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HomeMy WebLinkAboutComp Plan CH 12Chapter 12 Urbanization Sections: 12.01 Introduction 12.02 Drawing the Urban Growth Boundary 12.03 Land Needs 12.04 Buildable Lands Inventory 12.05 Methodology 12.06 Special Cases 12.07 Drawing the Urban Growth Boundary 12.08 Description of the Urban Growth Boundary 12.09 Goal 12.10 Policies Section 12.01 Introduction The purpose of the Urbanization Element of the Comprehensive Plan is to ensure an orderly transition of land from rural to urban uses. The main tools of urbanization control in Oregon are the urban growth boundary and annexation policies. This element spells out the method and logic used in drawing the urban growth boundary and the policies the City will use when considering annexation of land within that urban growth boundary. The criteria, which are used to determine the location of the urban growth boundary, must include LCDC Goal l4 and the seven findings, which it requires. The area within the urban growth boundary, but outside the City limits, and, in some cases, areas outside the urban growth boundary, are also subject to a joint management agreement between the City and the County where both jurisdictions will be able to comment on the effect of land use decisions, while the County retains a final authority. The urban growth boundary may also determine the area in which urban facilities can be planned, such as sewer and water facilities, etc. Because of this, it forms an essential element to the Capital Improvements Program of the City. Section 12.02 Drawing the Urban Growth Boundary As mentioned before, one of the basic criteria for drawing an urban growth boundary is the seven findings required by Goal 14 - Urbanization. The findings are as follows: Demonstrated need to accommodate long-range urban population growth requirements consistent with LCDC goals. Need for housing, employment opportunities, and livability; Orderly and economic provision for public facilities and services; Maximum efficiency of land uses within and on the fringe of the existing urban area; Environmental, energy, economic, and social consequences; Retention of agricultural land as defined, with Class I being the highest priority for retention and Class VI the lowest priority; and Compatibility of the proposed urban uses with nearby agricultural activities. The general methodology used to determine the amount of land needed during the planning period has been carried out in the other elements of the Plan, most importantly the Housing and Economic Elements. The method used based land need projections on the City' s population projections. Then assumptions were made regarding such factors as the projected income of future residents, the types of housing they would need, the level of economic activity in the City, estimates of the density of housing, the number of persons per dwelling unit, and the number of employees per acre. Combining these numbers yielded an estimate of the number of acres needed for housing and economic growth in the City between the present and the year 2000. It is important to note that, because of the number of assumptions made, the level of accuracy of these projections is not great. Small changes in each of those assumptions would result in large differences in the amount of acres projected to be used by the City. Therefore, the figures are not written in stone, but are simply extrapolations of existing and past trends. Since they are only estimates, the urban growth boundary cannot be located solely to implement the estimates made in this Plan. Once the number of acres needed for urbanization has been determined, the lands in the City limits, which are suitable for development, must be determined. These lands, according to State law and City policy, are to be used first. If lands are not available in the City limits, then additional acreage must be supplied by lands presently in the County. This will help determine the eventual amount of land in the urban growth boundary. Lands, which are in the County but are presently supplied with City services and are committed to urbanization, should also be included in the urban growth boundary. From all of the above criteria, a boundary line is then drawn showing the extent of urbanization for the City. Section 12.03 Land Needs Table XII-1 shows the land needs, which have been estimated from prior elements of the Comprehensive Plan. For the specific methodology of estimating the land needs, refer to the appropriate section. Section 12.04 Buildable Lands Inventory Table XII-2 shows the buildable lands presently available in the City limits. In assessing the buildable lands in Ashland, the City used relatively conservative criteria. There are large numbers of small parcels of land which, while technically divisible under the minimum lot size criteria of the prevailing zoning in the area, probably will not be divided and not be available for buildable lands. Also, there are lands, which are too steep or are in a 100-year flood plain and will probably not be fully utilized. These lands cannot be counted as buildable lands. Therefore, the following criteria was used for establishing buildable land: All lots in areas designated single-family residential of less than one acre in size were discounted if they contained at least one single-family home. All land, which was over 40% average slope, was discounted as being not buildable. All lands within the 100-year flood plain were also discounted as being non-buildable. In addition, a large amount of land on the north side of Bear Creek presently accessed by Mountain Avenue was discounted in the buildable lands inventory. While this land is in the City limits and has been since the early 1900s, it presently contains very limited utility services and is accessed by a single unpaved road. Due to its distance from the existing urbanization in Ashland, we have not considered that this area will develop over the next 20 years unless major public expenditures are made to bring paved streets, sewer and water to this area. Therefore, in this particular instance, land was also rated as not buildable. [See Table XII-1 "Estimated Land Needs", XII-2 "Buildable Lands in City Limits", and XII-3 "Land Needed and Available in UGB" in original Comp. Plan document page XII-3.] Section 12.05 Methodology To determine the amount of buildable land, all parcels in the City were inventoried and identified by the type of land use present on the parcel. This map was finalized in January 1980, and was used as the basis for determining acreage of buildable land. The final totals shown on Table XII-2 are the City's best estimates of the lands, which are vacant and available for building sites in the City limits. Table XII-3 also shows the buildable lands minus the needs of the City, which have been identified in the Comprehensive Plan. When more land is needed than can be supplied by buildable land in the City, these needs must be met by land presently not in the City limits or, in other words, land in the urban growth boundary. Section 12.06 Special Cases Table XII-3 shows that Ashland has a great deal more land designated Low-Density Residential in the City limits than it is projected to use (about 129 acres), and more land in the urban growth boundary zoned Single-Family Residential than it is projected to use (about 114 acres). Both these special cases deserve some explanation. The City annexed a great deal of land in the early 1900s. The City limits were drawn in a large rectangle, following section and township lines rather than any specific property lines. The northwest and southwest corners of this old annexation are still visible in the present City boundaries. The northwest sector was addressed in the buildable lands inventory. The southwest sector, however, has services available to it and is largely vacant. It has very severe terrain, with slopes generally over 30%, and locally up to 100%. The hills are covered with a pine-madrone vegetation which has a great wildfire hazard. While these problems do not in all cases prevent development from occurring, they do limit density to less than two dwelling units per acre. Because of the amount of land in the City limits of this type, the land available for low-density development exceeds the projected demand. However, this does not conflict with Goal l4 (Urbanization) as they are not resource lands. Three areas have been included in the urban growth boundary as Single-Family Reserve. Two outside the City limits, (Wright's Creek area, and Crowson Road area), and one inside (North Mountain Street). This is either because the land may or will be within the service boundary of the sewer or water supply because of topographic reasons, or is already committed to development due to small parcel sizes. The North Mountain and Crowson Road areas are, for the most part, already served by City sewer and water. The areas are not needed for the projected housing demand. With the exception of these special areas, all of the land within the urban growth boundary is projected to be needed for urban uses. Section 12.07 Drawing the Urban Growth Boundary The urban growth boundary must include all land, which will be urbanized by the year 2000. Table XII-3 shows the amount of land needed in the urban growth boundary produced by the above methodology and shows the amount of land actually available in the urban growth boundary. There is a fairly close match in all of the categories except in the single-family residential areas, where there are 124 acres more than are needed, using the strict mathematical methodologies described above. However, as mentioned above, there are reasons other than the strict application of our assumptions for including land within the urban growth boundary, especially for areas which have been partially urbanized and are served by City services but are not presently in the City limits. Section 12.08 Description of the Urban Growth Boundary The Ashland Urban Growth Boundary is relatively compact for a city of its size, even for the moderate growth description of each segment of the urban growth boundary uses the points of reference in Map XII-1. Beginning at point A, which is on the north side of I-5, the urban growth boundary follows the City limits down to point B. This area is North Mountain Street, an area that is presently in a semi-rural state. While it has been in the City limits for some time, it remains sparsely developed. It is included in the urban growth boundary because of the availability of City water, sewer and electrical utilities, and its status as land committed to urban development. From point B the line leaves the City limits to enclose the area around Fordyce Street to point C. This is an area, which is highly parcelized and contains City water service. There are several houses in a rural environment in this area, and it is included as single-family residential land. The urban growth boundary then follows East Main Street, including areas, which are designated for future expansion by Southern Oregon State College, single-family residential, townhouse residential, and multi-family residential areas. Across the freeway, the urban growth boundary continues along East Main until it comes to the City's Municipal Airport and two areas reserved for expansion of the Municipal Airport. However, there are no plans for any residential development in this area. The urban growth boundary continues across the northern boundary of the Airport to point E, where it intersects Dead Indian Road. The urban growth boundary continues down Dead Indian Road to Highway 66 at point F and includes homes across from the present City limits which have water and sewer service from the City. The urban growth boundary then crosses the freeway at point G. From this point, the urban growth boundary parallels Crowson Road, including additional homes serviced by City water, to Siskiyou Boulevard, again reaching the City limits near Tolman Creek Road at point H. The area enclosed by this boundary includes land needed for economic development uses. The urban growth boundary then follows closely the City limits line, including two small areas of County land between point J and K and points L and M. The next point of departure for the urban growth boundary line is including a small area on the east side of Thornton Way starting from point N to point O. This area is included since a portion of the area has been divided in an old 1910 subdivision and contains future rights-of-way. Also, this small area can be served by existing urban facilities on Thornton Way, while expansion of the Thornton Way area will require a sewer to be placed through the middle of this area, along Wrights Creek. The urban growth boundary then includes an area, which is partially urbanized on Ashland Mine Road. From here, the urban growth boundary encloses the north Ashland area, an urbanized area in the County, which grew up around the intersection of Highway 99 and Valley View Road, with its access to the I-5 freeway. The urban growth boundary returns to the City limits at point Q. The only other departure of the urban growth boundary is point R to point S, where it includes the City's sewage treatment plant and a portion of the Bear Creek Greenway. Section 12.09 Goal It is the City of Ashland's Goal to Maintain a Compact Urban Form and to Include and Adequate Supply of Vacant Land in the City so as not to Hinder Natural Market Forces Within the City, and to Ensure and Orderly and Sequential Development of Land in the City Limits. Section 12.10 Policies The City shall strive to maintain at least a 5-year supply of land for any particular need in the City limits. The 5-year supply shall be determined by the rate of consumption necessitated in the projections made in this Comprehensive Plan. The City shall incorporate vacant land only after a showing that land of similar qualities does not already exist in the City limits, or if annexation is necessary to alleviate a probable public health hazard. The City shall enter into a cooperative agreement with Jackson County. This agreement shall designate the City's and County's joint policies for land not urbanized. Generally speaking, land not in the City' s urban growth boundary is to be maintained in a rural state. Land between the City limits and urban growth boundary is to be maintained in a rural state until annexed by the City. Urban-level development in the County, but within the urban growth boundary, is inappropriate to the needs and desires of the City of Ashland to implement its urbanization goal. The City shall develop its Capital Improvement Program to accommodate all the land within the urban growth boundary with an adequate level of urban services for the needs expressed in the City's Comprehensive Plan. Page 5 of 5