HomeMy WebLinkAboutComp Plan Update Work Program DocsDeschutes County Board of Commissioners
1300 NW Wall St., Suite 200, Bend, OR 97701-1960
(541) 388-6570 - Fax (541) 385-3202 - www.deschutes.org
AGENDA REQUEST & STAFF REPORT
For Board Business Meeting of Monday, June 23, 2008
Please see directions for completing this document on the next page.
DATE: 6-17-08
FROM: Terri Hansen Payne CDD 385-1404
TITLE OF AGENDA ITEM:
Discussion of the comprehensive plan update work program.
PUBLIC HEARING ON THIS DATE? No
BACKGROUND AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS:
Long Range Planning Staff are initiating an update of the Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan. This
document provides a blueprint for growth and conservation for the next twenty years. This update is
anticipated to take up to 2 years and to involve discussions on a variety of general topics, such as rug al
land use as well as specific discussions of areas such as Terrebonne and Tumalo that are experiencing
growth. This work session is to introduce the comprehensive plan work plan and draft website.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
RECOMMENDATION & ACTION REQUESTED:
Discuss and provide direction on the comprehensive plan work program.
ATTENDANCE: Terri Hansen Payne, Peter Gutowsky, Peter Russell, Kristen Maze
DISTRIBUTION OF DOCUMENTS:
N/A
Community Development Department
Planning Division Building Safety Division Environmental Health Division
117 NW Lafayette Avenue Bend Oregon 97701-1925
(541)388-6575 FAX (541)385-1764
http://www.co.deschutes.or.us/cdd/
MEMORANDUM # 1
TO: Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners
FROM: Terri Hansen Payne, Senior Planner and Long Range Planning Staff
DATE: June 17, 2008
MEETING: June 23, 2008
SUBJECT: Comprehensive Plan Update Work Pian
BACKGROUND
A comprehensive plan consists of a theme and narratives, together with goals and policies, that
provide a cohesive and comprehensive blueprint for future development and conservation. The
text, goals and policies are based on a combination of community input and an analysis of
existing conditions and future trends. Once the goals and policies are adopted, they are
implemented through tools such as zoning codes or subdivision ordinances. All goals and
policies adopted by the Board of County Commissioners must be in compliance with Statewide
Planning Goals.
The Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan was written in 1979 and has been updated in a
piecemeal fashion since that time. Generally plans are intended to cover a timeline of 15-20
years but are often updated more frequently, so that they continue to reflect changing
community values and to provide guidance on complex land use issues.
The major updates to the County plan occurred during State mandated Periodic Review, which
lasted from 1988-2003. During that time, the County incorporated amendments required by
changes to State Statute, Statewide Planning Goals and State Plans (from other State
agencies). Additionally, the County looked at amendments needed to address changes in local
circumstances. Many of these amendments to the plan were major, but narrowly focused on the
specific items, such as the unincorporated communities.
Overall, the Periodic Review changes did not coordinate with the comprehensive plan as a
whole. The narrowness of the amendments has led to a fragmented plan of various dates that
does not provide a cohesive and comprehensive guide to land use. Consequently, staff is
initiating a process to create a new comprehensive plan. This memo is intended to provide an
initial look at the proposed work plan.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Deschutes County faces many new land use challenges, particularly on how to determine
appropriate land uses in rural areas.
Quality Services Performed with Pride
Comprehensive Plan Memo # 1
Deschutes County is one of the fastest growing counties in the country, with 90,000 new
residents anticipated by 2025. The new growth raises questions of where and what kind of new
development is appropriate. Because growth is managed in large part by State land use
regulations, the focus of many recent discussions on rural land use has centered around rural
development that is sanctioned by the State, specifically destination resorts. Members of the
community have raised concerns over how to objectively assess resort impacts and benefits.
The other side of the discussion is the question of whether there are lands that are important
enough to need conservation, and if so, how can those lands be equitably preserved as rural
reserves.
For the County, a community -wide discussion of rural lands, including general discussions of
what type of growth is appropriate and where, as well as more specific discussions of
destination resorts and rural reserves, will allow the County to create goals and policies that will
shape rural land use over the next twenty years.
An updated Comprehensive Plan would better reflect current community land use values.
Oregon's land use system was widely debated in the 1970s. Since that time the State has
added many new residents who did not participate in the previous discussions and who
consequently do not really understand or have a stake in the current system. Additionally there
are people who do not agree with the decisions made in the 1970s or who believe the system
has evolved in the wrong direction. In response, the State initiated a Task Force on Land Use
(Big Look) to rethink the state-wide land use program.
The Big Look is mandated to provide the 2009 Legislature with input on potential amendments
to State land use law. Exactly what will come from the work of the Big Look is hard to predict,
but this summer, the Big Look will be leading a state-wide discussion on land use. Their
discussion will provide a good background for local discussions on land use. Engaging the
community does not guarantee everyone will be happy with decisions made, but will assist in
creating plan policies that reflect current community values.
The Comprehensive Plan is the policy document behind our more specific land use regulations.
A comprehensive plan outlines general goals and policies based on community interests. Those
goals and policies are then translated into action through specific zoning and other regulations.
In current planning, if a project meets the specific regulations required it will be approved. The
place to influence land use regulations is in the policy discussions of the comprehensive plan.
PROCESS CONCEPTS AND OVERVIEW
Creating a new comprehensive plan can be done in innumerable ways. Attachment 1 provides a
graphic overview of the process the County is proposing. Broadly, a comprehensive plan update
poses and answers three basic questions (Attachment 2).
1. Where are we now and where are we going?
2. Where do we want to go?
3. How do we get there?
STAFF
Currently there are four long range staff members whose responsibilities, among others, include
coordinating with other governments and agencies, processing staff and applicant initiated code
amendments, working with the Planning Commission and addressing transportation issues. The
comprehensive plan update has been identified as the primary project for the long range
Pg 2 6-23-08
Comprehensive Plan Memo # 1
planning section. Additionally, the Board of County Commissioners has budgeted $75,000 from
the general fund for FY08-09 to support a current planner to assist the long range team in the
comprehensive plan update. There should be adequate staffing for this project.
The anticipated major staff roles are as follows:
• Terri Hansen Payne — Coordinate the public input process, coordinate preparation of the new
plan, including goals and policies
• Peter Gutowsky — Coordinate the background research and analysis, coordinate the agency
input, coordinate with South County groundwater issues and results of the Bend Urban
Growth Boundary expansion project
• Peter Russell — Coordinate the TSP project
• Kristen Maze — Coordinate the website, assist with research and public input
• Current Planning Staff — as needed
PROJECT COORDINATION
The comprehensive plan project will be the overarching long range planning project for the
coming fiscal year. Other projects on the work plan, including South County groundwater issues,
destination resort remapping and a new Transportation System Plan, will fold into the
comprehensive plan discussions and could each result in a comprehensive plan chapter.
TENTATIVE TIMELINE
• Spring/Summer 2008: Data gathering and analysis
• Fall/Winter 2008/2009: Community conversations
• Spring/Summer 2009: Preparation of a draft plan, including text, goals and policies and
implementation plans
• Summer/Fall 2009: Public review and hearings
• 2010: Adoption by the Board of County Commissioners
2008 WORKING COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
Besides being outdated, the current Comprehensive Plan is disjointed and difficult to read and
understand. The formatting is not clear or uniform and the dated background information limits
the plan's usefulness. For the last year staff has been working on "turfing up" the existing
Comprehensive Plan to create a document that the public can more easily access, understand
and critique. This "tuned up" plan will not be adopted, but rather be used as a working document
to assist in the upcoming discussion of existing conditions. (Attachment 3)
PLANNING COMMISSION DISCUSSION
Staff led a discussion with the Planning Commission on June 12 to get their input on the role of
the Planning Commission, the tentative work plan and ideas for public input. The results of that
discussion are listed below.
Q1. What should be the role of the Planning Commission in the comprehensive plan update?
Planning Commission recommendation:
• Have the Planning Commission act as a Steering Committee
• Devote one Planning Commission meeting per month to the update
• Have the Planning Commissioners act as hosts for the public involvement programs
Pg 3 6-23-08
Comprehensive Plan Memo # 1
Q2. Does the work plan work?
Planning Commission recommendation:
• Start with background information and issue identification
• Incorporate other planning projects into the comp plan update
• Analyze existing chapters, goals and policies (Where are we now and where are we going?)
• Go out to stakeholders and the public for input (Where do we want to go?)
• Write new goals and policies (How do we get there?)
• Take the new plan to the public for comment
• Adopt the new plan
• Initiate implementation of the new plan
Q3. What methods of public involvement would be most effective?
Planning Commission recommendation:
• Work with staff to create a public involvement program that allows for discussion of the trade-
offs inherent in land use planning
• The input plan could incorporate the following ideas.
• Use a logo and call input process 'community conversations'
• Technical advisory group for agency partners
• Work sessions on current goals and policies
• Vision workshops
• Issue forums on rural land use, including destination resorts
• Survey to identify additional issues
• Interactive website
• Geographical meetings for specific areas such as the unincorporated communities
• Meeting format prepared for local community groups, including a slide show presentation
and opportunity to answer questions and obtain feedback
NEXT STEPS
At the June 23rd work session Long Range Planning Staff will present a slide show highlighting
the work plan and will show the Board of County Commissioners a draft comprehensive plan
website design. Staff would appreciate input from the Board of County Commissioners on the
work plan, especially on the role of the Planning Commission and the public input process. Staff
will report back to the Planning Commission on the Board decisions.
Attachments:
1. Process Overview
2. Draft work plan outline
3. Deschutes County Working Comprehensive Plan
Pg 4 6-23-08
DRAFT COMPREHENSIVE PLAN WORK PLAN OUTLINE
Background Work
Where are we now? Where are we going?
1. Compile and analyze background information and trends
a. Resource lands: farm, forest
b. Natural resources: water, air, land, wildlife
c. Natural disaster potential: wildfire, floods, landslides, other
d. Historic, cultural, mining lands
e. Urban Growth Boundary, Urban Reserve Area, and city coordination
f. Transportation
g. Public facilities and services
h. County role: economic development, housing
i. Recreation: destination resorts
j. Potential growth: where and how much
k. Other
2. Identify issues for further discussion and ongoing coordination
a. Coordinate internally: other county departments, the Planning Commission, the Board
of County Commissioners
b. Coordinate externally: other government agencies, special districts, community
organizations and the general public
3. Create a community and agency input process
4. Evaluate existing comprehensive plan goals and policies
Community Conversations (note: this is just a first look, other issues are likely to be identified)
Where do we want to go?
5. Community values discussions
a. What do we like about Deschutes County?
b. What doesn't work in Deschutes County?
6. Identified issues discussions
a. Rural land use (destination resorts, rural reserves)
b. Rural/urban coordination
c. South County groundwater
7. Identified area discussions
a. Unincorporated Communities, particularly Terrebonne, Tumalo
b. South County
8. Coordinate with Transportation System Plan public input
New Comprehensive Plan
How do we get there?
9. Write new goals, policies and text
10. Identify and prioritize implementing measures
11. Formal adoption process with public hearings before the Planning Commission and Board
of County Commissioners
Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan
Glossary
"Access or access way" means the place, means, or way by which pedestrians
and vehicles shall have safe, adequate and usable ingress and egress to a
property or use.
"Aquifer" means a water -bearing rock, rock formation or a group of formations.
"Annexation" means to add or join to, append or attach, especially to a larger,
or more significant thing. To incorporate into a county or city. Annexation is the
process by which usually contiguous fringe territory is added to an existing
municipality.
"Archeology" means the systematic recovery by scientific methods of material
evidence from man's life and culture in past ages and the detailed study of this
evidence. The study of antiquity, ancient times or early conditions.
"Architectural control" means regulations and procedures requiring structures
to be suitable, harmonious and in keeping with the general appearance,
historical character or style of their surrounding area.
"Average" means a number that typifies a set of numbers of which it is a
function. The arithmetic mean.
"Berm" means a narrow ledge or shelf, as along a slope. Relative to surface
mining operations, a berm is a mound of dirt used for screening operations or
for storage of material to use during reclamation of the mining site.
"Bonuses" (also known as incentive zoning) means the awarding of bonus
credits to a development in the form of allowing more intensive use of the land
if such public benefits are greater than the minimum open spaces or
agricultural lands are preserved, special provisions for low and moderate
income housing are made, or public plazas and courts are provided at ground
level.
"Buffer zone" means a strip of land created to separate and protect one type of
land use from another; for example, a screen of planting or fencing to insulate
the surrounding area from the noise, smoke, or visual aspects of an industrial
zone or junkyard. In other instances, a greater width of land to separate and
protect farm production from more dense, urban use.
Glossary
"Capital improvements program" means a timetable of public improvements
budgeted to fit the jurisdiction's fiscal capacity some years into the future.
"Cluster development" means it is intended to concentrate on residential
improvements and to preserve and protect open land; should be consistent
with the public facilities and services policies; should require a minimum of 65
per cent open land and a maximum of 35 per cent for improvement (excluding
fencing) of the contiguous land under the same ownership.
"Community facilities" means public or privately owned facilities used by the
public, such as streets, schools, libraries, parks and playgrounds; also facilities
owned and operated by non-profit private agencies such as churches,
settlement houses and neighborhood associations.
"Commuter" means a person who travels regularly from one place to another
place and back, as from a suburb to city and back.
"Comprehensive Plan" means a generalized, coordinated land use map and
policy statement of the governing body of a state agency, city, county or
special district that interrelates all functional and natural systems and activities
relating to the use of lands, including but not limited to sewer and water,
transportation, educational and recreational systems and natural resources
and air and water quality management programs. "Comprehensive" means all-
inclusive, both in terms of the geographic area covered and functional and
natural activities and systems occurring in the area covered by the plan.
"Generalized" mean a summary of policies and proposals in broad categories
and does not necessarily indicate specific locations of any area, activity or
use. A plan is "coordinated" when the needs of all levels of governments,
semi-public and private agencies and the citizens have been considered and
accommodated as much as possible. "Land" includes water, both surface and
subsurface, and the air.
"Conditional use" means a use which meets certain conditions and may locate
in some zoning districts provided it will not be detrimental to the public health,
morals and welfare and will not impair the integrity and character of the zoned
district.
"Conservation easement" means a tool for acquiring open space with less than
full -fee purchase; the public agency buys only certain specific rights from the
owner. These may be positive rights, giving the public rights to hunt, fish, hike
or ride over the land, or they may be restricted rights limiting the uses to which
the owner may put his land in the future. Scenic easements allow the public
agency to use the owner's land for scenic enhancement such as roadside
landscaping and vista point preservation.
"Dedication" means a turning over of private land for a public use by an owner
or developer and its acceptance for such use by the governmental agency in
charge of the public function for which it will be used. Dedications for roads,
Working Draft Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan
Page G-2 Draft 5-14-08
Glossary
parks, school sites or other public uses are often made conditions for the
approval of a development.
"Dedication, payment in lieu of" means cash payments as substitute for a
dedication of land by an owner or developer usually at so many dollars per lot.
This overcomes the two principal problems of land -dedication requirements by
applying the exactions on development more equitably and by allowing
purchase of sites at the best locations rather then merely in places which the
development is Targe enough to be required to dedicate a school or park.
"Density" means the number of residential dwelling units per acre of land
and/or the amount of land area expressed in square feet assignable to each
dwelling unit in a residential development, including but not limited to one
house on one lot. It is computed as follows: the gross area of land within the
development, less the total aggregate area dedicated for streets, schools or
other public facilities, but not including public or private parks and recreation
facilities dedicated or created as an integral part of the development, divided
by the total number of dwelling units in the proposed development, equals the
density.
"Density transfer" means a technique of retaining open space by concentrating
residential densities, usually in compact areas adjacent to existing
urbanization and utilities, where outlying areas are being left open, so that the
residential density of the entire community will average out at the same
number of dwelling units as if the community were developed from end to end
with large lots. A variation of this involves allowing density transfers by private
developers who buy the development rights of outlying properties that are
publicly desirable for open space and adding the additional density to the base
number of units permitted in the zone in which they propose to develop.
"Destination resort" means a self-contained development providing visitor -
oriented accommodations and developed recreational facilities in a setting with
high natural amenities. To qualify as a "major destination resort" under Goal 8,
a proposed development must meet the following standards:
1. The resort is located on a site of 160 or more acres.
2. At least 50 percent of the site is dedicated to permanent open space,
excluding yards, streets and parking areas.
3. At least $2,000,000 (in 1984 dollars is spent in the first phase of
improvements for on-site developed recreational facilities and visitor -
oriented accommodations, exclusive of costs for land, sewer and water
facilities, and roads. Not Tess than one-third of this amount shall be spent
on developed recreational facilities. Developed recreational facilities and
key facilities intended to serve the entire development and visitor -
oriented accommodations must be physically provided or be guaranteed
through surety bonding or substantially equivalent financial assurances
prior to closure of sale of individual lots or units. In phased
developments, developed recreational facilities and other key facilities
Working Draft Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan
Draft 5-14-08 Page G-3
Glossary
intended to serve a particular phase shall be constructed prior to sales in
that phase or guaranteed through surety bonding.
4. Visitor -oriented accommodations are provided, including meeting rooms,
restaurants with seating for 100 persons, and 150 separate rentable
units for overnight lodgings. Accommodations available for residential
use will not exceed two such units for each unit of overnight lodging.
5. Commercial uses limited to those types and levels necessary to meet the
needs of visitors to the development. Industrial uses are not permitted.
"Developed recreation facilities" means with respect to destination resorts,
improvements constructed for the purpose of recreation. These include, but
are not limited to, golf courses, tennis courts, swimming pools, marinas,
equestrian trails and facilities and bicycle paths.
"Dude ranch" means a ranch operated primarily or in part as a resort which
offers horse -related activities as its primary outdoor recreation opportunity and
provides only temporary rental accommodations, serves custom prepared food
and which is intended and suitable only for vacation use by non-residents.
"Easement" means a right afforded a person to make limited use of another's
real property, as a right-of-way.
"Eminent domain" means the right of a government to appropriate private
property for public use or benefit upon payment of just compensation to the
owner. The terms "eminent domain" and "condemnation" are often used
interchangeably, although condemnation may also mean the demolition by
public authority of an unsafe structure where no compensation is paid to the
owner and the condemned property does not become public land. "Inverse
condemnation" is a condition in which the use of political power to regulate the
use of land is so severe that it represents a de facto taking of private property
for public benefit or use without just compensation.
"Erosion" means to erode is to wear away by or as if by abrasion, dissolution,
transportation, weathering or corrosion. The removal, loosening or dissolution
of earth or rock material from any part of the earth's surface.
"Exception" (also called variance) means the official provision of an exemption
from compliance with the terms of conditions or a building or zoning regulation
by a local board or administrator vested with the power to authorize it. It is
usually granted if there are practical difficulties in meeting the existing
requirements literally, or if the deviation or exception would not have a
detrimental irnpact on adjacent properties or affect substantial compliance with
the regulations. While an exception (or variance or special use) is a departure
from the standard application of the zoning ordinance, it is provided for within
the ordinance.
"Goals" means in terms of land use planning, the mandatory statewide
planning standards adopted by the Land Conservation and Development
Working Draft Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan
Page G-4 Draft 5-14-08
Glossary
Commission pursuant to ORS 197.005 to 197.430 and the goals adopted in
this plan.
"Groundwater" means water beneath the earth's surface between saturated
soil and rock that supplies wells and springs.
"Improved land" means raw land that has been improved with basic facilities
such as roads, sewers, water lines and other public infrastructure facilities in
preparation for meeting development standards. It sometimes refers to land
with buildings as well, but usually land with buildings and utilities would be
called a developed area, while the term "improved land" more often describes
vacant land with utilities only.
"In -filling" means the use of undeveloped lands in areas of existing housing
and high densities.
"Interim or study zone" means a zoning technique used to temporarily freeze
development in an area until a permanent classification for it can be decided
upon. It is generally used to preserve the status quo while an area or
community- wide comprehensive plan is prepared to serve as a basis for
permanent zoning.
"Land Use Plan" means a basic element of a comprehensive plan, it
designates the future use or reuse of the land within a given jurisdiction's
planning area and the policies and reasoning used in arriving at the decisions
in the plan. The land use plan serves as a guide to official decisions in regard
to the distribution and intensity of private development, as well as public
decisions on the location of future public facilities and open spaces. It is also a
basic guide to the structuring of zoning and subdivision controls, urban
renewal and capital improvement programs.
"LCDC" means the Land Conservation and Development Commission of the
State of Oregon.
"Leapfrog development" means land development that occurs well beyond the
existing limits of urban development and thus leaves intervening vacant land
behind. This bypassing of the next -in-line lands at the urban fringe results in
the haphazard shotgun pattern of urbanization known as "sprawl".
"Median" means the middle value in a distribution, above or below which lies
an equal number of values.
"Mobile home" means a factory -built home, equipped with all of the basic
amenities of a conventional home (both, kitchen, electricity), which can be
moved to its site by attaching it whole or in sections to an automobile or truck.
(A trailer is a much smaller mobile shelter, usually used for camping and
outings rather than as a permanent dwelling.) Prefabricated modular units
currently come complete with built-in furnishings, appliances, porches and
other areas. "Double-wides" and "triple-wides" are units connected together to
Working Draft Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan
Draft 5-14-08 Page G-5
Glossary
form a single structure of size and roof design similar to that of a conventional
home built on a foundation on site. Mobile home parks rent spaces with utility
hookups to mobile home owners; sometimes they also rent the mobile homes.
The parks range in size from a few parking spaces equipped with plumbing
and electrical connections to elaborate mobile home communities with
swimming pools and community centers. About a quarter of the single-family
home sales since 1968 have been captured by mobile homes.
"Moratorium" means in planning, a freeze on the approval of all new
development pending the completion and adoption of a comprehensive plan.
In recent years, building moratoriums have also been instituted by water and
sewer agencies when sewage treatment facilities are inadequate or when
water shortages are threatened. They have also been voted into being by
residents of communities whose schools and other public facilities have been
overwhelmed by rapid growth.
"Multiplier effect" means an economic base multiplier is a mathematical device
used to estimate the number of jobs that will be created in service or non -basic
industries which will provide needed goods and services to the new
corrimuriity residents (such as retail stores, professional services,
entertainment facilities, etc.), because of new employment in basic industries,
such as manufacturing. An example might be as follows:
300 total new jobs
= 100 new jobs in steel plant
+ 150 new jobs in private services (groceries, etc.)
+ 50 new jobs in public — police, fire, etc.
The Base Multiplier here is 3.0. The Base Ratio is 1:2. So, for every new basic
job there is created two non -basic jobs, or three new jobs totally.
"Non -Goal 5 aggregate resources" means those mineral and aggregate
resources that are not significant aggregate resources as determined under
OAR 660-023-0030(4) and are not included on the County's inventory list of
significant Goal 5 mineral and aggregate resource sites.
"Open land" means is land without tree cover, land which is exposed, land
without cover except grass, brush and sparse or immature trees; lands or
topography which do not reasonably conceal structures, improvements and
personal property.
"Open space" means the part of the countryside which has not been
developed and which is desirable for preservation in its natural state for
ecological or recreational purposes, or in its cultivated state to preserve
agricultural, forest or urban greenbelt areas. More specifically, open space
consists of any land area that would, if preserved and continued in its present
use:
Working Draft Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan
Page G-6 Draft 5-14-08
Glossary
1. Conserve and enhance natural or scenic resources;
2. Protect air or streams of water supply;
3. Promote conservation of soils, wetlands or beaches;
4. Conserve landscaped areas, such as public or private golf courses, that
reduce air pollution and enhance the value of abutting or neighboring
property;
5. Enhance the value to the public of abutting or neighboring parks, forest,
wildlife preserves, natural reservations or sanctuaries or other open
space;
6. Enhance recreation opportunities;
7. Preserve historic sites;
8. Promote orderly urban development.
Open space in destination resorts may include some alteration of the natural
or existing landscape to allow siting of golf course greens and fairways, lakes
and ponds, bike paths and jogging trails and primitive picnic areas (including
picnic tables and park benches).
"Overnight lodgings" with respect to destination resorts, means permanent,
separately rentable accommodations that are not available for residential use.
Overnight lodgings include hotel or motel rooms, cabins and timeshare units.
Individually owned units may be considered overnight lodgings if they are
available for overnight rental use by the general public for at least 45 weeks
per calendar year through a central reservation and check-in service. Tent
sites, recreational vehicle parks, mobile homes, dormitory rooms and similar
accommodations do not qualify as overnight lodgings for the purpose of this
definition.
"Parcel" means a unit of land that is created by a partitioning of land.
"Partition" means either an act of partitioning land or an area or tract of land
partitioned as defined below:
"Partitioned land" means to divide an area or tract of land into two or three
parcels within a calendar year when such area or tract of land exists as a unit
or contiguous units of land under a single ownership at the beginning of such
year (ORS 92.010).
"Performance standards" means zoning regulations providing specific criteria
limiting the operations of certain industries, land uses, and buildings to
acceptable levels of noise, air pollution emissions, odors, vibration, dust, dirt,
glare, heat, fire hazards wastes, traffic generation and visual impact. This type
of zoning may not bar an industry or use by specific type, but rather admits
any use that can meet the particular standards of operation set for admission.
Instead of classifying industries in districts under the headings "light", "heavy"
or "unrestricted", it establishes measurable technical standards and classifies
the industries in terms of their probable environmental impact. Terms such as
Working Draft Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan
Draft 5-14-08 Page G-7
Glossary
"limited", "substantial" and "objectionable" determine the overall acceptability
rating of a particular use.
"Planned community" means a fully self-contained complex of residential,
commercial and industrial areas, transportation facilities, utilities, public
facilities and recreational areas.
"Planned Development (PD)" means a self-contained development, often with
a mixture of housing types and densities, in which the subdivision and zoning
controls are applied to the project as a whole rather than to individual Tots as in
most subdivisions. Therefore, densities are calculated for the entire
development, usually permitting a trade-off between clustering of houses and
provision of common open space.
"Plat" means a map, diagram, drawing or replat or other material containing all
the descriptions, locations, specifications, dedications, provisions and
information concerning a subdivision.
"Police power" means the inherent right of a government to restrict an
individual's conduct or his use of his property in order to protect the health,
safety, welfare and morals of the community. In the United States, this power
must relate reasonably to these ends and must follow due processes of the
law; but unlike the exercise of the State's power of eminent domain, no
compensation need be paid for losses incurred as a result of police power
regulation.
"Predominant lot size" means the most frequently occurring lot size in a given
area. The arithmetic mode of lot sizes.
"Resort community" means an unincorporated community that was established
primarily for and continues to be used primarily for recreation and resort
purposes. It includes residential and commercial uses and provides for both
temporary and permanent residential occupancy, including overnight lodging
and accommodations.
"Right-of-way" (ROW) means the right of passage over the property of
another. The public may acquire it through implied dedication -accepted access
over a period of time to a beach or lake shoreline, for example. More
commonly, it refers to the land on which a road or railroad is located. The
pathways over which utilities and drainage ways run are usually referred to as
easements.
"Riparian:(zone, habitat, or vegetation)" means of or pertaining to the bank of a
river, or of a pond or small lake. Riparian habitat is riverbank vegetative cover
and food for many wildlife species.
"Road types" means:
1. Arterial. Roads designed for through access between major traffic
generators. Arterials provide primarily for the traffic mobility needs.
Working Draft Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan
Page G-8 Draft 5-14-08
Glossary
2. Collector. Roads which gather the traffic from local roads between
arterials. These roads provide a balance between the needs of land
access and traffic mobility.
3. Local. Roads designed for land access, serving local traffic only.
"Rural lands" means those lands outside recognized urban growth boundaries
which are necessary and suitable for such uses as:
1. Exclusive farm use;
2. General agriculture;
3. Forest;
4. Rural residential;
5. Rural service center;
6. Destination resort, dude ranch, planned community;
7. Landscape management;
8. Special interest;
9. Open space;
10. Fish and wildlife protective area;
11. Recreation;
12. Surface mining.
Industrial, commercial and urban and suburban residential uses are not
generally appropriate on rural lands.
"Rural service center" means an unincorporated convenience -commercial and
residential center of a nature and size only as required to serve the
convenience -commercial needs of the surrounding rural lands. Planning area
boundaries are not the boundaries for rural service centers.
"Scabland" means level and undulating upland plains where blister-like
outcrops of basalt occur. Scabland consists of areas in which the bedrock,
stony shallow soil and soil -forming material predominate. The natural
vegetation consists mainly of big sagebrush, open stands of juniper, rabbit
brush, bunchgrass and annual grasses and associated herbs. Level areas can
be suitable for irrigate pasture.
"Self-contained development" means with respect to destination resorts,
means community sewer, water and recreational facilities provided on site and
limited to meet the needs of the resort or provided by existing public sewer or
water service as long as all costs related to service extensions and any
capacity increase are borne by the development. A "self-contained
development" shall have developed recreational facilities provided on site.
"Septic tank" means a tank plus a leaching field or trenches in which the
sewage is purified by bacterial action. It is distinct from a cesspool, which is
merely a perforated buried tank that allows the liquid effluent to seep into the
surrounding soils but retains most of the solids and must be periodically
pumped out.
Working Draft Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan
Draft 5-14-08 Page G-9
Glossary
"Sewage system" means a facility designed for the collection, removal,
treatment and disposal of waterborne sewage generated within a given service
area. It usually consists of a collection network of pipelines and a treatment
facility to purify and discharge the treated wastes.
"Shall" means a mandatory, non -discretionary policy or regulation.
"Should" means a non -mandatory, discretionary policy or regulation.
"Silica or siliceous" means a white or colorless crystalline compound, Si02,
occurring abundantly as quartz, sand, flint, agate and many other materials
and used to manufacture a wide variety of materials, notably glass and
concrete.
"Special District" means any unit of local government, other than a city or
county, authorized and regulated by statute, which includes but is not limited
to water control, irrigation, port districts, fire, hospital, mass transit and sanitary
districts, as well as regional air quality control authorities.
"Spot zoning" means the awarding of a use classification to an isolated parcel
of land which is detrimental or incompatible when such an act favors a
particular owner. Such zoning has been held to be illegal by the courts on the
grounds that it is unreasonable and capricious. A general plan or special
circumstances such as historical value, environmental importance, or scenic
value may justify special zoning for a small area.
"Strip zone" means a melange of development, usually commercial, extending
along both sides of a major street leading out of the center of a city. Usually a
strip zone is a mixture of auto -oriented enterprises (e.g., gas stations, motels
and food stands), truck -dependent wholesaling and Tight industrial enterprises,
along with the once rural homes and farms overtaken by the haphazard leap-
frogging of unplanned sprawl. Strip development, with its incessant turning
movements in and out of each enterprise's driveway, has so reduced the
traffic -carrying capacity of major highways leading out of urban centers, that
the post-war limited- access freeway networks have become a necessity. In
zoning terms, a strip zone may refer to a district consisting of a ribbon of
highway commercial uses fronting both sides of a major arterial road.
"Subdivide" means to divide a part or parts of land parcels into at least four
smaller parts or lots. A subdivision is the result of laying out a parcel of raw
land into lots, blocks, streets, and public areas. Its purpose is the
transformation into building sites.
"Urban fringe" means an area at the edge of an urban area usually made up of
mixed agricultural and urban uses. Where leap -frogging or sprawl is the
predominant pattern, this mixture of urban and rural may persist for some time
until the process of urbanization is completed.
Working Draft Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan
Page G-10 Draft 5-14-08
Glossary
"Urban Growth Boundary" (UGB) means is an established line identifying an
area which contains land Tying within and adjacent to an incorporated city and
which is determined to be necessary and suitable for future urban uses
capable of being served by urban facilities and services.
"Urbanized lands" means those lands within the urban growth boundaries
which can be served by urban services and facilities and are necessary and
suitable for future expansion of an urban area.
"Visitor -oriented accommodations" with respect to destination resorts, means
overnight lodging, restaurants and meeting facilities designed to provide for
the needs of visitors rather than residents.
Working Draft Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan
Draft 5-14-08 Page G-11