Earlier in the year, the Oregon Legislature passed Senate Bill 4, a controversial bill that gives Governor Kotek the ability to override local land use ordinances and designate certain lands to be brought within urban growth boundaries for specified industrial uses. SB 4 requires the governor to determine that all the vacant and underutilized lands and empty buildings inside our existing UGBs won’t work for a specific CHIPS and Science Act application.
On September 17, Governor Kotek declared her intent to bring 373 acres of rich farmland into Hillsboro's urban growth boundary as part of an application for a semiconductor research site. This declaration by the governor triggered a quick public process, a requirement that lawmakers added to the bill out of a concern for a land grab that would be contrary to regular order.
The first step in the public process was a hearing, which Governor Kotek chose not to attend, on October 10 in Hillsboro. Dozens of residents - many of them from the farming community - expressed their opposition to the proposed UGB expansion. These residents cited the rich farmland that would be converted to industrial use, while others pointed out the extensive amount of land already available within the Urban Growth Boundary. Perhaps of greatest concern is that this bill and the governor’s action is contrary to the regular order of UGB expansion. At stake is not only a process that flies in the face of land use processes that Oregonians hold dear, but also invaluable farmland that can simultaneously sequester carbon and provide habitat, crucial for the fight against climate change.
Oregon residents have only a few more days to speak out against this unprecedented land grab. We need to urge the governor to not rush this process, and make sure that she’s exhausted all other options. Read our letter to Governor Kotek and share your comments with the governor via this form courtesy of 1000 Friends of Oregon by the end of Wednesday, October 30.
