Rural and Small Community Planning

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Rural and Small Community Planning
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Small Communities - Big Challenges

• Community identity at the confluence of land use
  decisions
• Maintaining small community scale
• Effect of development, big and small
• Providing public facilities and services

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Planning Commissions in the Spotlight

• Create a community discovery process
• Articulate the communitys values and aspirations
• Inspire support for sound planning
• Bridge technical and social issues
• Buffer the planning function from political
  pressure

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Defining Oregon Communities

• How small is small?
• 25,000
• 10,000
• 5,000
• 2,500
• Land use laws vary
• Incorporated v. unincorporated
• Administrative Rule (OAR 660 Div. 22)

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City Size Determines Rules

• Transportation Planning Rule (TPR) exempts cities
  under 25,000 from most stringent requirements
  (transit, etc.)
• Cities lt10,000 may request complete exemption
• Requirements for buildable lands analysis less
  stringent for cities under 25,000
• Safe Harbor method established for buildable
  lands analysis
• Very small cities (lt2,500) exempt from public
  facility plan and housing diversity requirements

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Cities in Oregon

• 242 incorporated cities (25 Metro area)
• 18 over 25,000 pop
• 224 less than 25,000
• League of Oregon Cities, small 5,000
• 169 less than 5,000
• 139 less than 2,500
• 87 less than 1,000

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Unincorporated Communities

• 403 unincorporated communities
• Predominantly rural
• Dwellings, public uses, commercial, industrial
• Some urban unincorporated communities
• Generally treated as cities w/o UGBs

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Rural Communities

• "Rural Community" - an unincorporated community
  consisting of permanent residential dwellings
  with at least two other land uses providing
  commercial, industrial, or public uses to the
  community, the surrounding rural area, or to
  persons traveling through the area.
• "Resort Community" - an unincorporated community
  that was established primarily for and continues
  to be used primarily for recreation or resort
  purposes and
• Includes residential and commercial uses and
• Provides for both temporary and permanent
  residential occupancy, including overnight
  lodging and accommodations.
• "Rural Service Center" - an unincorporated
  community consisting primarily of commercial or
  industrial uses providing goods and services to
  the surrounding rural area or to persons
  traveling through the area, but which also
  includes some permanent residential dwellings.

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Urban Communities

• "Urban Unincorporated Community" is an
  unincorporated community which has the following
  characteristics
• Includes at least 150 permanent residential
  dwellings units (about 375 pop)
• Contains a mixture of land uses, including three
  or more public, commercial or industrial land
  uses
• Includes areas served by a community sewer
  system and
• Includes areas served by a community water system.

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Same Size, Different Rules

• Cities and counties must plan for the next 20
  years, allocating land uses for housing and
  employment
• Cities have greater self-determination than
  unincorporated communities
• Small cities expected to grow (UGBs)
• Counties do unincorporated community planning
• Focus is containing future growth

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Small City Planning

• Anita Yap, Community Development Director
• City of Damascus, Oregon

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Small City Planning Commissions

• Relationships
• Between planning commissioners
• With staff
• With council
• With community
• With applicants

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Nuts and Bolts

• Policy Implementation versus
• Policy Development
• When appropriate
• Deciding to do policy development
• PC subcommittees
• Effective working groups
• Protocol and process

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Kinds of Decisions

• Quasi-judicial versus
• Legislative Matters
• When these occur

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Fair Consideration

• Bias and Prejudgement
• How to avoid it
• Rules of thumb
• Rules of Engagement
• In and outside the hearings room
• Ex-parte contacts
• Quorums, deliberation testimony

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Expertise/Assistance

• COGs
• County
• League of Oregon Cities
• www.orcities.org
• DLCD
• ERT governors office
• Local elected officials
• Chamber of commerce

• Educational institutions schools, community
  college, universities
• RARE volunteers
• Local service clubs
• Churches
• Training/conferences
• publications/seminars

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Money/Grants

• DLCD
• Technical assistance
• Periodic review
• Coastal management
• Small city/county
• Dispute resolution
• TGM
• ODOT
• Transportation enhancements
• Bike/ped grants
• Demonstration projects congestion reduction
• Safe routes to schools
• Other capital projects

• EPA Smart Growth
• Community Development Block Grants
• LOC website
• Arts
• Public works grants
• Transportation
• Public safety
• Energy
• Parks and recreation
• Private foundations
• Meyer memorial, Ford foundation, Bill Melinda
  Gates foundation

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Whose Future is it Anyway?

• Options and opportunities in towns you can get
  your arms around
• Direct community involvement
• Planning Commission and special committees
• County citizen involvement groups
• Local economic development groups
• Community Development Corporations
• Churches, schools, service organizations
• Corporate sponsorship

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Community Action Plans

• Integrate social goals with physical development
  objectives
• Land use planning plays a strategic part (vision)
• Focus on concrete results
• Ongoing community commitment to plan
• Chiloquin Visions in Progress
• www.chiloquin.com/CVIP.html
• http//www.chiloquin.com/
• CVIPAreaPlan.pdf

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Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,
committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, its the only thing that ever
has. - Margaret Mead