errors.

The applications planned by Hood River and The Dalles would be the first based on growth and economic development, and would invoke a different section of the National Scenic Act. Precedents set in the handling of the first application will affect all future applications on the subject.

“It’s important to get this right,” said commission chair Jeff Condit.

The cities will be invoking guidelines in the Management Plan based on Section 4 (f) (2) of the National Scenic Act. They allow the commission to revise the boundaries of an urban area only if it finds that:

• A demonstrable need exists to accommodate long-range urban population growth requirements or economic needs consistent with the Management Plan.

• Revision of Urban Area boundaries would be consistent with the purposes of the Scenic Area Act and the standards established in Section 6 of the Act.

• Revision of Urban Area boundaries would result in maximum efficiency of land uses within and on the fringe of existing Urban Areas.

• Revision of Urban Area boundaries would not result in the significant reduction of agricultural lands, forest lands, or open spaces.

Gorge Commission Planner Jennifer Kaden outlined six key issues commissioners will face in considering the application.

1. What’s the long-term view for urban area growth in the Gorge? That’s the essential question underlying the two purposes of the National Scenic Act — preservation of scenic, natural, cultural and recreation resources, and promoting economic growth.

2. What does “minor” mean? The National Scenic Area Act allows the commission to make minor adjustments in urban area boundaries, but does not define the term “major” adjustments would require, literally, an Act of Congress.

3. How do we ensure long-term protection of resources in an area that is going to be urbanized? Commissioners and staff struggled with this concept at Tuesday’s meeting, searching for a way to impose conditions on at least some parts of the land that would be absorbed by cities. One idea was a “doughnut hole” approach that would leave an island of scenic area control inside the urban area.

4. How much should we take into account neighboring urban areas? Some commissioners suggested that The Dalles and Dallesport urban areas — and Hood River, White Salmon and Bingen — should be considered as a single area for absorbing housing needs.

5. What should be the frequency and scope of reviews? Should the commission encourage small, frequent applications for adjustments, or less frequent applications for larger adjustments?

6. Are the rules currently in place good enough and should the state or the commission be first to review in the process? The latter half is a serious question. Oregon had land use laws in place prior to the National Scenic Area Act. The state required cities in the late 1970s and early 1980s to set up Urban Growth Boundaries similar to the Urban Exempt Areas of the Gorge Commission.

The UGBs were designed to provide cities with a 20-year supply of buildable land. The boundaries were similar to, but not exactly congruent with the Scenic Area’s urban area boundaries.

In order to expand, The Dalles and Hood River would each first have to apply to the respective county.

Then it’s uncertain whether the application should go first to the state or the commission.

Commission attorney Jeff Litwak told commissioners Tuesday that he has requested a formal opinion from the Oregon Attorney General, but has not yet received an answer.

“From an operational standpoint for cities and counties, to preserve public funds, it might be preferable for us to go first,” said chair Jeff Condit.

Commissioners also considered whether or not the commission had the authority to insist that urban areas infill to a certain density before allowing the boundaries to expand.

After lengthy discussion among commissioners, the public was given a chance to comment.

Pat Evenson-Brady, superintendent for Hood River County School District, made the following statement to the Gorge Commission:

“We have been looking for five years for land. In Hood River County, 77 percent of the land is either high-value ag land or in the National Scenic Area. There is a large chunk in a 3-mile growth buffer. We want a large enough parcel to co-locate schools, to share a parking lot, kitchens, etc.”

Evenson-Brady said the request for an expansion of Hood River’s urban growth area would involve two 10-acre parcels zoned RR-10.