** CFF Activities
-- Casino Information Web Page
-- Florence Comp Plan Sent to DLCD
** Links
-- OLCV Website - New Legislative District Lookup
--  New Legislative District Maps
** Other Info
-- Friends of Yamhill County Wins Case
-- Curcio Named New DLCD Director
-- Salem City Council Considers Ethics Standard
-- Oregonians in Action Working with Sizemore
-- Eugene Groups Hold Citizens' State of the City
** National
-- Sprawl is Bad for Workers, AFL-CIO Resolves
** Upcoming Events

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** CFF ACTIVITIES **

-- CASINO INFORMATION WEB PAGE - The recent proposal to build an Indian casino near Florence has raised many questions.  CFF will be providing information and background on the subject on our web page.  A comment page will also be added to the site.

-- FLORENCE COMP PLAN SENT TO DLCD - The City Council  adopted the Comp Plan with relatively few changes from the previous draft.  However, one major change included the addition of over 160 more acres into the Urban Growth Boundary to accommodate a proposed Indian Casino.  The public was never allowed opportunity to comment on this change. CFF will be sending an objection on this issue, and others, to the DLCD. CFF's comments on previous draft:

-- OREGONIANS IN ACTION WORKING CLOSELY WITH SIZEMORE -  Bill Sizemore and his allies collected the required signatures for five initiatives recently filed by Oregonians In Action to destroy the land use planning program as we know it (petitions #156-160). The ongoing relationship is not surprising, given Sizemore and OIA worked together to place Measure 7 on the ballot. Read about the initiatives

** LINKS **

-- OLCV WEBSITE - NEW LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT LOOKUP - A quick and easy way to find out who their elected officials are under the new districts.  Just type in your zip code.  http://www.olcv.org/leglookup/

--  NEW LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT MAPS - The Secretary of State's web site provides maps of the districts:
http://www.sos.state.or.us/elections/other.info/maps.html

** OTHER INFO **

-- FRIENDS OF YAMHILL COUNTY WIN CASE - In December 2001, LUBA handed a key victory to Friends of Yamhill County, 1000 Friends of Oregon, DLCD and the Community Development Law Center when it ruled that McMinnville had improperly adopted Plan Amendments that would lead to a subsequent UGB expansion.

State law requires any UGB amendment larger than 50 acres to be submitted to DLCD for review.  McMinnville had sought to circumvent this requirement by adopting a land needs analysis that claimed a need to expand the UGB by 860 acres, with the actual location of the expansion to be decided later. They argued this was not subject to DLCD review since it didn't actually amend the boundary.  The various appellants, who had raised numerous objections to the size of the projected land deficit, argued that this piecemeal  approach illegally circumvented state review of assumptions and methodology and prevented local decision-makers and citizens from understanding the on-the-ground implications of the city's analysis.

1000 Friends staff attorney  Mary Kyle McCurdy, who represented Friends of Yamhill County, 1000 Friends, and the Community Development Law Center, said prior to the decision that if McMinnville prevailed in carving out a loophole, other jurisdictions would move to also use it as a means to avoid meaningful review by the public and DLCD.

-- CURCIO NAMED NEW DLCD DIRECTOR - The Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) announced last Friday that Paul Curcio (COOR-cho) of Thousand Oaks, California is the new Director of Oregon's Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD).  Curcio will start on February 1. He has led strategic and collaborative efforts for public agencies at the state, city, county, and special district level throughout California. He has more than twenty years of senior executive experience working in planning. http://www.lcd.state.or.us/

-- SALEM CITY COUNCIL CONSIDERS ETHICS STANDARD - The Salem City Council took initial steps to refer to the voters an improved ethical standard for land use decisionmakers.  The proposal, which may be sent to  Salem voters on the May 2002 ballot, would prohibit local officials from voting on land development decisions when large campaign contributions, or business or family relationships, might create the impression that they have a conflict of interest.  The  effort is opposed by the Marion-Polk Building Industry Association.  http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=35923

CFF proposed including a required ethics training session for all city councilors and planning commissioners in Florence in the recently updated comprehensive plan, but no action was taken by the City of Florence.

-- EUGENE GROUPS HOLD CITIZENS’ STATE OF THE CITY- Last week, Friends of Eugene and Citizens for Public Accountability held a “Citizens' State of the City Address” to highlight some of the progressive activities going on in the city and stress the importance of citizen involvement. Over 100 people showed up.  http://www.registerguard.com/news/20020112/1b.cr.alternativespeech.0112.html

**  NATIONAL **

-- SPRAWL IS BAD FOR WORKERS, AFL-CIO RESOLVES The AFL-CIO passed its first-ever resolution on urban sprawl and smart growth at its national convention in Las Vegas last December. The resolution  links sprawl to the many ills harming working families, reminds us all that some unions have been doing things for decades that are now called "smart growth," and authorizes the federation's leadership to weigh in on the rapidly-emerging smart growth debate. http://www.sprawlwatch.org/unionresolution.html

** UPCOMING EVENTS **

-- CFF's UPDATE Calendar

** CFF Activities
-- CFF Files Objections to Florence Comp Plan Update
** Links
-- Salem Watch
-- OSU Extension Services' Sustainability Publication
** Other Info
-- All About "Green Infrastructure"
-- 275-Acre Salem Site Goes for Sustainable Development
** Upcoming Events
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** CFF ACTIVITIES **

-- CFF FILES OBJECTIONS TO FLORENCE COMP PLAN UPDATE -- CFF objected to expansion of the Urban Growth Boundary, increasing traffic in front of four schools, and encouraging sprawl along Hwy 101. CFF also suggested creation of a Wellhead Protection Plan for the community's water supply, a Living Wage Ordinance, creation of Neighborhood Nodes, a Dune Transition Plan, public ownership of land for community wells, and re-development of existing commercial and residential lands.  This level of "objection" goes to the director at Dept. of Land Conservation and Development first. If CFF does not agree with the Director's decisions after he reviews our objectoins, then the next level of appeal would be to the Commission for the DLCD. All objections are due to the DLCD office within 21 days after the date the city's notice was mailed (January 18, 2002).
CFF Specific Objections
CFF General Objections

** LINKS **

-- SALEM WATCH - An electronic bulletin produced by  the Oregon Conservation Network (a statewide consortium of conservation groups). The bulletin appears monthly save when the legislature is in session, when it  appears weekly.  To subscribe, send a message to  ocn@olcv.org and ask to be placed on the list.

-- OSU EXTENSION SERVICE’S SUSTAINABILITY PUBLICATION -  "Looking for Oregon's Future: What is Sustainability?"  is on the web, including interactive quiz to test readers' knowledge of sustainability issues.

** OTHER INFO **

 -- ALL ABOUT “GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE” - Green Infrastructure is our nation's natural life support system - an interconnected network of protected land and water that supports native species, maintains natural ecological processes, sustains air and water resources and contributes to the health and quality of life for America's communities people. More about all  the pieces:

-- 275-ACRE SALEM SITE GOES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - Sustainable Fairview Associates, a group led by Willamette University professor Russ Beaton and Salem land use consultant Tony Nielsen, recently won the right to negotiate the purchase of the former Fairview  Training Center.  Governor Kitzhaber decided to negotiate a final agreement for the state-owned 275-acre Fairview Training Center land, which has been dormant since the last mentally disabled resident moved out nearly two years ago.  He selected the Beaton-Nielsen team over a competing bid. Beaton is an active member of Friends of Marion County and Nielsen was 1000 Friends’ 2000 Developer of the Year.  They have pledged to make the development a model of sustainability.    http://news.statesmanjournal.com/article.cfm?i=35767

** UPCOMING EVENTS **

-- CFF's UPDATE Calendar