OAR 660-021-0030: Determination of Urban Reserve Areas

(1) A city considering adopting or amending an urban reserve area (URA) shall include an amount of land estimated to be at least a 20-year supply and no more than a 30-year supply of developable land beyond the 20-year time frame used to establish the urban growth boundary (UGB). Local governments designating a URA shall adopt findings specifying the particular number of years over which designated URAs are intended to provide a supply of land. (2) Inclusion of land within a URA shall be based upon the locational factors of Goal 14 and a demonstration that there are no reasonable alternatives that will require less, or have less effect upon, resource land. Cities and counties cooperatively, and the Metropolitan Service District for the Portland Metropolitan Area Urban Growth Boundary, shall first study lands adjacent to, or nearby, the urban growth boundary for developability for inclusion within URAs, as measured by the factors and criteria set forth in this section. Local governments shall then designate, for inclusion within URAs, that land which is appropriate and satisfies the priorities in section (4) of this rule. (3) Land found appropriate for an urban reserve area may consider factors including, but not limited to, whether land proposed for designation as a URA, alone or in conjunction with land inside the UGB: (a) Can be developed at urban densities in a way that makes efficient use of existing and future public infrastructure investments; (b) Includes sufficient development capacity to support a healthy urban economy; (c) Can be served by public schools and other urban-level public facilities and services efficiently and cost-effectively by appropriate and financially capable service providers; (d) Can be designed to be walkable and served by a well-connected system of streets by appropriate service providers; (e) Can be designed to preserve and enhance natural ecological systems; and (f) Includes sufficient land suitable for a range of housing types. (4) Priority of land for inclusion in a URA. After consideration of the factors in section (3) of this rule, if land of higher priority is inadequate to accommodate the amount of land need estimate in section (1) of this rule, the next priority for inclusion shall be according to the following order of priority: (a) First Priority is land within the study area that is subject to an acknowledged exception under ORS 197.732 or land that is nonresource land as defined in OAR 660-021-0010(3). (A) First priority may include resource land that is completely surrounded by exception areas unless these are high value crop areas as defined in Goal 8 or prime or unique agricultural lands as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA); (B) First priority land may be given lower priority compared to other nonresource land or land within an exception area if the land contains planned developments or subdivisions with a subdivision plat, as defined in ORS 92.010(18). (b) Second Priority is land within the study area that is designated as marginal land under former ORS 197.247 (1991 edition) in an acknowledged comprehensive plan; (c) Third Priority is land within the study area that is designated for forest or agriculture, or both, in an acknowledged comprehensive plan and is not predominantly high-value farmland or high-value forestland as defined in ORS 195.300. Higher priority shall be given to land of lower capability as measured by the capability classification system or by cubic foot site class, whichever is appropriate for the current use. (d) Fourth Priority is land within the study area that is designated for forest or agriculture, or both, in an acknowledged comprehensive plan and is predominantly high-value farmland or high-value forestland as defined in ORS 195.300, except land that is predominantly made up of prime or unique farm soils as defined by the USDA NRCS. Higher priority shall be given to land of lower capability as measured by the capability classification system or by cubic foot site class, whichever is appropriate for the current use. (e) Fifth priority is land within the study area that is predominantly made up of prime or unique farm soils, as defined by the USDA NRCS. A city must find that there is an insufficient amount of other land to satisfy its land need in order to include land predominantly made up of prime or unique farm soils within a UGB. (5) Land of higher priority under section (4) of this rule may be assigned lower priority if: (a) Provision of future urban services, as defined in ORS 195.065, is not reasonable or cost effective due to existing topographical or other physical constraints including built constraints. (b) Maximum efficiency of land uses within a proposed URA requires inclusion of lower priority lands in order to include or to provide services to higher priority lands. (6) Findings and conclusions concerning the results of the consideration required by this rule shall be adopted by the affected jurisdictions.