Land Use 101 Webinar

Have you ever wondered what makes Oregon such a special place to live? Thrive Hood River is excited to share this overview of Oregon’s unique land use planning system and how it works to preserve wild places and farmland, foster livable cities and rural areas, and prevent urban sprawl. Speaker Greg Holmes shares information about the history, processes, and goals of Oregon’s land use program, which is the core of Thrive’s work.

Greg Holmes is the Food Systems Program Director and Southern Oregon Advocate of 1000 Friends of Oregon since 2002 and coordinates their statewide Food Systems Program, working with farmers and other partners to build equitable and sustainable food systems throughout Oregon. Greg holds a Masters degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Oregon. Prior to joining 1000 Friends, Greg spent more than 15 years in the energy policy field, including ratepayer advocacy and helping clients identify energy efficiency investment strategies. He has also done transportation advocacy work and has served as a board member or consultant to several nonprofit organizations.

The webinar was originally presented on October 12 and included a Q & A period. Greg was able to get to all the questions but one, here is his answer to that:

Question: What is the way to deal with the lack of enforcement of local planning regulations? This allows some to “get their way” knowing that enforcement is not going to happen.

Greg: There are two major components of “enforcement” of local planning regulations: there are folks that get permits and then violate the terms or conditions of those permits, and there are folks who just don’t bother to get permits and start doing things without them. Both result in illegal activities, often causing conflict with neighbors.

Just as with implementation, enforcement of land use regulations falls to the local government–the County or the City. Unfortunately, some jurisdictions would rather not do the enforcement. Others might be interested, but don’t have the funding to staff enforcement (which could be a reflection of political will also, since the same decision-makers control department budgets). As a result, most counties rely on receiving complaints before they will take any action. Some counties allow anonymous complaints. Others do not or cannot guarantee that the name of the person filing the complaint will remain confidential–which can suppress the number of complaints filed.

You can find out if an activity has a permit, and what the conditions of the permit are, by contacting your local planning department. Once you know the facts, the best way to deal with violations is to file a complaint. You can find out how on the website or by calling the planning department. If they don’t take action, go public: go comment at the public meetings for your decision-makers, or if the violations are many or are really causing visible problems go to the media.