Development on West Hayden Island
by Bruce Halperin
The Oregonian, July 30, 2010
The proposal for marine development on West Hayden Island is leading to knee-jerk reactions from many people who want full preservation of the area, but these reactions are not consistent with the Oregon planning process. Yes, the site has high environmental value. But this is an area that was brought into the urban growth boundary in 1983 with the express purpose of being used for marine development, and the region still has a documented need for marine industrial and general industrial lands.
The underlying concept of urban growth boundaries is that lands outside the boundary carry a presumption that they will generally be preserved, and that lands inside the boundary carry a presumption that they generally will be developed. The system means that sometimes to protect lands outside the boundaries we have to make tough decisions and allow development on lands inside the boundaries.
While some folks argue that West Hayden Island is too special to be developed at all, this would be inconsistent with the basic Oregon system of urban growth boundaries. It is important to remember that the general planning for the island calls for development of only a part of West Hayden Island while preserving and enhancing the majority of the land. This is totally consistent with the Oregon land-use planning process.
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