Tualatin sends stern letter to Metro
In partnership with West Linn, city says no to future plans for urbanization in Stafford area
No urbanization in the Stafford area.
That’s the message, in very clear terms, behind a letter that the cities of Tualatin and West Linn have agreed to send to Metro regarding the designation of the area around Southwest Borland Road, more than 3,900 acres, as an urban reserve.
On Monday, Nov. 23, the city council adopted a joint resolution to send the strongly worded letter to Metro, the regional government that is in the process of defining urban and rural areas which will shape development for the next several decades.
The letter comes after Clackamas County recommended the Stafford area for urbanization, and as Metro moves forward with considering the land as a designated place for dense, commercial development. The Stafford area has long been a hotspot of contention about how, exactly, it should evolve. The cities of Tualatin, West Linn and Lake Oswego have consistently been against changing the area’s status, citing extra costs for providing services combined with, they say, no clear economic benefit.
The joint resolution, which was first brought out at an Oct. 20 West Linn council meeting, was to be signed by Lake Oswego leaders as well, but at a Nov. 20 council meeting, that city did not take an official position on the letter.
“The letter is intended to make it absolutely clear, under no uncertain circumstances, that even though Clackamas County recommended an urban reserve, the cities don’t agree,” said Tualatin Mayor Lou Ogden.
The two-and-half-page letter makes several key points:
- Financing for the project doesn’t exist, and likely will never exist. Urbanizing the area would put undue hardship on the cities’ tax base.
- It would negatively impact the neighborhoods already in place, causing more traffic, and ruining the “semi-rural area with a pastoral setting” that the residents enjoy.
- The Stafford area’s natural drainage system would make development difficult, but works well as a buffer zone between cities.
- Simply, the letter states, the area “does not meet the factors necessary for designation of an urban reserve.”
Proponents of an urbanized Stafford say the location is prime for urbanization because it sits between developed areas, hugs Interstate 205 and lacks much fertile farmland. Leaders of the Stafford Hamlet also support some urban development.
Whether the letter will change the tide of Metro’s decision making regarding urban reserves is hard to tell.
“I have no idea,” Ogden said of its possible impact. “Every one of the Metro councilors I’ve talked to understands our position.”
Ogden said that Tualatin hopes to develop its own vibrant downtown, and doesn’t want to compete or see resources go to other urban development in Stafford.
“What would you make it? An East Tualatin? A West West Linn? A South Lake Oswego?” he said. “Urbanization ought to occur in cities, by cities, not counties.”