Governor's letter takes aim at bill

Governor John Kitzhaber has told the legislature he won't support "legislative entitlements for specific development projects, particularly where there is no demonstrated public benefit and no opportunity for local input."

That stricture would seem to include Representative Gene Whisnant's House Bill 3372, which would exempt the proposed 1,500-acre "Cyrus Heritage Farm" destination resort development at Aspen Lakes from city or county land use planning control.

On April 5, Governor John Kitzhaber sent a letter to both the Speaker of the House and the President of the state Senate entitled "Statement of Principles on Land Use Legislation." (The full text of the letter accompanies the online version of this story at www.nuggetnews.com.)

In the letter, the Governor said, "A large number of bills relating to Oregon's statewide land use planning system have been introduced in this session. As you know, economic development and job creation are key priorities for everyone during this severe recession. ... I firmly believe that our land use system contributes to the economic health of the state."

However, the Governor states that he will not support what he characterizes as "attacks on the core elements of our state and local land use program."

As far as the Cyrus Heritage Farm bill goes, it may be a moot point.

By April 8 all bills that were expected to move forward in this legislative session were to be scheduled for committee review. By April 21 the committees are to make a recommendation for which bills are to be considered by the full house. As of the April 8 deadline, HB 3372 had not yet received a public hearing and was not found on any committee review agendas.

Since its introduction of HB 3372 in February, there has been a lively local debate over the merits of this bill, which would require the developer to pay local area schools and wildlife groups each time a building permit was issued for the proposed 495 new homes.

Deschutes County Planner Nick Lelack and Deschutes County Commissioner Tammy Baney have both upheld the county's position that they would remain neutral on HB 3372 even though it largely cuts the county out of the loop for land use planning decisions on either the Cyrus Heritage Farms development or housing development proposed for Sunriver in a similar bill.

"Both properties are already mapped on the county's destination resort map. The process for getting permits for their projects is clear and well-defined," said Baney.