By Nicole Montesano • Staff Writer • 

County commissioners to reconsider trail vote

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Comments

Yupjoe

ORS 215.296 requires farm mitigation plans. Currently there is no document to pin this too. The master plan will need to be completed first. Usually controversial land-use change considerations last up to three months, but in this case the study was done prior to holding the hearing, and the record was open for only 4 hours with an "emergency clause". Many people who sent letters for the record but did not read them out loud were omitted from the legally required hearing process. In normal circumstances the county would want to hear from adjacent neighbors, but not here. Mr. Primozich, what is your motive? What floats your boat? Thank you readers.

Oregonian

Standard political math works here - upset a few voters (farmrers and landowners) and satisfy thousands of voters on the other side (bikers/walkers/people who want tourists to come to the area). This is a no brainer for the politicians who happen to not have much experience with government process. None of these folks are career politicians.

This land use issue is only controversial if you have skin in the game like the landowners do. All of the people who want a trail so they can use it for recreation have zero skin in the game, but yield the power of their vote.

The only surprise is that the landowners haven't grouped together and hired legal counsel to represent them. That might not end in the result they want, but it would certainly give them some power in this process.

tagup

I agree with your points, but I also think the potential for positive economic impact from the trail should drive the conversation. Tourism benefits a much larger group than the adjacent land owners.
I see no reason that the concerns of the landowners can’t be accommodated in the development of the right of way....

Jim

What all three commissioners need to think about is if they would like a trail in their own back yard. Would they like to wake up every morning to people and bicycles intruding on the space they have enjoyed. The people living along the abandoned railroad track have enjoyed a peaceful existence for years. My suggestion to the people that want to see this happen is to form a company or club with big dues to pay for the right some where else to hike and bicycle. I’d rather see my tax money benefit children or the poor than subsidize city people with a play ground in the country. You City Slickers need to pay for your own recreation not the tax payers.

tagup

I don’t think farm land in production is the same as someone’s backyard, and the right of way, while nice for the current landowners, is not their property. Economic growth serves a wide range of county residents, and the potential appears to outweigh the issues that can be addressed by adequate communication and planning.


Jim

Tagup you must live in the city. Most people that live in the country value their privacy. If I want to be around a bunch of people I’ll go to New York or Disneyland I don’t want them in my back yard. The right of way can’t be more than about 80 feet wide so I don’t think the farmers are enjoying to much free ground. As far as the economic growth you profess I owned a business in this county for 30 years and all it would have done for me is raised my taxes.

tagup

I can certainly understand your value of privacy, but I’m not sure the demand for it can extend past your property line.....

Shorty

Has anyone even considered safety issues along this trail? Think about it. Springwater Corridor Trail in Portland comes to mind.

Jim

Shorty the plan for this whole deal is there is no plan. The county is trying to get a grant just to write a master plan. It is crazy to spend one dime on anything to do with this till they have a plan in place and have satisfied the due diligence with all the people that are involved. The way government entities spend money they could be paving the trail next week.

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