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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSo Co Plan Update Proposal MEMORANDUM DATE: April 4, 2012 TO: Deschutes County Board of Commissioners FROM: Peter Gutowsky, Principal Planner RE: Newberry Country: A Plan for Southern Deschutes County / Work Session The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) conducted its second hearing on March 12, 6:00 p.m. at the Sunriver Homeowners Aquatic and Recreation Center to take public testimony on Newberry Country: A Plan for Southern Deschutes County.1 At the conclusion of the meeting, the BOCC closed the record for oral testimony, but left the written record open until March 29 at 5:00 p.m. The BOCC is holding its second work session on the Newberry Plan on Monday, April 29 at 1:30 p.m. The purpose is to continue discussing suggested revisions raised during the BOCC’s two public hearings to determine which sections of the Plan warrant revision. Attached is a matrix that was provided to the BOCC at their first work session on April 3. It includes a column to allow staff, in certain instances, to provide additional context on a particular issue. In most cases, the potential revisions speak for themselves. Options for making minor changes to the groundwater section of the plan (page 36) will be presented on April 29. After receiving the BOCC’s direction on necessary revisions, staff will then schedule a regular meeting for the BOCC to deliberate and consider first reading of Ordinance No. 2013-007.2 1 http://www.deschutes.org/southcountyplan 2 Ordinance 2013-007 officially adopts Newberry Country: A Plan for Southern Deschutes County into the Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan. Newberry Country: A Plan for Southern Deschutes County / Potential Revisions Section Suggested Revisions Comments Introduction (page 3) Add Language: County adopts a Transferable Development Credit Program to reduce residential density in rural areas to meet the carrying capacity of onsite sewage systems and protect high priority deer migration corridors. Deschutes County Code recognizes eligible lots or parcels located in the High Priority Deer Migration Corridor Area (DCC 11.12.030B2). They are eligible to receive one-half of a TDC. Policy 2.6 (page 9) Add Policy: Policy 2.6 Partner with the real estate community and others to provide education materials for new residents and/or property owners about rural lifestyles, including: a. Non-urban levels of public services (e.g. unpaved roads); b. Fire prevention; c. Noxious weeds; d. River and groundwater management; and e. Preservation of wildlife habitat; and f. Streamside stewardship information and requirements. - Policy 2.8 (page 9) Add Policy: Policy 2.8 Support and encourage a diverse array of community partners to collaborate on comprehensive substance abuse prevention best practices. - Policy 2.9 (page 9) Add Policy: Policy 2.9 Promote community and individual engagement in comprehensive substance abuse prevention best practices as a means for promoting self-sufficiency. - Policy 2.10 (page 9) Add Policy: Policy 2.10 Cultivate an understanding of the causes of poverty and its impact on citizens and community in order to provide opportunities for citizens to move out of it - -3- Newberry Country: A Plan for Southern Deschutes County / Potential Revisions Section Suggested Revisions Comments Policy 3.1 (page 10) Add Policy: Policy 3.1 Collaborate with the South County community and City of La Pine to address: a. Business expansion and recruitment, including adding another grocery store and a movie theater; b. A 24-hour health care facility; c. Coordination among health care providers and clinics; d. Community greenhouses; e. Affordable senior housing and/or aging in place programs; f. Trail development suitable for walking, biking and equestrian use;; g. Farmer’s markets; h. Public transportation; i. La Pine Neighborhood Planning Area (the area bounded by Burgess Road, US 97, 1st Street and Huntington Road); j. Post-high school education, employment retraining, adult learning, and vocational programs; k. Meeting locations allowing for remote teleconferencing; and l. Business practices which negatively impact substance abuse; and m. Other projects as identified. - Policy 3.4 (page 10) Add Policy: Policy 3.4 Develop a master plan to address the infrastructure challenges facing the rural, undeveloped lots in southern Deschutes County - Policy 6.1 (page 12) Add Policy: Policy 6.1 Promote La Pine as a regional commercial and employment center, through concepts such as: a. Maintaining and supporting La Pine’s representation on Economic Development for Central Oregon’s (EDCO) Board; b. Coordinating as needed with EDCO, La Pine and Sunriver Chambers of Commerce, Sunriver, the City of La Pine, and others to promote economic development opportunities; and c. Collaborating with Klamath County, Gilchrest and Crescent; and d. Encourage business support and participation in substance abuse best practices which foster a successful youth and a strong employment base. - -4- Newberry Country: A Plan for Southern Deschutes County / Potential Revisions Section Suggested Revisions Comments Policy 9.2 (page 13) Corrects Typos: Conduct a joint Board of County Commissioner/Planning Commission meeting with public comments in Newberry Country on the South County/Northern Klamath County steering committee to address its recommendations. Conduct a joint Board of County Commissioner/Planning Commission meeting hearing in Newberry Country to: a. Discuss the South County/Northern Klamath County steering committee recommendations; and b. Allow for public comments. The BOCC may want to invite DEQ to participate in the hearing. Policy could be rewritten as follows: Invite the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality to participate in a joint Board of County Commissioner/Planning Commission hearing in Newberry Country to: a. Discuss the South County/Northern Klamath County steering committee recommendations; and b. Allow for public comments. Policy 12.5 (page 14) Add Policy: Policy 12.5 Encourage the use of partnering agency resources for comprehensive substance abuse prevention strategies in order to reduce impaired walking, cycling and driving. - Policy 16.7 (page 16) Add Language: Support efforts to expand recycling opportunities and community composting, including woody debris and curbside recycling, if feasible. - Policy 16.11 (page 16) Add Language: Participate in the Deschutes River Conservancy efforts to work with all partners including the U.S. Forest Service, Upper Deschutes Watershed Council and County officials in the upper Deschutes Basin on a comprehensive water management plan that restores and manages flows in the upper Deschutes River while meeting the needs of users and property owners. - Policy 16.12 (page 16) Add Policy: Policy 16.12 Consider an ordinance to limit the number of livestock allowed on small acreages in order to limit nitrates from entering the groundwater and protecting public health. - -5- Newberry Country: A Plan for Southern Deschutes County / Potential Revisions Section Suggested Revisions Comments Policy 16.13 (page 16) Add Policy: Policy 16.13 Provide information about: a. Maintaining native streamside vegetation in wetlands and floodplains to protect water quality; and b. Negative effects of fertilizers, lawns, and non-native grasses impacting wetlands, floodplains and streams. - Policy 17.2 (page 17) Add Language: Policy 17.2 Collaborate with the La Pine Park and Recreation District, community organizations, Sunriver and La Pine to provide safe and convenient river access points, including: a. Improving existing sites including those at or near Harper Bridge and Maxwell Veterans Memorial Bridge; and b. Assessing options for new or improved public locations. - Policy Topics (page 19) Change Graphic: Change the Figure 4 graphic to better reflect partnerships and collaboration - Policy Topics (page 24) Corrects Typos: Table 4 - Wildlife Area Combining Combing Zone - -6- Newberry Country: A Plan for Southern Deschutes County / Potential Revisions Section Suggested Revisions Comments Policy Topics; Groundwater Quality (page 36) Strikeout. Sentence Reads: The DEQ, the US Geological Survey and Deschutes County have determined that the safety of the groundwater in southern Deschutes and northern Klamath counties is threatened by nitrate contamination from traditional onsite septic wastewater treatment systems. The groundwater aquifer provides the drinking water source for most residents in this area. Most wells tap into an aquifer within 50 feet of the ground surface. The aquifers have no natural barriers to the ground surface and are very vulnerable to contamination from the surface. Groundwater in the southern Deschutes and northern Klamath aquifer is becoming contaminated with the nitrate at unsafe levels. Infants and pregnant or nursing women are especially vulnerable to increased nitrate levels. High levels of nitrate may also cause other health problems. To protect the quality of the drinking water in the aquifer, Deschutes County passed an ordinance in 2008 requiring upgrades on all septic systems; voters overturned the ordinance in a special election in March 2009. Deschutes County asked DEQ to take the lead to resolve the issue. Since 2010, DEQ has assembled a steering committee of community members to discuss and make recommendations to improve groundwater protection in southern Deschutes and northern Klamath counties. (http://www.deq.state.or.us/wq/onsite/sdesch-nklam.htm). This paragraph was taken directly from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s Onsite Wastewater Management Program (Septic Systems) website that focuses exclusively on S. Deschutes / N. Klamath Groundwater Protection Project. The Oregon land-use program requires findings to demonstrate consistency with the statewide planning goals and Deschutes County’s Comprehensive Plan. There is no evidence in the record to demonstrate that the safety of groundwater is not threatened by nitrate contamination from septic systems. Striking the suggested groundwater references also undermines the justification for the BLM land transfer in 1998 that led to the creation the Neighborhood Planning Area in La Pine and the transferable development credit (TDC) program. Policy Topics (page 36) Corrects Typos: Sentence Reads: South Deschutes County is known for its wildlife diversity. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife recognize the following keynote species and habitats. The first two are recognized in Deschutes County’s Wildlife Area Habitat Combining Zone. - Appendix 1 (Appendix 1- 2) Add and Strikeout Language: Support the leadership of Collaborate with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in working with the community to address groundwater protection issues - -7- Newberry Country: A Plan for Southern Deschutes County / Potential Revisions Section Suggested Revisions Comments Appendix 1 (Appendix 1- 2) Add and Strikeout Language: Control and maintain livestock manure on-site to protect water quality and take measures to ensure that it does not leach into or contaminate ground or surface water. - Appendix 2 (Appendix 2- 2) Add Language: Develop an ordinance to limit livestock numbers on small acreages Require landowners with livestock to protect stream banks and streamside vegetation Require proper agricultural use of rivers, riparian areas and wetlands to prevent water pollution - Appendix 2 (Appendix 2- 4) Reorganize: Place the theme, “Minimize Role of Government,” higher in the Appendix 2 list -