The Plan includes the Kruse Way Employment area and Lake Grove Town Center on the maps on Sections 5, 7, 8, and 10. The circles represent employment areas and the white are neighborhoods - I presume that means housing. In other maps and plans, Kruse Way becomes its own urban, mixed use
area with dense housing and shops to fit a specific typology (types of station communities).
Look over the Plan projects and then flip to the section that follows that shows the listing of projects and which entity will "own" which project. Lake Oswego's share include a pathway along Iron Mountain Rd., the Boones Ferry Rd. improvements through the Lake Grove Town Center, sidewalks asking Carmen Drive and Bonita Rd. and others. In previous renditions of this chart there were estimated costs for each project and how the funding might come together. What happened to this version? It was a lot more detailed and helpful than this one.
What I especially like about this document is that the steering committee is judging each project, site and form of transportation on their list of criteria - presumably to get a more objective result. The list of criteria reads like a definition of a Transit a oriented Development or station community that is a 20-minute neighborhood - all part of the same ideology with differing names. Of course, the criteria is "flexible", so whatever they want in the end is what they will get.
Study this document and ask your local City Councilors the hard questions about how LO is going to comply with one more Metro Central Planning scheme if asked. The heat is being turned up and it's getting mighty warm in here.
When one looks at these maps, it appears that communities having a voice in their own development is a thing of the past. The Progressives in their committees (with former Mayor Judie in a role) will decide what is best for us.
ReplyDeleteMetro appears to be a stealth unelected government. It'll decide what we need and how we get it. We just get to pay.
Reading through the project list, it appears to be an environmentalist's dream. Remove fish barriers galore even in remote places. Some "do gooder" took a walk along a stream and made up a perfect world which Metro is now going to implement. Oh, great. To "save" 5 fish annually we are going to spend half a million.
The key question is: what can be done to get Metro under control and sever their financial ability to do this stuff?
There are a couple of example of communities that are fighting Metro for independent control. Damascus incorporated as a city in order to have MORE control over their area's future but found that Metro had their ideas for them that weren't compatible. A group formed to disincorporate the city and go back to being in unincorporated Clackamas County. I don't know what the current status is for Damascus. There is a group in Tigard that has collected enough signatures to get a measure on the ballot in March to require a vote for any rail project in their city. I'm not sure of the details, but Metro is very worried that one city can ruin their plans for a light rail from a Portland to Sherwood and perhaps to Newberg in the future. So far, the best way to stop some of Metro's land use demands may be to change out city charter. This can be done by the council on their own, orlike
ReplyDeleteTigard, by a group of citizens willing to do the work to make it happen. And then there are our Community Development Codes. Get those changed and we don't have to shoot ourselves in the foot with massive buildings in places they don't belong.
Thinking and reading a bit makes me wonder where Metro finds authority to be working on fish barriers and wilderness trails. What does that have to do with transportation? what does building high density housing, for example, have to do with transportation?
ReplyDeleteState land use planning goals include protections for natural resources.
ReplyDeleteTransit is the vehicle that drives density -that and OPM.
Up Sucker Creek, 'tis my understanding, the Legislature created METRO; therefore, it appears the primary means to limit METRO's control may rest with the Legislature.
ReplyDeleteRegrettably, don't sense a citizen initiative is possible to rein in or eliminate METRO.
So far, the desire is just in our thoughts and hearts. Action is needed!
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