Valuable Insight - Tom Landis, Camp Sherman

[Sent to Senators Walker, Westlund, Metsger, Morse, and Kruse]:

Having driven all the way over the mountains to Salem from Central Oregon, I was disappointed that I did not get a chance to testify at the hearing for SB 30, which would prohibit destination resorts in the Metolius Basin. Furthermore, I feel that the opponents of the bill and the two developers received an inordinate amount of time to support their positions, since, by the time they had finished, proponents of the bill only had seven minutes left to testify. On thursday there is another hearing. Hopefully, those of us who support this important piece of legislation will have a chance to have our say.

I feel that I could have provided valuable insight to the committee, since I have been intimately involved with Metolius Basin land use issues for over 15 years. I was appointed to Jefferson County's Local Advisory Committee (LAC) for Camp Sherman in 1993 and served for 12 years, first as a member and then for five years as chairman. If you want a long perspective on the sometimes Byzantine ways that land use decisions are made and carried out in this county, I'm your man.

It has been my experience, over the years that I have been involved with land use issues in Camp Sherman, that Jefferson County seldom listens to the people of this community. Time and time again our community has spoken through our LAC, the committee tasked by the county commissioners themselves to give them advice. Almost every time we gave them advice on a substantive issue, they ignored it. I am not exaggerating. They asked us for advice. We gave them that advice. They ignored us. They just do not get the concept that the outstandingly unique natural values of this basin are more important than the interests of the developers they favor. We who live here in the Metolius Basin believe we have a better feel for what is best for the basin than the politicians and planners way over in Madras, not just for ourselves, but for all the Oregonians who cherish this area.

In my experience, at least where the Metolius is concerned, the county does not act in a responsible way, until and unless the state forces them to do something. During the 1990's this happened time and time again. In 1993 the state demanded that the county bring zoning in Camp Sherman into compliance with Planning Goal 14. In 1994, using the excuse that they just did not have the resources to rewrite the zoning ordinance, Jefferson County asked us (the LAC) to write our own zoning ordinance, promising that they would accept whatever we came up with as long as it was acceptable to the state. What we came up with was was a good ordinance, acceptable to the state. The county didn't like our ordinance, so they changed it substantially, negating the hard work of their own citizens. Of course, what they eventually submitted was unacceptable to the state. After a time consuming and difficult mediation process, the zoning ordinance that was finally enacted in 1997 was practically identical to the one we had submitted to them in the first place. What a huge amount of time, energy and money could have been saved if they had only listened to us the first time around.

When Jefferson county realized recently that they were getting left behind on the "destination resort bandwagon", lo and behold, they suddenly found the resources to completely rewrite the existing comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance. They did go through the motions of a public input process and, to their credit, they did make some changes. However, on the most contentious issues, one of which is destination resorts, they refused to budge when faced with overwhelming public opposition. In the recent senate committee hearing they lauded themselves repeatedly for jumping through all the correct procedural hoops. They would rather spend a lot more time and taxpayers' money litigating this issue through the state's land use board of appeals (LUBA) because they think they have done everything right.

Jefferson County's process for enacting their new destination resort map, comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance has at least one major flaw, however. Zoning ordinances are supposed to be supported by a comprehensive plan and that comp plan is supposed to be supported by detailed resource analyses. There was no resource analysis done to support either the comprehensive plan or destination resort map that are now in the appeals process. The comprehensive plan is based on no current observable data. Nobody knows what conditions are on the ground today in the areas mapped for destination resorts. Whatever assumptions it makes are based on data that is over 20 years old. I know from personal observation that a large elk herd roams regularly over the property mapped for destination resort designation and there is not one word in any analysis to indicate that this land is in big game habitat. Obviously, much can and has changed over 20 years. Methods and sophistication of data collection have improved dramatically. This major flaw in the process of Jefferson County's attempt to so radically and quickly change their whole planning scheme is a dramatic example of why they cannot be trusted with land use planning in an area as sensitive and fragile as the Metolius Basin.

In conclusion, I am in favor of SB 30's passage, as is and without any amendments. The above examples are but a few of many very frustrating land use controversies I went through with Jefferson County. The Metolius is just too precious a resource to have it's fate decided by a county, that by its own admission, is motivated more by financial desire and the interests of developers than concern for such a special place. There is a strong need and ample precedent for the state to make the decision that there will be no destination resorts situated in or near the Metolius Basin. If you agree with me, please contact state senators Vickie Walker, Rick Metsger and Ben Westlund to communicate your support for bringing this bill out of committee to the floor of the full senate. Better yet, attend the hearing April 26th in Salem

Sincerely,
Thomas Landis