Haley Cox: County fumbling precious recreational opportunity

Wikimedia Commons##Whistle-stop shelter at the Buxton trailhead of the Banks-Vernonia State Trail.

##Haley Cox

About the writer: Haley Cox is a graduate of Amity High School and Oregon State University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in natural resources and master’s degree in environmental systems management. She is now making her home in Southern Oregon and her living working as a planner with the state Department of Parks & Recreation. She has a mom and sister still living on the local family farm where she grew up. 

What a complete mess Yamhill County has managed to make of the Yamhelas Westsider Trail issue.

Having grown up on a farm outside McMinnville and been intimately involved in the landfill expansion drama of the previous decade, I would have thought county officials to be well-versed in the Farm Impacts Test and the need for rigorous findings of fact in land use applications.

That said, just because the original project application was lacking in substantial details, and officials bungled the process at other points along the way, does not mean this unique and valuable opportunity for present and future generations should be tossed onto the proverbial dump that Yamhill County seems stubbornly set on manifesting for itself. The trail is truly a visionary project, one with many expansive public benefits, including economic development, transportation safety, recreation and wildlife, thereby addressing many state and local goals.

It’s very curious that the county recently adopted a new Park System Master Plan making no mention of the trail corridor, despite the fact it encompasses roughly 60 acres of undeveloped land already owned by the county and projected to serve recreational uses dating back to 1996.

As the plan notes, Yamhill County provides just a tiny fraction of the per capita recreation acreage and spending compared to its peers. By neglecting to include this important element in its master plan, the county has undermined the project at the expense of the public and many partners who have supported it in good faith.

Officials have misled the public at many turns, and the gossip grapevine associated with the Yamhelas Westsider Trail is simply astounding.

Is light rail being proposed in the trail corridor that would bring “bad types” to the area? Are the county officials planning to sell the property to political contributors? All this conjecture reeks of a lack of public trust, which will become ever more entrenched if commissioners take bold and hasty action to kill this community dream.

The staff report for this hearing dubiously asserts that “Yamhill County has not been able to make findings to satisfy the Farm Impacts Test.” Based on that, county officials want to erase the project from all county planning documents, the cities, citizens and other entities who have contributed toward its development be damned.

There is no mention of how the county plans to address the need for safe biking and walking facilities between its rural towns, or for recreation opportunities within the county, which this project was intended to provide.

OAR 660-012-0050 states: If a local government decides not to build a project authorized by the TSP, it must evaluate whether the needs that the project would serve could otherwise be satisfied in a manner consistent with the TSP. Where is this evaluation?

In fact, the county could still do much to implement this project, as proposed in the TSP and envisioned by the public over many decades.

Given that the right of way has always served as a transportation corridor, it makes no sense for it to now be zoned Exclusive Farm Use. Why not rezone it to the Parks, Recreation and Open Space, which makes hiking and biking trails permitted uses? Why not finish the incomplete Trail Master Plan, making project goals and parameters clear and allowing issues to be worked out in a public forums in advance of the land use permitting process?

This situation appears to be mostly one of political sabotage.

Commissioners, please put down your guns and think of the children. They are all getting fat and depressed because we are not putting their safety and well-being first.

Don’t fumble this trail. It’s a beacon of hope and opportunity for a future that’s more fun for everyone.