Protect farmland for farm use!
LandWatch is challenging Deschutes County's decision to convert farmland into industrial use.
The farmlands of northern Deschutes County produce alfalfa, Timothy grass, and orchard grass. These lands are suited to raise goats, cattle, and horses, as well as grow lavender and other specialty crops. Across Central Oregon, our farms don’t just provide us with local food; they are also the bedrock of our iconic pastoral landscapes. One small farm in this area adjacent to Highway 97 has been growing alfalfa for decades, surrounded by neighboring farms and a small children's school, with the Cascade Range visible in the distance.
LandWatch has appealed Deschutes County's decision to rezone this farmland from exclusive farm use to industrial use.
Rezoning farmland for industrial use.
Last month, Deschutes County approved a proposal to rezone this property for industrial use.
This proposed industrial zone would conditionally allow plastics manufacturing, pulp and paper manufacturing, metal fabrication, and petroleum storage and distribution. These uses are wholly incompatible with the quiet rural nature of the surrounding farms and mixed-use agriculture. The effects of the decision on the environment, including groundwater, were not evaluated.
On behalf of its members, LandWatch has appealed Deschutes County's decision to the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA).
Our hope is that LUBA will reverse the County's decision. We want the County to reconsider changing the designation of this farmland to industrial use.
State and local land use laws only permit industrial use on land outside urban growth boundaries in rare circumstances. For example, a sawmill may be permitted near a site of timber production, or industrial use may be permitted to continue on rural lands that were zoned for industry in the past. None of those criteria are met here.
There is no need to convert farmland to industrial use when land already zoned for industrial use is available inside the urban growth boundaries of Bend, Redmond, Madras, and Prineville.
Given the incompatibility of industrial use with the surrounding farms, the County has not adequately considered the adverse consequences of this decision on local community members. LandWatch is fighting to keep industrial use within nearby cities and towns and to preserve Central Oregon's farmland for farm use.
Goal 6 Oregon's land use system has nineteen statewide planning goals. Goal 6 is to protect the state's lands, air, and waters from environmental pollution. Pursuant to Goal 6, waste and process discharges from future development may not threaten to violate state or federal environmental quality standards. Landwatch's appeal to LUBA addresses the County's failure to adequately evaluate the environmental effects of the approved industrial zone, which could cause harm to nearby surface waters, groundwater, and surrounding wells.
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