Our Land Use Laws Won't Address This Issue - Andrea Scharf, Yachats

Dear Representative:

I am a resident of Yachats, but I spend a lot of time in Central Oregon, and I have been doing so for more than forty years. This beautiful region needs the protection of SB 30 or it will be one more area which we can tell our grandchildren about, but which they will never experience for themselves--unless, of course, they are among the lucky few to be able to afford to live in an exclusive, expensive community where they can play golf on what used to be a forest.

I am also a member of a water quality monitoring project on the Yachats River and I am acutely aware of the threat development poses to water supplies in Oregon, west and east of the Cascades. In addition to simply being sublimely beautiful, the Metolius and the many other springs in that area must be protected or even our rich grandchildren will find their golf courses drying up in the summer! Not to mention the fish that thrive in those cold clear waters, and the people who fish there, hike there, or just sit there and enjoy the peace of a place that isn't "developed." I've watched the Bend area change dramatically in the past ten years and I have to ask--how many more exclusive "units" do we need? How many golf courses? How can we justify destroying natural resources for developments that could be built anywhere?

The efforts of proponents of this development to confuse the issue by offering a ludicrous amendment to "protect the Metolius" by developing around it should be seen for what they are--greed and disregard for ordinary people.

Our current land use policies will not adequately address the issues posed by this development, which is why it is so critical to pass SB 30 as it is written. I hope that you will support this legislation and vote for SB 30.

Thank you for your attention.
Sincerely,
Andrea M. Scharf
Yachats OR