Posted inLand use

2018 Bi-Mart Country Music Festival could bring 60,000 people to Ankeny Wildlife Refuge area

For 2018, Bi-Mart wants to move its annual Country Music Festival from Brownsville, Oregon to farmland adjacent to the Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge near Salem. [Update: the Statesman Journal has a story about the festival, "Willamette Country Music Festival's move to Marion County raises concerns about refuge." Here's how it starts off.] Organizers of the Bi-Mart Willamette Country Music Festival want to move the four-day event to Marion County and more than double its size, to as many as 60,000 attendees per day. But opposition is building over the proposed location: 692 acres of farmland bordering Ankeny National Wildlife Refuge,…
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Posted inCity Council Land use

Salem’s Dogwood Heights development stirs up neighborhood worries

Now that most of the easily buildable vacant land in Salem has been utilized for residential development, construction on the acreage that remains is bound to be more controversial.  This was clearly evident at last night's City Council meeting, which featured a lengthy hearing on the proposed Dogwood Heights subdivision near Croisan Creek Road and Madrona Avenue in south Salem.  I watched much of the hearing via the CCTV stream because my wife and I are looking into buying a house in the Salem city limits (currently we live in rural south Salem), and Dogwood Heights is in an area…
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Posted inCity of Salem Land use Third Bridge

Legal ruling deals the Third Bridge a huge setback

This is a great day for Salem. The billion dollar boondoggle known as the Salem River Crossing (or Third Bridge) got a big defeat in a ruling by the Land Use Board of Appeals. Congratulations to the eight petitioners and E.M. Easterly, who joined in their appeal. Also, kudos to Salem attorney John Gear who argued the appeal. I haven't read the ruling yet, as LUBA hasn't released it to the public. (The image above came from a No 3rd Bridge Facebook post.) UPDATE: I now have a copy of the ruling. A quick look-through shows that LUBA rejected most…
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Posted inLand use

SB 1024 is a rural residential nightmare which won’t produce more affordable housing

In every Oregon legislative session there are some land use bills introduced which make me think, "How the heck did this turkey legislation get hatched?" Case in point for 2017 is SB 1024, which I've heard is supposed to address the affordable housing crisis. Except, it doesn't. Not at all.  After reading the short bill, I'm convinced (along with many others) that SB 1024 is just the latest attempt to undermine Oregon's highly successful land use system.  It would double the number of dwellings allowed on rural residential lots and prohibit county regulators from preventing someone who already has a…
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