Oregon Public Broadcasting

Thursday night, while many people were at home watching the vice presidential debate, more than 100 central Oregonians were sitting in a gym, contemplating the future of the state’s one-of-a-kind land use laws. Central Oregon correspondent Ethan Lindsey reports.

Even those who made it to the meeting weren’t able to completely tear themselves away from the debate between Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, and Delaware Senator Joe Biden.

In the parking lot of the Bend Armory, 30 minutes before the tenth and final scheduled “Big Look” task force meeting, at least ten people are sitting in their cars, with the radios turned up.

Inside, even though more than 100 people showed up, organizers say there could have been more.

Gretchen Palmer: “And thank you all for showing up tonight, I know there’s a lot of competition, there’s another debate going on tonight.”

Gretchen Palmer is the principal broker of Palmer Home Sales in Bend, and one of the “Big Look” task force members.

The “Big Look” task force is a group of ten Oregonians appointed by the Governor three years ago.

Their job is to review Oregon’s land use planning system, and then make recommendations that might change the 35-year-old framework.

They say this meeting is especially consequential, because afterwards they will start drawing real conclusions.

Landowners worry the state will further reduce their ability to sell or build on their property.

Bill Robie is watching those kinds of changes. He's the governmental affairs representative for the Central Oregon Association of Realtors. 

He says he wasn’t even listening to the V-P debate, but was focused on the Oregon State football game. Still, the "big look" trounced the Beavers’ game.

Bill Robie: “I certainly hope that this is a priority for most people in Oregon. This is a critical issue I think for people in central Oregon. Because the importance of the land use laws going forward to the future growth we anticipate in a high growth area like Central Oregon.”

Conservationists worry the state will allow more subdivisions, developments, and destination resorts.

Gretchen Palmer is the only task force representative from central Oregon.

Gretchen Palmer: “What we are hearing a lot of is ‘one size does not fit all’ and that’s been a theme since the very first day that we met. There are regional areas with regional concerns, and that is one thing that has carried through from one side of the state to the other.”

Central Oregon is ground zero for the state’s growth.

Since 1990, the population of central Oregon’s Deschutes County has doubled, according the U.S. Census bureau.

And here a lot of the criticism is leveled at ‘destination resorts’ that bypass many of the state’s land use laws.

Neil Chase is a property owner who says he couldn’t grow anything on his land and so turned it into the Eagle Crest destination resort, west of Redmond.

He echoed the sentiments of many developers.

Neil Chase: “It seems all the regulations come from – and I blame – the Valley, the flatlanders. They control what we do over here. They try to make one law that fits everything. I think the counties that answer to the people, with whom they live, should make the decision, and not someone across the mountains, in the event that they come to central Oregon, want to see things as they were.”

But then, Crook County planning commissioner Kim Kambak expressed the concerns of many anti-growth locals.

Kim Kambak: “There’s something that we love about this place and we all know what it is but it’s very hard to describe it. But I want to see Oregon land use laws stay firm and strong so that Oregon stays Oregon.”

In all cities, and at all the meetings, the task force was criticized for considering whether to shift some land use decisions from the state to the local level. 

Also, just as Portland and Willamette Valley residents complained about the lack of public involvement – central Oregonians said they felt the whole process has been too closed.

As the meeting wrapped up, many people rushed out the doors to get home and watch the vice presidential debate they recorded.

One attendee was overheard saying, ‘Thank goodness for Tivo.’

In this vacuum, no one knew who had “won” or “lost” the vice presidential debate.

But task force member and Metro Council David Bragdon says there aren’t necessarily any winners or losers in the land use debate.

David Bragdon: “I think there are two sides, in that there are two camps of interest groups with different points of view. But I actually think there is a conflict in most Oregonians’ own minds in that most Oregonians say they like to have planning, and they like to have some sense that there’s a community good. But by a similar margin they believe in the ability to ‘I want to do what I want with my property.’”

After this, the final scheduled public hearing, the Big Look task force will draft its official proposal.

And that report will be given to the state Legislature next year.