Protecting farmland, preventing sprawl
LandWatch wins at the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals!
If you visited a produce stand in Central Oregon this past summer, you likely came across local vegetables, herbs, and seeds grown every year in Jefferson County.
With 397 operating farms, Jefferson County is home to the most productive agricultural land in Central Oregon. The region’s shallow, well-drained soil makes it a particularly good region for growing vegetable seeds. Agriculture is a $67 million industry and a predominant source of income and employment across the County.
Unfortunately, we are losing working farmland across the state of Oregon every year as more rural lands are facing pressures from industrial, commercial, and residential development.
Protecting farm land for farm use
We need to protect Central Oregon’s farmland from unnecessary sprawl. Luckily, when they are enforced, Oregon’s state land-use laws were designed to do just that.
This past summer, LandWatch joined forces with the Jefferson County Farm Bureau to defend farmland threatened by unnecessary expanded development. In June, we filed an appeal with the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA), asking them to review a decision made by Jefferson County to allow the City of Metolius to convert 67 acres of prime farmland into urban land by expanding their urban growth boundary.
An aerial image of the City of Metolius captured from Google
On October 6, 2021, we got good news.
The Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) issued a decision in favor of Central Oregon LandWatch! That means 67 acres of farmland remain protected for farm use! Read the press release here.
The City of Metolius, a small city with 830 people with an area of about 200 acres, lies four miles southwest of Madras near Lake Billy Chinook. Last year, the City applied to expand its urban growth boundary by 67 acres, and Jefferson County approved the application.
The majority of the land in question was irrigated farmland that stood to lose protections under Exclusive Farm Use zoning, which protects land for farm use and limits most commercial and residential development.
How does a UGB expansion Affect farmland?
When farmland is brought into an urban growth boundary, it becomes eligible for commercial, industrial, or residential development. When a city seeks to expand its urban growth boundary, state law requires it demonstrate a need for more land to accommodate forecasted population growth. In this case, LandWatch was concerned that there was no demonstrated need for more land in the City of Metolius to accommodate growth.
LandWatch and the Jefferson County Farm Bureau filed an appeal out of concern that the Urban Growth Boundary expansion violated Oregon state land use law designed to protect farmland from unnecessary development and sprawl.
LandWatch was concerned about both the potential loss of farmland in Jefferson County, and for the precedent it could have set for cities and towns across Central Oregon and the state - allowing expansion onto neighboring agricultural land without any need.
“The City of Metolius is growing slower than forecasted and has no need to expand onto productive farmland. We’re happy LUBA agreed that Oregon land use law only allows urban growth boundary expansions when needed to accommodate population growth. This decision saves 67 acres of farmland and prevents unneeded urban sprawl.”
Such arbitrary UGB expansions result in the very things that Oregon land use law was created to prevent: unnecessary loss of wildlife habitat, agricultural land, and open space.
A lavender farm in bloom near Madras, Oregon.
Our mission at LandWatch’s is to make certain Oregon’s land use and environmental law is upheld. Our role as a watchdog organization is to protect rural landscapes, wildlife habitat, and farmland for generations to come. For now, in Jefferson County, those values ring true.
““Oregon’s land use system is only as strong as the watchdog efforts to enforce it. We applaud LUBA’s decision that protects vital agricultural land and reminds Oregon’s cities and counties that efforts to undermine land use laws will not be tolerated.” ”