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HomeMy WebLinkAbout88-03488-27990 _ BEFORE THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF DESCHUTES COUNTY, OREGON An Ordinance Amending Ordinance No. PL -20, the Deschutes County Year 2000 Comprehensive Plan, As Amended to Take an Exception to Statewide Land Use Planning Goal 3,* to Change the Designation of Cer- * `'094 16! tain Property From EFU-40 to Rural * ,� Industrial With a Limited Use Com- * bining Zone, and Declaring an Emergency. ORDINANCE NO. 88-034 WHEREAS, the Oregon Military Department proposed the redes- ignation of certain property from EFU-40 to Rural Industrial with a Limited Use Combining Zone; and WHEREAS, such redesignation requires the taking of an exception to Statewide Land Use Planning Goal 3; and WHEREAS, notice of hearing was given in accordance with law; and WHEREAS, the Hearings Officer held a hearing on the proposed goal exception and redesignation of property on September 20, 1988; and WHEREAS, the Hearings Officer recommended the proposed goal exception and redesignation of property by decision dated September 26, 1988; and WHEREAS, the decision of the Hearings Officer has not been appealed; now, therefore, THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF DESCHUTES COUNTY, OREGON, ORDAINS as follows: Section 1. An exception to Statewide Land Use Planning Goal 3 is hereby adopted for the property described in Exhibit "A", attached hereto and by this reference incorporated herein, and depicted on the map marked Exhibit "B", attached hereto and by this reference incorporated herein. Section 2. Ordinance No. PL -20, the Deschutes County Year 2000 Comprehensive Plan, as amended, is further amended to redesignate that certain property described in Exhibit "A", and depicted on the map marked Exhibit "B", from EFU-40 to Rural Industrial with a Limited Use Combining Zone. 1 - ORDINANCE NO. 8,$-03.4 �,JO 0 Section 3. The Board of County Commissioners adopts as its reasons for the taking of an exception to the goal, and as its findings and conclusions in support of the plan amendment, the Findings and Decision of the Hearings Officer, dated September 26, 1988, relating to Plan Amendment Application No. PA -88-1, marked Exhibit "C", attached hereto and by the reference incor- porated herein. Section 4. This Ordinance being necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency is declared to exist, and this Ordinance takes effect on its passage. a DATED this tu day of INAIe4aL4; '1988. BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF DESCHUT�S COUNTY,;? OREGON S_j5RTSj0W PRANTE, Commissioner ATT ./ TOM' THROOP C issioner Recording Secretary D MAUDLIN, Chairman 2 - ORDINANCE NO. 88-034 EXHIBIT "A" 0094 0661 PROPERTY DESCRIPTION That portion of the Northeast one-quarter of Section 23, Township 15 South, Range 13 East of the Willamette Meridian, lying easterly of the East boundary of the Redmond Municipal Airport (Roberts Field) and being the Easterly 1337.8 feet, more or less, of the Northeast one-quarter of Section 23, Township 15 South, Range 13 East of*the Willamette Meridian, Deschutes County, Oregon. Excepting therefrom the following described parcel: Beginning at the Northeast corner of said Section 23; thence Southerly along the East line of said Section, 1086 feet, more or less; thence leaving said section line South 60. 310 001v West 1540 feet, more or less, to a point on the East boundary of the Redmond Municipal Airport (Roberts Field); thence Northerly along said boundary 1845 foot, more or less, to the northeast corner of said Airport property, said point also being on the North line of said Section 23; thence Easterly 1337.8 feet, more or less, to the Northeast corner of said Section 23, said corner being the point of begin- ning and terminus of this description. MAP _< i� EXHIBIT "B" C6 10'k A 9 13 MAP 1 LOCATION OF SUBJECT PROPERTY EXHIBIT "C" FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION FILE NOS. PA -88-1 and ZC-88-4 APPLICANT: Oregon Military Department Fairgrounds Road, N. E. Salem, OR 97303-3241 d®94 0663 REQUEST: The application for a zone change to amend the Designation on the subject parcel from Agricultural to Rural Industrial with a limited use combining zone. PLANNING STAFF REPRESENTATIVE: Mark D. Shipman BURDEN OF PROOF: The applicant must establish that the plan amendment conforms with the State of Oregon State-wide Land Use Goals and the Oregon Administrative Rules, and in particular Rule 660-04-020 regarding exceptions to Planning Goal No. -- 3 of the Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan and the Deschutes County Zoning Ordinance. PRELIMINARY FINDINGS 1. LOCATION: The subject parcel is located east of the Redmond Airport and south of U. S. Highway 126, and is further described as Tax Lot 116 in Township 15 South, Range 13 East, Section 23. 2. ZONE: The present zoning of the property is EFU-40, Exclusive Farm Use, and is designated as Agriculture on the Deschutes County Comprehensive Plan. HEARING AND EXHIBITS The hearing was held on the above -referenced application on September 20, 1988, at the Deschutes County Administration Building. The following exhibits make up the record in this matter: A. Application; B. Burden of Proof Statement; C. Cascade Earth Sciences letter dated July 13, 1988; D. Military Department letter dated July 20, 1988; and E. Staff Report. -1- FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION File Nos. PA -88-4 and ZC-88-4 FINDINGS OF FACT For purposes of this recommendation, the following Findings shall apply to both the plan amendment and zone change: 1. The subject parcel is approximately 35 acres in size. It was created prior to 1977 and is considered a Lot of Record. The topography is generally level with a vegetative covering of juniper trees, sagebrush and native grasses. The soils classification on the parcel is scabland (VIIIs), Redmond loam (IV E) and Deschutes sandy loam, stoney (VI E). There is an existing access road which extends south from Highway 126 which provides access to the current Central Oregon Unit Training Equipment Site (COUTES) west of the parcel. 2. Land uses in the surrounding area consist of the Redmond Airport and City limits to the west, the existing COUTES facility is directly west on leased land from the City. To the north is vacant land owned by the City of Redmond, further north is a large vacant parcel (580 acres plus or minus) owned by Deschutes County, to the northeast, east and south is BLM land, of which the National Guard leases 31,000 acres via a special land use permit for infantry maneuvers and other military activities. 3. The applicant intends to construct a 16,000 square foot maintenance shop, a 25 meter baffled firing range for small arms weapons, and a 17,500 square foot barracks on the subject parcel. 4. These facilities are intended to compliment the existing COUTES facility to the west and the training area to the south and east. The COUTES facility has been in operation since 1974, and the Oregon National Guard has used this area for military purposes since 1974. This Plan Amendment application is meant to change the Comprehensive Plan designation on the site from Agriculture to Rural Industrial. 5. The establishment, use and maintenance of a land extensive military training site is not addressed in the land use planning goals of the State of Oregon or land use regulations of local governments. As a result, consideration of such military land uses, which must normally be located in rural areas designated for resource use, does not fit within the normal context of land use planning philosophies or controls. -2- FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION File Nos. PA -88-4 and ZC-88-4 0094 0665 The "unique resource" upon which the proposed development is significantly dependent is the training site itself. In order to be functional, the training site must be a large area of land which is suitable and available for military uses, consists of a large, single parcel of land or contiguous small parcels of land, and is capable of accommodating training activities and required support facilities. When combined, such facilites form an operation unit which is capable of functioning efficiently and. maintaining security by a degree of isolation. 6. As indicated earlier, this "training site", which includes the UTES, the 31,000 acre training area leased from the BLM, and the subject property, is considered one operating unit. The use of each property relates to and supports the use of the other lands. As a whole, the military use of this land is not considered an urban land use and should not be located within an urban growth boundary. Although the function of the UTES as an equipment maintenance and repair facility is similar to other equipment maintenance and repair facilities generally allowed in urban industrial districts, the size of the operation (80 tracked vehicles), the requirement for a large equipment storage area, and the requirement to have other attendant military functions and activities located at the same site require a rural setting. The maintenance and repair of tracked vehicles requires a readily available and easily accessible testing area. Such area is not easily found in an urban setting. The conduct of such testing for a large number of vehicles, on a gravel or dirt surface, and without conventional exhaust systems, cannot normally occur without creating conflicts with urban uses. As a result, it is prudent to locate this use in a relatively isolated environment, or in an area where the activity is more compatible with adjacent uses of land. Other military activities, such as tactical training with tracked vehicles, firing of weapons with live or blank ammunition, and other land extensive activities (eg. infantry tactical training) are not urban uses of land and cannot be supported within an urban area or Urban Growth Boundary. The performance of such soldier training tasks, which can occur during the day or at night, have proven to be incompatible with urban uses in other areas of the state and country, especially with residential and other noise sensitive land uses. -3- FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION File Nos. PA -88-4 and ZC-88-4 7. The City of Redmond land use regulations currently contain no provision for military uses of this type. Discussion with City staff indicates that the City does not consider the proposd uses to be appropriate within the Redmond "urbanizing" area. 8. The comparative advantage of using the subject property for the uses identified above relates to its location in relationship to the training site and COUTES. The equipment maintenance and storage facility must be close to the training area, which has been in operation for about 30 years. Due to land ownership patterns in the vicinity, the only alternative sites are public lands, under ownership of the City of Redmond, Deschutes County, State of Oregon or the BLM. Except for the subject property, none of these other properties are available for the type of development proposed and, thus, cannot be considered for the proposed development. 9. A second comparative advantage to this site is its location in a rural setting but contiguous to the urban area and the Airport, with minimal potential for conflict with urban uses. This situation exists because the facility is relatively isolated by a location at the extreme east end of the urban area, having no access from the west side, and nearly one-half mile south of Highway 126. These factors combine to create a nearly ideal location for the facility. 10. A third comparative advantage to the proposed site is a positive economic benefit which will occur in the community as the result of the proposed actions when compared with the loss of agricultural productivity by the conversion of this land. The soil composition of the subject property, without the capability of crop irrigation, results in almost no productive resource value which may be attributed to the site. This conclusion is verified by the special soils survey conducted on the property for the Military Department. If a resource value is recognized, the land capability is limited to that of marginal grazing land. According to the. BLM information for this area, the land has a grazing capacity which generally requires 16 acres to support one animal per month (equals one Animal Unit Month). BLM charges $1.85 per AUM, which correlates to $22.20 per year, or a value of $1.39 per acre per year. On the other hand, National Guard activity results in short and long term generation of the following approximate monetary impacts in Deschutes County: -4- FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION File Nos. PA -88-4 and ZC-88-4 SALARIES Federal Dollars State Dollars National Guard Pay Supplies and Services $ 396,000/yr. -0- 122,000/yr 58,500/yr Proposed Improvements $1,650,000 Using a multiplier of 1.66, the proposed construction will have an economic benefit to the local area of $2,739,000 over the next five years. Although it is difficult to determine an exact value for federal dollars imported to the area by operation of COUTES and the training site, if the value were half of the federal dollars attributed to the National Guard in Deschutes County, continued operation of the site at its current level would result in an additional economic benefit to the area of $288,250 annually. Although the expenditure of funds for construction of the proposed facilities is a no -time benefit which will dramatically increase monies spent at the facility over the short term (less than five years), the continued operation of the training site will have a long term benefit to Deschutes County. This benefit is expected to grow as the use of the training facilities increases, a result of enhanced training opportunities from development of the proposed projects. 11. There are only three types of land which could accommodate the proposed development without the requirement for a new exception. They are non -resource areas which would not require an exception, resource land that is committed to non -resource use and for which an exception has already been taken by the County, or urban lands within an Urban Growth Boundary. Areas within the vicinity which do not require a new exception are limited to those lands within the Redmond Urban Growth Boundary, since no lands have been identified as "committed" and there are no areas outside the UGB that are not designated for resource use. Considering the fact that the National Guard training facility must be maintained as a single unit, the search for an alternate site for the proposed improvements must be limited to the area east of the City of Redmond. In this case, the Redmond Urban Growth Boundary and City limits line coincide with the western boundary of the subject property, and extend northward to Highway 126, southward along the same line for a distance of 2500+ feet and then westerly from that point. All land within the UGB in this vicinity is owned by the City of -5- FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION File Nos. PA -88-4 and ZC-88-4 Redmond. In order to spend federal construction funds, the Military Department is required to own the land or obtain a 50 year lease from the property owner. Since the City owns all the land in the area which is inside the City limits and UGB, such a lease would be required. According to the City staff, the City of Redmond is unwilling to allow a large amount of urbanizable industrial land to be used for uses deemed to be non- urban in nature. 12. No long term, adverse environmental, economic, social or energy consequences are expected to occur by the construction of proposed training site improvements on the subject property. In fact, positive economic, social and energy consequences can be expected to occur as the result of the continued operation of this facility. The potential for environmental impacts has been recognized, but is expected to be minimal at the subject property. The land has limited agricultural value and can be used for non-farm uses with little impact to the environment or to the agricultural base of the County. This would not always be the case, because an alternative site could be part of commercial farm operation or the soils might be better suited to agricultural use. Some wildlife habitat value must also be attributed to the area, although the site is adjacent to the Redmond urban area and no unique, significant or threatened habitat values have been identified. The variety and frequency of public activities in the area have already degraded the quality of the existing habitat. As a result, the continuation of current activities at this site in improved facilities will have no significant impact to the remaining wildlife habitat. If other suitable lands were available in the area, it is not expected that such development would have significant long term, adverse impacts on those lands, although the positive impacts attributable to an adjacent site would not be as great. In addition, another location could result in conflicts with urban or some rural land uses. As a result, a finding can be made that less potential for adverse impacts exists on the subject property and, therefore, the proposed site is preferred over other lands in the area requiring a goal exception. -b- FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION File Nos. PA -88-4 and ZC-88-4 13. The location of an equipment maintenance and storage facility at a site which is not contiguous to the training area would require the continual transportation of equipment to the training site and heavily impact on available troop training time. An average weekend training session, which occurs two to three times per month, requires the use of 25 to 30 tracked vehicles which would have to be hauled by heavy equipment movers from the storage facility to the training site and back. This action would require significant transport fuel and other costs, conflicting with energy conservation goals and policies, and could negatively impact transportation in the area during certain periods of time. BASED UPON the foregoing Findings of Fact, the Hearings Officer concludes: 1. The subject parcel has no significant revenue value and does not meet the definition of agricultural land under the Goals and Guidelines of the State of Oregon. 2. The -operational characteristics of the proposed use are such that a rural setting is required as opposed to an urban setting. 3. The proposed development conforms to the criteria in OAR 660-04-020 for allowing a reasonable exception to be taken and allowing a non-agricultural use to be established. The development also conforms to the criteria in OAR 660-04-022 ( 3 ) to allow allow rural and industrial development of property outside an Urban Growth Boundary. Subsection (L) of the rural industrial zone does allow these types of uses outright and would be an appropriate zone in conjunction with this plan amendment. BASED UPON the above Findings and Conclusions, the Hearings Officer hereby RECOMMENDS APPROVAL of the plan amendment and zone change subject to the following conditions: 1. That the applicant submit a site plan review application for the proposed uses as stated in their Burden of Proof Statement. DATED and MAILED this 26th day of September, 1988. /s/ EDWARD P. FITCH EDWARD P. FITCH Hearings Officer cc: BOCC Deschutes County Planning Director Deschutes County Planning Commission -7- FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATION File Nos. PA -88-4 and ZC-88-4