city news
Vernonia Geographic
By Benjamin Fousek
The Vernonia City Council has
approved the Economic Opportunity
Analysis (EOA) and adopted the largest
land use rezoning ever in Vernonia. This
historic event is one of many substantial
changes in Vernonia over the last few
years. The new school and extensive
flood hazard mitigation are two
immediate and highly visible changes,
however land use change is less visible,
and the effects will most likely not be
evident for years. Because of this, there
has been speculation and rumor about
why the City is making these changes
to Vernonia’s land use zoning. I’m
here to set the record straight, because
when the issue is reduced to its simplest
terms, there is only one reason the City
is making these changes.
Let’s start with some background.
The State of Oregon has some of the
most comprehensive land use laws in
the country. These laws are designed
to protect forest and farm land, and to
control urban development. Of course,
we’re talking about urban development
here in Vernonia. These laws compel
municipalities to plan for expansion well
into the future. In fact, large cities, like
Beaverton and Hillsboro are planning
as far out as 50 years with some aspects
of future expansion.
Planning out
the future of a city is complicated, but
essentially it comes down to economics
and population projections. In Vernonia
our development plan is spelled out in
the City of Vernonia Comprehensive
Plan. The Comp Plan, as it’s referred to,
details how and where we will expand,
as well as, how infrastructure (e.g.
streets, utilities, etc) will be upgraded
and expanded.
This is where the Vernonia EOA
comes into play. The EOA is an analysis,
which projects future residential,
commercial and industrial land needs
based on population projections through
2031. Based on Vernonia’s current
Spiralz Salon
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2012
land use, economic opportunity, and
population projections; the conclusion
of the Vernonia EOA is we have too
much residential land and not enough
commercial land. On top of that,
the City has bought out several flood
properties, the school and Spencer Park
swapped places, new flood zones have
been adopted, and there are many public
owned properties which are improperly
zoned, e.g. the sewer lagoons zoned as
industrial land. Throw in the fact that
historically Vernonia has not always
made the most advantageous decisions
concerning long-term planning, and it
adds up to a need for some updates to the
Comp Plan. The updates to Vernonia’s
Comp Plan accomplish the following:
1. Rezone flood constrained lands from
residential, commercial and industrial
zones to a public zone.
2. Rezone public owned lands, which
are improperly zoned for the current use
to a public zone.
3. Rezone appox. 3.4 acres from
9
a residential zone to Downtown
commercial zone to increase future
business opportunities.
There is a singular reason why
we built the new school, and have taken
flood hazard mitigation so seriously. And
it’s the same reason the City of Vernonia
is making changes to its land use zoning:
to ensure the long-term viability of
this community, and the success of its
citizens. What Vernonia looks like in
5, 10, or 15 years from now is anyone’s
guess, however we must put ourselves
in the position to take advantage of
future economic opportunities, and
align our land use planning with state-
level planning goals designed to help us
develop those opportunities when they
arise.
Benjamin Fousek is the owner/operator
of Triangle GIS. He can be reached at
541-954-7075 or ben.fousek@gmail.
com.
Happy Holidays
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throughout your
holiday season.
From Dr. Carol
and Kimberly
Wishes you a
Happy
Holiday!
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