Deschutes County commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a provision protecting the Cyrus family’s resort development plans as reported by Hillary Borrud of the Bulletin. The ordinance will leave the Aspen Lakes subdivision on the resort zone map, which will preserve the family’s opportunity to attempt to convert its golf course and subdivision into a destination resort.

In its July 2010 issue, Oregon Business editor Robin Doussard discusses the issue of destination resorts and their uncertain future. The article's an interesting read, containing comments from a variety of stakeholders.

Adding to an already controversial effort to remap county lands and rewrite county policies for destination resorts, the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners recently proposed two additional amendments AFTER the close of public comments.

On March 1, 2010 LandWatch submitted the following comments expressing mostly opposition to (and disappointment with) the Board of Commissioners' direction to expand the destination resort zone to include new properties instead of, as had previously been discussed, shrinking the map considerably in an effort to address extreme public opposition to destination resorts.

Attached are LandWatch's comments to the Deschutes County Planning Commission regarding our concern with destination resorts and further policy direction aimed at accommodating the industry and increasing development options rather than dealing with the problems that have created by current resort policy and existing developments/proposals.

Just a quick note for now, but the Metolius Protection Act has now passed the full Oregon Legislature (31-28) and is on its way to the Governor's desk to be signed into law. A full update will follow soon with details on what this means and how the vote came down.

For those of you that haven't heard, House Bill 2228 to save the Skyline Forest has also passed the full Legislature. We've put tremendous effort into each of these bills and will be back with more details soon.

This is a proud moment for us personally, and for all of Central Oregon. Thanks to everyone who made this happen!

Central Oregon LandWatch is pleased to announce the completion of our in-depth analysis of the costs and benefits of destination resorts in Oregon. This report, entitled, "Fiscal and Economic Impacts of Destination Resorts in Oregon," which was performed by the consulting firm Fodor & Associates out of Eugene, OR represents the best effort to date to assess the impacts of destination resorts in Oregon.

Although the report's primary focus is on fiscal impacts of destination resorts affecting local governments and taxpayers, it also addresses economic impacts related to jobs creation and affordable housing. The most fundamental question that this report seeks to answer is, "How will the approval of a destination resort affect local taxpayers and the general public?"

This Saturday, February 28th at 11:00 am, Oregon's House Committee on Land Use will be holding its first hearing of the 2009 legislative session on statewide destination resort policy at the Deschutes County Fairgrounds. Specifically, the committee will be taking testimony on House Bill 2227 which was drafted by the Department of Land Conservation and Development at the request of the Governor.

On Wednesday October 15th, the Department of Land Conservation and Development - in conjunction with a Subcommittee of the Oregon House Interim Committee on Agriculture and National Resources - will hold an informational hearing on the topic of destination resorts. This may be the only field hearing on this topic prior to the 2009 legislative session, so if you have views to express regarding destination resorts, this is the time to do it.

The meeting will be held on Wednesday October 15th at 3:00 at the Prineville City Hall at 387 NE 3rd Street Prineville, OR 97754. The hearing will include a DLCD presentation summarizing current destination resort law and the department's proposed 2009 legislative concept regarding destination resorts. For additional information contact Doug White at 541-318-8193 or by e-mail at doug.white@state.or.us.

If you have concerns about destination resorts, it's critical to let DLCD and the legislative committee know so that they can have an opportunity to consider whether or not to incorporate them in planned legislation. For DLCD's full agenda, see the attachment below.

LandWatch and Friends of the Metolius (FOM) filed their opening brief to the Oregon Court of Appeals on March 24, arguing that the approval of destination resort zones around the Metolius is improper.

Working for the Native Restoration Fund of Vulcan Power Company, Mark Yinger of Mark Yinger Associates, along with Laura Strauss of Northwest Land & Water, recently a rigorous assessment of the hydrological impacts of destination resorts with particular emphasis placed on the proposed Thornburgh development. The report is entitled, "A Case Study: Thornburgh Resort Water Resources Impact Evaluation (Upper Deschutes Basin, Oregon)"

Due the report's large size, we've broken it up into several files including an executive summary, the body of the report, tables, figures (broken out by different sections) and finally appendices. All are attached to the bottom of this post.

As we've mentioned in previous posts (here and here) when Governor Kulongoski threatened to veto SB 30 last June, he did so with a promise - that he would task ODF&W, OWRD, and DEQ with addressing causes for concern created by large-scale destination resorts near the Metolius and ask them to evaluate whether or not existing law could address those concerns.

Recently, LandWatch received letters from DEQ and ODF&W via the Governor's office, and just this morning, we received OWRD's letter as well, albeit through unofficial channels. Each is attached to this post below.

Though the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) in a February 11, 2008 decision acknowledged that destination resorts proposed for the Metolius area could have the impact of small cities and ruled that Jefferson County needed to reassess impacts to wildlife, LUBA failed to recognize the need for protection of other natural resources of the Metolius, including its heart, the Headwaters of the Metolius.

On Monday, March 3, Central Oregon LandWatch along with Friends of the Metolius appealed to the Oregon Court of Appeals the LUBA determinations that:

When Governor Kulongoski submitted a letter to Diane Rosenbaum, Chair of the House Rules Committee, on June 22nd of last year, in what amounted to a veto of Senate Bill 30, he did so because he remained unconvinced that the state's land use system wasn't up to the task of protecting the Metolius Basin from the impacts of destination resorts. His appeal was to let the process play itself out.

When the Oregonian published an editorial on June 10th titled, "Yes, This River Must Be saved," that paper's editorial board asked whether Oregon could protect the precious Metolius River without subverting its land-use system and water laws.

Earlier this week, after receiving a State Land Use Board of Appeals decision (attached below), and a letter from the Governor's office, LandWatch's longstanding assertion that the state lacks clear authority to protect the Metolius and its basin and that new solutions are needed was confirmed.