FYC fall-2015-newsletter

Working to enhance the quality of life in urban and rural communities of Yamhill County by
protecting family farms and forests and conserving natural and scenic areas
FALL 2015
Climate Change and More at
FYC meeting, Monday, November 16th
T
he next FYC meeting is Monday, November 16 at
the Babica Hen in Dundee. Social time begins at
5:30 pm, with dinner at 6:00. The FYC meeting
begins at 7 pm.
Darrin Sharp from OSU’s Oregon Climate Change
Research Institute will be our featured speaker.
The Institute facilitates research on the effect of
climate on Oregon. Darrin has a BS and MS in
Computer Science from the University of Illinois, and
an MS in Ecology from Colorado State University.
His expertise includes interpreting global climate
models to assess regional impacts. His insights into
what’s in store for the Pacific Northwest are sure to
be provocative.
We will also be electing board members and will
provide other issue updates, including the outcome
of the appeal of the Riverbend Landfill expansion.
Dinner reservations must be made with Ilsa Perse by
November 12, [email protected]. Cost is $22.50.
Space is limited, so get your reservations in early.
(Specify vegetarian or meat option.)
If you do not have reservations for dinner, please
arrive for the meeting no earlier than 6:45 pm.
5:30- 6:00 Social Time
6:00-6:45 Dinner (Reservations Required)
7:00-9:00 Meeting
Babica Hen, 1410 N Highway 99W, Dundee
The public is invited to attend.
In This Issue:
Annual Picnic at Ayers Creek Farm ............................... 2
Jaripeos -Farmland Events...............................................2
Riverbend Landfill Update .............................................3
Urban Growth Boundary Updates .................................3
Grand Island Tour ..........................................................4
In Memory .........................................................................4
Board Elections .................................................................4
West Wind Neighbors
Coalesce Against UGB Expansion
A
bout six months ago, homeowners in West Wind Country
Estates on the edge of McMinnville were shocked to learn
that a huge athletic center was planned outside the Urban
Growth Boundary (UGB) on neighboring farmland. The See Ya
Later Foundation had made joint application to the city of
McMinnville and Yamhill County to bring the land into the
UGB. For four days, neighbors wandered around in a daze,
knocking on doors and trying to develop a community
response. Thankfully, one of us thought to reach out to Friends
of Yamhill County. FYC explained the process to a few people,
who shared the information with the rest of the neighborhood.
We decided to organize and fight and spent two weeks in deep
research to prepare for the hearing.
We are now standing on the other side of that hearing with
positive news. Our neighborhood team addressed every major
issue in the application. We questioned need. We identified
alternatives within the UGB. We compared building sizes. We
calculated water runoff. We addressed the soils test and the
traffic study. We looked at every angle, including asking the
developer of West Winds to withdraw his access road from the
application. Our efforts, along with those of FYC and 1000
Friends of Oregon, resulted in the applicant withdrawing the
application to expand the UGB.
Over the summer, we waited to see if a new application
would be filed. In an effort to close the matter permanently,
one neighbor approached the owner of the property about
purchasing it. While the offer was generous, it did not meet the
asking price. After discussion within the neighborhood, we
agreed that we would not raise our offer. We are in a strong
legal position if the applicant reapplies to bring the land into
the UGB.
As traumatic as the first week was, and as frustrating as it was
to have someone else turn our lives upside down, good came
from our experience. Neighbors who were “waving”
acquaintances are now friends. We’ve initiated relationships
with other Home Owner Associations along Hill Road. We’ve
come to better know our community and how we can
contribute to it. The lesson was painful, but worth the effort
and not a lesson we will soon forget.
Friends of Yamhill County
P.O. Box 1083 • McMinnville, OR 97128
FYC is affiliated with 1000 Friends of Oregon.
Commissioners Approve Disruptive Events on Farmland
F
or the past three years residents near Mineral Springs Road
have suffered commercial events called jaripeos that the
county has permitted the owners of the Tequila Grill Restaurant
to hold on under-utilized farmland owned by the Myrick’s.
Jaripeos are part rodeos, part musical events, and part pay-to
attend-party. And they are LOUD! At an event this summer,
the jaripeo music could be heard 2 miles away.
Unfortunately, jaripeo sponsors have routinely violated the
conditions imposed by the county for number of events, noise
amplification, maximum attendance, fire inspections, and
hours of operation. In the summer of 2014, the applicants had
an event with amplified music when the county had
explicitly prohibited amplification; an event with over 1000
people when attendance was limited to 500; and an event
without submitting the required fire safety plan to the
Carlton police chief.
This year brought an application for another seven events
under the Farmland Activity Ordinance. When testimony
from neighbors and FYC made it clear that the application
had to be denied, it was retracted. Another application was
made for three events with over 1000 people each under an
Outdoor Mass Gathering Permit. These permits have even
fewer protections for neighbors.
As neighbors pointed out:
Jaripeos belong at the fairgrounds, where structures are
available to house rodeo animals, road systems are designed
to handle event traffic, and public services are available for
fire, police patrols, and medical services.
One opponent told the story of her husband going to town
for parts. When he didn’t get back at the expected time, she
phoned him. He said, “The road is shut down both ways. I
think there is an accident.” Later he phoned to say the
extreme vehicle back-up was not due to an accident, but to
the event traffic. Taxpayers should not have to bear the
burden for increased patrols at these events.
The fire risk is enormous. Parking cars on fields, cigarettes,
electrical cords on grass; all can start fires when conditions
are dry. With 1000 attendees and hundreds of cars, firefighting personnel and equipment would have difficulty
responding to a fire quickly.
These party events are inappropriate activities on land zoned
for farming. Our zoning laws are in place to protect our
farms, our homes, and ensure our safety. Yamhill County
Commissioners have a duty to enforce land use laws rather
than obstruct them.
At the hearing, County Commissioner Springer seemed
intent on allowing the events and attempted to discredit
opponents. Despite the past violations and no way to monitor
compliance with approval conditions, these bigger events
were unanimously approved.
“Wine Boom Will Have a Cost”
Sandra Ericson’s excellent opinion piece appeared in the
Eugene Register Guard. Read it at http://registerguard.com/
rg/opinion/33409094-78/wine-boom-will-have-a-cost.html.csp.
Annual Picnic at Ayers Creek Farm
I
t’s always risky to invite yourself and an unknown number of others to
someone’s house, but the owners of Ayers Creek Farm, Carol and Anthony
Boutard, generously agreed to host our annual picnic. And they, and their dog,
Tito, couldn’t have been more gracious and welcoming.
There are many wonderful organic farm operations in this area, but Ayers Creek,
is in a category by itself. Anthony and Carol grow highly sought after grains,
vegetables and fruit. They process their fruit into delicious fruit preserves, make
polenta-style ground corn, and package unusual and extremely delicious beans
and grains for sale to local food lovers.
Anthony’s humor and in-depth knowledge about everything (not just all things
agricultural) made the tour of the farm enjoyable, entertaining, and inspirational.
Carol and Anthony sell their grains and produce to some of the most acclaimed
restaurants in the Portland area. They are educators as well as farmers, teaching
some very famous chefs how to use the unusual, heritage varieties of grains that
they grow.
Thanks to Oregon’s land use laws, the productive, profitable, and prize-winning
Ayers Creek Farm flourishes only a stone’s throw from Metropolitan Portland.
FALL 2015
Friends of Yamhill County
—2—
Updates
Riverbend Landfill Again
W
hen last we checked in, the Yamhill County Commissioners
had voted 2-1 to approve Waste Management’s Site
Design Review to expand the Riverbend dump westward by 29
acres. The County issued findings to justify their vote, and then just
as predictably as daffodils bloom in the spring, Stop the Dump
Coalition and Friends of Yamhill County appealed the decision to
the Land Use Court of Appeals (LUBA).
LUBA heard the appeal in mid-August. Stop the Dump’s attorney
Jeff Kleinman did a masterful job in his oral arguments on the main
assignments of error in the case. He focused a great deal of
attention on ORS 215.296 that says (in a very big nutshell) that in
order for someone to get permission to conduct non-farming
activities on Exclusive Farm Use (EFU) land, the activity (such as
operating a really big garbage dump) cannot alter the farming
practices of neighboring farms
Kleinman argued that the County ignored the facts presented by
local Yamhill County farmers that the dump expansion forced a
“significant change in accepted farm…practices...” The County,
instead, chose to believe Waste Management’s paid consultants’
contention that nothing terribly inconvenient comes from farming
near Riverbend. In fact, they all but say that “it’s not going to be
any worse than it already is.” The lengthy but factually deficient
Farm Impacts Analysis, prepared by paid consultants from
Medford, was the focus for many of Kleinman’s arguments.
A decision is expected by October 27th.
In the meantime, the Riparian and Wetland part of the dump
expansion is moving to center stage. A veritable alphabet soup of
agencies is involved in this phase of the application: the Army Corps
of Engineers (ACE), the Department of State Lands (DSL), Oregon
Dept of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW), National Marine Fisheries
(NMFS), etc. When Stop the Dump learned of this application, they
demanded extensions to the comment period and filed Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) requests for missing documents.
The fraction of the application that the Army Corps of Engineers
is making public without a FOIA request can be viewed on the
DEQ website: www.oregon.gov/deq/NWR/Documents/
082115USArmyCorpsPN.pdf.
Newberg Urban Growth Boundary
O
ver a year ago Land Conservation and
Development Commission (LCDC) sent Newberg’s
Urban Growth Boundary expansion application back to
the city. FYC and other objectors entered into mediation
with the city in an effort to resolve long-standing
objections.
Despite the good faith efforts of all parties to the
mediation, we unfortunately were not able to reach
agreement. As a result, Newberg is in the process of
withdrawing their UGB amendment and will initiate
a new review and amendment at some point in the
future. FYC will be there when that happens.
Vesting Updates
I
n 2007 Oregon’s voters overwhelmingly passed
Measure 49 to protect farm and forestland from
rampant over-development allowed under Measure 37.
Yamhill County officials routinely rubber-stamped
“vested right” applications to develop and approved
over 50 applications while denying only one. FYC
challenged the most outrageous approvals. We are
still litigating three. To the best of our knowledge,
we are the only county that still has pending litigation
related to Measure 37. Ralph Bloomers from CRAG is
representing FYC.
Johnson: After several 10’ by 12’ “placeholder shacks”
were constructed in a “race to vest,” the county awarded
a vested right to a 41-lot residential subdivision on 49
acres of agricultural land near Newberg. Oral arguments
were held in front of Judge Collins this summer and a
decision should be announced soon.
Cook: The county’s first approval of a vested right to
10-lot residential subdivision on 39 acres of farm and
forest land near Bald Peak State Park was reversed by
the Oregon Supreme Court. Even though the zoning
and subdivision laws in effect when Cook bought the
property did not permit his subdivision, the county
re-approved the development this spring. FYC has
appealed the re-approval and opening briefs will be
filed this fall.
Gregg: Although Measure 37 rights were personal to
the claimant and these claimants died years ago, last
year the county awarded the Gregg’s heirs a vested right
to develop a 15-lot subdivision on Parrett Mountain
under the zoning laws in affect in 1966. FYC has
appealed and briefs will be filed later this month.
—3—
Friends of Yamhill County
FALL 2015
In Memory of Larry Rucker and Ted Gahr
W
e note with sadness the
passing of two long-time
FYC supporters this past spring;
Larry Rucker and Ted Gahr.
Ted Gahr and his wife
Harriet, who passed away
in 2011, were among the
first FYC members. In the
late 1990’s, they hosted one
of our first farm tours at their
Muddy Valley farm. They
were devoted to conservation
work. In addition to
involvement with FYC, Ted
was an active member of the
Yamhill Watershed Basin
Council, The Nature
Conservancy and the Native
Plant Society. Much of their
original farm is permanently
protected as a Nature
Conservancy Reserve.
Larry Rucker was an early FYC
member. He served as FYC
secretary for many years. He
loved to chat about land use
issues while he fixed our
lawnmowers or other small
engines at the Mac Repair Shop.
Larry graduated from Amity
High school and lived most of his
life in Yamhill County with his
wife, Nancy. He frequently said
that Yamhill County must be the
most beautiful place on Earth.
Larry Rucker 1942-2015
Sweeney Leads Grand Island Tour
S
ix curious FYC members were fortunate to tour Grand
Island with Sam Sweeney who farms in the Dayton
area. The diversity of crops grown on the island is a
testament to the value and quality of its soils. We passed
cherry orchards, fields of beans, peas, clover, grass and
peonies, to name just a few.
During our tour Sam pointed out several large properties
that have been converted from EFU to Mineral Extraction.
Baker Rock plans to replace 400 acres of grass seed with a
gravel pit. According to Yamhill County Planning director
Mike Brandt, this county lost approximately 1250 acres of
agricultural land to gravel mining between 1980 and 2012.
This is not just any agricultural land, but some of the richest,
most productive agricultural land in Oregon and the nation.
Ted Gahr 1935-2015
FYC Board Election November 16
A total of 5 FYC Directors will be elected at our upcoming
November 16 meeting. The current Board of Directors has
nominated the following slate of officers:
President
Vice President
Treasurer
Secretary
Sid Friedman
Tom Abrego
Craig Markham
Steve Iversen
In addition, one member at-large will be elected to the board at
the meeting.
If you are a current member of FYC and would like to nominate
yourself or another member, please send your nomination to
[email protected] prior to the November annual meeting.
There will also be an opportunity to nominate candidates at the
meeting. Prior to making a nomination, please confirm that the
nominee is willing to serve if elected.
Please Renew Your Membership
Your generous donations allow Friends of Yamhill County to continue the work of keeping our towns vibrant and protecting our
prime farm and forest lands from over-development and sprawl. Even though FYC is a volunteer organization, we have appeal
fees, printing and other expenses.
Thanks to: Tom Abrego, Ellen Abrego, Sid Friedman, Connie Hutchison, Patty O’Leary, Ilsa Perse,
Barbara Schaffner, and Marilyn Walster for their contributions to this newsletter
The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the various writers and may or may not reflect the views of Friends of Yamhill County.
FALL 2015
Friends of Yamhill County
—4—