Metro Mapping System Allows Online Lookup of Urban and Rural Reserves

By Eric Mortenson
The Oregonian
July 28, 2010

Property owners who wonder if their land is included in Metro's proposed urban or rural reserves now have an easy way to check.

The regional government has tweaked its on-line tool to allow people to quickly find out if they are inside the current urban growth boundary or are part of an urban or rural reserve.

Metro sets the urban growth boundary for the tri-county Portland area. Every five years, Metro figures out how many acres are needed to maintain a 20-year supply of land for housing and jobs, and expands the growth boundary accordingly. Land inside the boundary can be developed if owners choose; land outside is reserved for farming or forestry. The next round of expansion is scheduled for 2011.

Metro and its partner counties -- Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington -- sought to ease the argument that often accompanies UGB expansion by designating urban and rural reserves in advance. Slightly more than 28,000 acres were designated as urban reserves -- the areas where the growth boundary will be expanded over the next 40 to 50 years. The reserves designations aren't yet final; they'll be reviewed by the state this fall and more than 45 objections have been filed by cities, conservation groups, farm organizations and business entities.