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When can a farmer
not farm his land? When the Columbia River Gorge Commission says
so. OIA is working for a
property owner who owns land in east Multnomah County. The property is within
the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Because of its location with the
Scenic Area, the Columbia River Gorge Commission, along with Multnomah County,
have zoning authority over the property. Multnomah County and
the Gorge Commission have zoned the property as farmland. Obviously, the
primary use for land zoned farmland is farming. The property
owner has used the property for horse boarding for years. Under Oregon law,
boarding horses is considered a farm use. In fact, the Oregon legislature (not
LCDC) first defined farm use in the early 1960's, as a way to ensure that a
uniform definition of farming applied across the state. That means that in
every part of the state, boarding horses is considered a farm use, just like
growing wheat, harvesting apples, or ranching cattle or
sheep. But not in the Gorge
Scenic Area. The Gorge Commission
has determined that it is not subject to state law, and is not bound by the
definition of farm use that has existed in Oregon law for half a
century. According to the
Gorge Commission, when the legislatures of Oregon and Washington signed the
Gorge Compact (a bi-state agreement between the two states that created the
Gorge Commission) in 1987, each state lost the ability to control land uses in
the Scenic Area, on any land - federal, state, local, or
private. This isn't federal
government planning - the Gorge Commission is not a federal agency. But it's
not state planning, or local planning either. In fact, despite the
fact that the Gorge Commission receives its funding from the Oregon and
Washington legislatures (in other words from your tax dollars), the Gorge
Commission believes that it answers to no one, not even the state
legislature.
Unfortunately
for our property owner, the Gorge Commission does not believe that boarding
horses is a farm use. As a result, our property owner cannot board horses
unless he applies for a conditional use permit, which costs thousands of dollars
and which he may or may not receive.
This makes no
sense. Farmers across the state have relied on the legislature to provide them
with a uniform definition of farm use. Farmers in the Gorge Scenic Area should
be able to farm their land in the same way as farmers in every other part of the
state.
But the scary part
is that the Gorge Commission believes it can ignore the Oregon legislature and
the Washington legislature, while at the same time sticking its hand out and
demanding that the two states fund its activities.
Fortunately, there
is a solution, but it will require courage from our state leaders.
The Oregon and
Washington legislatures can and should make changes to the Gorge Compact -
changes that will make the Gorge Commission accountable to legislators in both
states. The legislatures of
each state can accomplish these changes by agreeing on the changes, and then
passing identical legislation in each state. Starting in January,
Oregonians In Action will be working with members of the Oregon
legislature (from both parties) to make these changes. In addition, we are
making contact with Washington legislators to do the same. With effort,
persistence, and dedication, we're hoping to convince the legislatures of each
state of the importance to restore some control to each state over zoning and
planning in the Gorge Scenic Area. It makes no sense
for our state officials to turn over complete control of planning and zoning to
an unelected commission who thumbs their nose at them, all the while demanding
state tax dollars. It's time to fix this problem.
Dave Hunnicutt
President
Oregonians In Action |
