Will Damascas be allowed to proceed unmolested?

In May, a city will decide whether it wants a canned, limited property rights future using the ubiquitous Smart Grown planning template, OR, if it wants the freedom to decide how to make its way on its own, trusting that their intelligence and desire to protect their home will be better than what outsiders think.  They don't need parents anymore - they never did.  It's their city.

Will Metro and the State have a fit and try to keep Damascus in line?  How do we get these governments that keep acting in ways we don't want?  What's in it for the Smart Growth promoters?  Why are they willing to sacrifice YOUR property rights for THEIR plans?  

The Northwest Connection
April 4, 2014

The Property Rights Plan for Damascus

(On the May ballot as Measure 3-444)

Steve Spinnett, Mayor of Damascus

It’s taken years to be able to navigate Metro’s rules, the state land use laws and still be able to come up with a property rights-friendly version of the state required Comprehensive Plan for the City of Damascus.

I believe we have done that, not just me but a team of us, my work group consists of a city councilor, two planning commissioners, citizens, our city legal team and AKS engineering along with our city planning staff.

It was particularly interesting to have a private sector civil engineering firm critique the work of the “government knows best” planning perspective. They found so many development code policies that simply were unworkable. This was all an education for me and made it worth the hundreds of hours of work we put into our version of the plan.

When our former planning director stated to those attending a town hall that what we want is a city that is planned out for the next 100 years, I thought here’s the agenda that ignores the current community’s rights and prefers an abstract ideal that ignores the market and will never materialize.