MINUTES OF THE METRO COUNCIL GROWTH MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Tuesday, June 8, 1999

Council Chamber

Members Present:  Susan McLain (Chair), Rod Park, Rod Monroe (Acting Committee Member),

Members Absent:    David Bragdon (Vice Chair)

Also Present:    Bill Atherton

Chair McLain called the meeting to order at 1:36 P.M. She noted that Councilor Monroe was sitting in as a member of the committee, as Councilor Bragdon was attending a High Speed Rail Conference in Seattle, Washington.

1.  CONSIDERATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE MAY 18, 1999, GROWTH MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING

Councilor Park noted that in the committee discussion about calculating the level of parks service, Ms. Wilkerson said it was commonly expressed as the number of acres of park land per 1000 people. He said the point he tried to express in committee was that 100,000 people in 100 square miles would need a lower level of park service than 100,000 people in 50 square miles. He asked staff to study levels of park service in regional centers to see what density would be, and what kind of sliding scale should be used for level of park service.

2.  OPTIONS FOR FAIR SHARE HOUSING TARGETS

Diane Linn, Multnomah County Commissioner and Chair of the Affordable Housing Technical Advisory Committee (H-TAC), gave an overview of H-TAC’s recent work on fair share housing targets. A packet of information, H-TAC Options for Fair Share Housing Targets for Metro Council Growth Management Committee Review and Comment, includes information presented by Commissioner Linn and is included in the meeting record.

Tasha Harmon, Chair, H-TAC Fair Share Subcommittee, reviewed the proposed fair share method. A packet of information, H-TAC Options for Fair Share Housing Targets for Metro Council Growth Management Committee Review and Comment, includes information presented by Ms. Harmon and is included in the meeting record. She noted that the purpose of the Fair Share Benchmark Need was to show the regional need for affordable housing to 2017, recognizing that addressing the entire problem through fair share targets was not realistic. She added that H-TAC has acted on the assumption that all the numbers should be reevaluated when the 2000 Census data becomes available.

Councilor Park asked if Roger Vonderharr, Mayor of the City of Fairview, felt the current numbers accurately represented the mix of housing units in the City of Fairview.

Ms. Harmon said the subcommittee was still reviewing the numbers, which it received from the Housing Authority. She noted one of the subcommittee’s caveats, that there was a margin of error in the model when it was applied to the smaller cities because many of the numbers were projected. Due to the margin of error, the targets were lower than the fair share benchmark need. She said she talked with Mayor Vonderharr about the surplus of affordable housing in Fairview, and the assumption was that it reflected the Housing Authority tax credits for persons at 60 percent of median income. The subcommittee suggested that part of the strategy for all jurisdictions with a surplus in one affordable housing catagory, and a deficit in another catagory, should be an attempt to shift those units to meet the needs of lower income people. She said there was probably a fair amount of subsidized housing in the 51 to 80 percent range in Fairview, and it may be possible to shift some of that housing to serve lower income groups, without building more affordable units in Fairview. In answer to Councilor Park’s question, Ms. Harmon said Mayor Vonderharr was still talking to the Housing Authority to make sure the data accurately represented his jurisdiction.

Mike Saba, Planning Bureau, City of Portland, added that Mayor Vonderharr spoke to the Housing Authority and discovered that the Housing Authority units in his jurisdiction actually served up to 80 percent median income. Therefore, the number of units he thought would serve income groups at less than 30 percent of median income did not show up on fair share benchmark need chart. He noted that Mayor Vonderharr defended the proposed fair share methodology at the last H-TAC meeting.

Chair McLain said the purpose of today’s meeting was for the subcommittee to explain its formula. She noted that it was still a work in progress, and the committee must follow through with updating the numbers.

Mr. Saba reviewed page 5 of the narrative and Table 2: Discussion Draft, Options for the Distribution of a Five-Year Fair Share Goal for Assisted Housing. Copies of the documents include information presented by Mr. Saba and are included in the meeting record.

Commissioner Linn said the reaction at H-TAC to the options for fair share housing targets was quite positive. She said there was no debate over numbers or direction, but it was important to note that H-TAC was talking about a fairly aggressive approach to reach about 10 percent of the need for the region. She said the resources attached to trying to achieve this kind of need were extraordinary. She said she hoped this gave a starting point with which to begin discussions with citizens and jurisdictional leaders about how much effort the process would demand.

Chair McLain asked if the H-TAC Strategic Subcommittee would be giving a report to the Growth Management Committee today.

Commissioner Linn said no, it was not yet ready to make its presenation.

Chair McLain clarified that at this time, H-TAC was ready to release the work by the Fair Share Subcommittee and take it to the public for comment.

Commissioner Linn said this was want H-TAC was required to do by this stage in the process.

Ms. Harmon said the discussions at H-TAC about public outreach process focused on how to put it in context. She said H-TAC believed it was important to talk about it as a discussion draft, but also to use it as a tool to start broader conversations about the housing needs in the region and to begin break down people’s stereotypes. She said the Fair Share Subcommittee wanted to have a public outreach process that invited people to comment on need, the formula, potential strategies, and all the elements, as the full committee and various subcommittees work over the summer toward more discussion about strategies and funding.

Chair McLain thanked H-TAC for honoring its June deadline, and updating the committee on its progress to date. She said she hoped Presiding Officer Monroe or the Growth Managment Committee would have the opportunity to talk further with H-TAC about the public outreach effort. She said she agreed that the need assessment and the formula and strategies must be discussed in a general sense in order to receive public input about commitment. She added that over the past four years, some people have debated that the formula or distribution should not necessarily include all communities, and that fair share did not always mean all communities. She said the public needed to be part of that conversation. As a Councilor, she said she was commited to the philosophy of allowing as many choices as possible or practical. She said it was essential to have a general conversation first, and get the commitment to do the projects before determining the strategies of where or how or what. She asked Commisser Linn to let her know if there was any way she could help.

Commissioner Linn said she would be happy to provide Chair McLain with a copy of the outreach plan, which Sherry Oeser, Growth Managment Services, was drafting. Commissioner Linn added that H-TAC requested a grant from Jenny Mae to help fund the outreach effort. She agreed that it was important to have deadlines in order to keep the conversation going.

Chair McLain said many of the Councilors sit on the Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation (JPACT), the Metro Policy Advisory Committee (MPAC), and other Metro advisory committes. She said she had found it helpful for the Council to sit together with the advisory committees at public hearings. She asked Commissioner Linn to consider inviting the Council to the public hearings. She offered the use of the Metro Council Chamber, and said she could help find sites outside the Metro Regional Center.

Commissioner Linn said H-TAC would attempt to approach public outreach in a variety of different ways other than traditional public hearings. She said H-TAC hoped to have real dialogue with people about why they were doing this, what this was about, and try to bring community values together before beginning a discussion of numbers and formulas.

Councilor Park agreed that it was important to concentrate on selling the concept and formula before looking at the impact. He said if the impact was shown first, people would want to change the formula.

Commissioner Linn said H-TAC’s goal was to paint the picture of the compelling need that should make people feel positive about affordable housing, rather than automatically reject it.

Ms. Harmon added that the concept she had used for the last three years had been to talk about inclusive communities, and a small town America feel. She said she hoped outreach could give a compelling picture of healthy and vital communities where people could chose to stay for whole lives, regardless of economic fluctuations. She said H-TAC also needed to talk with people about their real concerns, which were often more related to poor design and poor management more than someone’s income level.

Gerry Uba, Program Supervisor, Growth Management Services, said H-TAC would update the committee in the near future on the work of the Strategies Subcommittee, and other subcommittees that may be created if needed.

Chair McLain said she would like an update from the Strategies Subcommittee and a copy of the strategy for public outreach, so the committee could assist H-TAC’s work.

Commissioner Linn added that H-TAC would be at MPAC on Wednesday.

Councilor Atherton said part of the equation, when discussing affordability, was lack of money. He asked if anyone knew how much money, in dollars, it would take for a person to move from one catagory, where there was a shortage of housing, to another catagory where there was a surplus.

Ms. Harmon said it depended on where a person was in the income catagory. As an example, she said taking a family from 15 to 20 percent of median family income to 50 percent of median family income would mean more than doubling their existing income. For example, for a family of four, median family income in the region is $52,400, so a family of four at 50 percent of median income makes about $26,000. She said to take a family from 30 percent of median income to 50 percent would require almost doubling their income, from $17,000 to $26,000.

Councilor Atherton said he was not thinking so much about absolute income. He asked if a thousand dollars per month, per unit, would put families into affordable housing.

Mr. Saba said it was difficult to generalize, although he mentioned a chart used at a City of Portland council informal meeting on home ownership which showed what housing was affordable to whom, which could help answer Councilor Atherton’s question. He said the strategies and the tools were the key elements that made this a complete picture and would answer his questions.

Chair McLain said at this point, it would be more appropriate to discuss the statistical abstract individually, rather than in committee.

Commissioner Linn offered to meet with Councilor Atherton.

Councilor Atherton said the focus of H-TAC’s effort had been on housing units, and he wondered if anyone had analyzed the alternative, which was the shortage of money, and how much it would cost in a voucher program, because that was a good benchmark to evaluate the effectiveness of what was happening.

Commissioner Linn said it was common to talk about items in isolation, but in reality, this strategy was part of the bigger picture, which included jobs, economic development, educational opportunities, and the potential effectivness of vouchers in certain cases. She said it was one piece of a large picture.

Mr. Saba said Metro staff did an excellent job providing H-TAC with background material on costing analysis. He recommended Councilor Atherton speak with Mr. Uba about the work he had done.

Chair McLain asked Mr. Uba to meet with Councilor Atherton.

Councilor Park asked Commissioner Linn for a copy of an additional chart of the relative income levels by occupation, that she used at a prior Growth Management Committee meeting.

Chair McLain asked Mr. Uba to arrange with Michael Morrissey, Senior Council Analyst, to add the H-TAC Strategies Subcommittee to a Growth Management Committee agenda when it was ready to give an update.

4.  RESOLUTION NO. 99- 2802, FOR THE PURPOSE OF GRANTING TIME EXTENSIONS TO THE FUNCTIONAL PLAN COMPLIANCE DEADLINE - JUNE 1999

Mary Weber, Manager, Community Development, Growth Management Services, introduced Resolution No. 99-2802. A staff report to the resolution includes information presented by Ms. Weber and is included in the meeting record.

Chair McLain asked Ms. Weber to prepare a showing the compliance status of all jurisdictions.

Marian Hull, Senior Regional Planner, Growth Management Services, detailed the Functional Plan compliance status of the Cities of Forest Grove, Happy Valley, Oregon City and Portland, and Multnomah County. She noted that Resolution No. 99-2802 was the third and final group of requests for time extensions for Functional Plan implementation. She mentioned that the City of Portland had adopted many of the Funcitonal Plan changes and requested additional time to complete three key elements of its program to allow more time for public review and comment. She said Multnomah County had already implemented Title 6, and would be transfering all urban planning and development services for Multnomah County unincorporated urban areas to the cities of Portland, Gresham and Troutdale. She said Multnomah County requested a time extension to March 2000 to complete the work needed to finalize the zone changes and transfer of planning responsibility.

Councilor Park said he spoke with a constituent, Linda Bauer, who was concerned about through traffic and whether the City of Portland was in compliance. He asked if the City of Portland’s work would be in compliance with Metro’s Functional Plan.

Ms. Hull said the City of Portland requested the extension to verify that its work complied with the Functional Plan.

Ms. Weber said she believed Ms. Bauer’s concern was about subdivision design, and Title 6 advocated increased connectivity. She said Mike Hoglund, Transportation Planning Manager, spoke with the City of Portland and asked the city for chance, in the interim, to review all its subdivision plans. She said Title 8 required local jurisdictions to provide Metro with notice of any change to their zoning codes, comprehensive plans or implementing ordinances, but Metro would not necessarily see the subdivision plans. She said staff was trying to be more proactive and find a good solution.

Chair McLain complimented staff on an excellent job.

Councilor McLain will carry Resolution No. 99-2802 to the full Metro Council.

5.  RESOLUTION NO. 99-2764, FOR THE PURPOSE OF APPROVING METRO’S MEMBERSHIP IN THE “FOR THE SAKE OF SALMON” ORGANIZATION

Chair McLain opened a public hearing on Resolution No. 99-2764.

Bill Bradbury, Executive Director, For the Sake of the Salmon, invited Metro to join For the Sake of the Salmon. A packet of information submitted by Mr. Bradbury includes information he presented and is included in the meeting record. He said in October or November, For the Sake of the Salmon hoped to gather together representatives of local governments from Washington state, Oregon and California.

Councilor Monroe said he supported Resolution No. 99-2764, and believed it was an appropriate action for the Metro Council to take. He said Metro agreed wholeheartedly with the mission of For the Sake of the Salmon, and it fit with Metro’s work on Title 3, Goal 5, and Endangered Species Act (ESA) activities. He noted that there was no financial obligation associated with membership. He urged the committee to forward Resolution No. 99-2764 to the full Metro Council with recommendation for adoption.

Chair McLain closed the public hearing.

Councilor Park will carry Resolution No. 99-2764 to the full Metro Council.

6.  RESOLUTION NO. 99-2789, FOR THE PURPOSE OF DECLARING SUPPORT FOR PACIFIC COASTAL SALMON RECOVERY INITIATIVE AND FEDERAL FUNDING FOR WATERSHED RECOVERY IN RESPONSE TO ENDANGERED SPECIES LISTINGS

Bruce Warner, Chief Operating Officer, presented Resolution No. 99-2789. A staff report to the resolution includes information presented by Mr. Warner and is included in the meeting record.

Councilor Atherton noted that the resolution included no reference to electricity rates. He asked if that could that be amended into the resolution at any point.

Mr. Warner said he could not answer Councilor Atherton’s question.

Mr. Bradbury asked whether Councilor Atherton anticipated that Resolution No. 99-2789 would raise or lower electricity rates.

Councilor Atherton said the central issue concerned the operation of the Bonnevill Power Administration, and whether the cost of salmon recovery would be at its expense, or whether it would be funded by taxpayers of the nation as a whole. He said the public received the benefits of low cost electric power for many years at the expense of the salmon, and for Metro to request that the nation as a whole address the problem was disingenuous and inappropriate.

Councilor Monroe said when Mr. Bradbury was a member of the Oregon Senate, he was known as the Senator from the Fishing Capitol of the Oregon, Coos Bay, and he worked actively to protect the fishing industry. Councilor Monroe said he was happy that Metro could cooperate with Mr. Bradbury’s ongoing work.

Councilor Park will carry Resolution No. 99-2789 to the full Metro Council.

3.  RESOLUTION NO. 99-2798, FOR THE PURPOSE OF EXTENDING THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF RESOLUTIONS NO. 98-2726B, 98-2728C AND 98-2729C RELATING TO STATEMENTS OF INTENT TO AMEND THE URBAN GROWTH BOUNDARY

Larry Shaw, Senior Assistant Counsel, introduced Resolution No. 99-2798. A staff report to the resolution includes information presented by Mr. Shaw and is included in the meeting record.

Chair McLain opened a public hearing on Resolution No. 99-2798.

Mary Kyle McCurdy, 1000 Friends of Oregon, testified in opposition to Resolution No. 98-2798. She noted that for the most part, the land included in the urban reserves in question contained exclusive farm use (EFU) land, and are under appeal. As 1000 Friend’s of Oregon understood it, the only reason to bring these areas into Metro’s jurisdictional boundary would be to ultimately consider them for inclusion in the urban growth boundary (UGB). She urged the committee to allow the resolutions to lapse, and wait until the Court of Appeals made its ruling on these lands. She said the committee could revive the resolutions at a later date.

Councilor Park asked whether the purpose of bringing land into the Metro jurisdictional boundary was for future urbanization. In other words, once the land was brought into the jurisdictional boundary, the Council had made the determination that at some point in the future, that land was designated to be urbanized.

Ms. McCurdy said she could not speak for the Councilors who voted on the resolutions in December 1998. From her perspective, though, a reason to bring the land into the jurisdictional boundary was a step toward bringing them inside the UGB. She noted the decision of whether to bring them inside the UGB awaited the Council in the future, should the Council decide to revisit those. She said in 1000 Friends’ opinion, it would be cleaner to wait until the Council knew whether those areas of exclusive farm use that were in these resolutions survived the Court of Appeals. She said she was not sure why else the Council would want to bring them into the jurisdictional boundary. She said there was no harm in letting the resolutions lapse and reviving them at a later date if they survived as urban reserves.

Chair McLain closed the public hearing.

Councilor Monroe said he supported Resolution No. 99-2798, without prejudice, because several things had occured in the last six months that delayed action, such as the decision by the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA), the appeal, the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the prison siting in Wilsonville, that would affect the total need. He said therefore, the Council did not know whether any, or all, or none of these lands would be needed for Metro to meet state law. He said he supported the inclusion in the UGB of the some of the urban reserves in question, and opposed others. He said his action on Resolution No. 99-2798 was without prejudice; it was simply to recognize that several factors had caused a delay and the decision would need to be made sometime in the future. He said to not grant this extension would take property owners on a roller coaster ride in terms of whether their land was inside or outside. He said he would prefer to hold them in limbo by granting this extension, and let the Growth Management Committee and the Council work through the numbers, wait for the ruling of the Court of Appeals, wait for the federal government’s instructions relative to the ESA listing, find out where the prision would be sited, and then determine which properties, if any, ought to be brought into Metro’s jurisdictional boundary and into the UGB. He said he believed that by the time that decision was made, it would be a one-step process, because the legislature had approved a bill that would give Metro the authority to move its own boundary. He said his vote was without prejudice, and did not in any way commit him to any of the properties as ultimately coming into the UGB, or not coming into the UGB.

Councilor Park said he would support moving Resolution No. 99-2798 ahead for discussion in front of the full Council. He distributed copies of his amendment to Resolution No. 99-2798, and said in concept, the amendment was to split out the EFU areas of urban reserves 53, 54 and 55, and send both resolutions to the full Council for debate. A copy of Councilor Park’s amendment is included in the meeting record. He said Councilor Monroe made a point about whether the properties were in or out. He said since the properties were in by resolution, they were never really inside the UGB with the ability to develop. He added that in his understanding, the only purpose of adding these properties to the Metro jurisdictional boundary would be for future urbanization. Given the concepts and precepts in House Bill (HB) 2709 on which lands were to be added to the UGB first, he did not believe these lands should be brought into the UGB. He said he would like to have this discussion at the full Council.

Councilor Park added that if his motion to amend passed, he would move to direct the Office of General Counsel to draft a new resolution incorporating Urban Reserve Areas 53, 54 and the EFU portion of area 55, for the purpose of extending the effective date of the resolution of which they were originally a part.

Councilor Monroe requested a five-minute recess. Chair McLain recessed the meeting of the Growth Management Committee at 2:59 P.M.

Chair McLain reconvened the meeting of the Growth Management Committee at 3:01 P.M.

Councilor Monroe suggested a friendly amendment to move Resolution No. 99-2728C to the full Metro Council without recommendation for adoption.

Chair McLain said she supported approval of Resolution No. 99-2798. She said the merit of the urban reserves was not under discussion; the resolution was a matter of fair process. She noted that a number of factors, such as the ESA listing and the dissolution of the Boundary Commission, made Resolution No. 99-2798 necessary and logical.

Councilor McLain will carry Resolution No. 99-2798 to the full Metro Council.

7.  RESOLUTION NO. 99-2797, FOR THE PURPOSE OF APPOINTING DOROTHY SPERRY TO THE WATER RESOURCES POLICY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Councilor McLain will carry Resolution No. 99-2797to the full Metro Council.

8.  URBAN GROWTH REPORT

Chair McLain said the main purpose of this meeting was to move foward with the Urban Growth Report. She said as Metro updated its Urban Growth Report and gathered more information, it was important to check all the data and assumptions. She said she hoped to have the presentation of the first run of numbers for the Urban Growth Report on June 22, to allow time for conscientious verification of all factual information.

9.  COUNCILOR COMMUNICATIONS

There were none.

There being no further business before the committee, Chair McLain adjourned the meeting at 3:09 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,

Suzanne Myers

Council Assistant

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ATTACHMENTS TO THE PUBLIC RECORD FOR THE MEETING OF JUNE 8, 1999

The following have been included as part of the official public record: