The character and livability of Odell, and hundreds of rural communities throughout the state, are being threatened with unwarranted sprawl.
Hood River County is proposing a boundary for Odell that would have seven times more housing units than are needed for population growth over the next 20 years. Simultaneously, the state is writing rules that would give county governments new powers over rural communities like Odell, Parkdale and Mt Hood, expanding their boundaries:
• to rezone and pave over our irreplaceable farm land,
• to include residential, commercial and industrial development that do not need to meet any local rural need,
• with no assurance that new housing will be affordable or be for the rural workforce,
• regardless of whether adequate water and sewer systems are in place,
• regardless of distance to an existing city,
• and all while limiting the public's right to appeal.
Rural unincorporated communities statewide could be turned into little cities, with none of what makes a city work -- infrastructure, services, and local governance and accountability. Cities are the places for a broad range and density of development, as established by Oregon's land use goals and years of planning and investment by cities and the state. Keep rural Oregon rural!
We ask that the current "Housing in Unincorporated Communities"
rulemaking be terminated.
