Bull Mountain resists city control — again
The dispute over how to accommodate the population growth expected in Washington County over the next few decades rages on.
Bull Mountain residents involved in the Citizen Participation Organization presented a resolution to Washington County commissioners in late March that opposes an agreement the county’s Urbanization Forum passed in December. The agreement, currently in draft form, would give cities control over all future additions to the Urban Growth Boundary, or the line separating urban from rural land.
The CPO resolution states the agreement “sets a dangerous precedent that is potentially detrimental to all residents and property owners in the unincorporated areas.”
Julie Russell, a resident of unincorporated Bull Mountain and chairperson of the CPO, said she’s not convinced cities are the best providers of urban services.
“They’re more expensive, and they add a layer of government bureaucracy to something we may not be interested in,” she said.
Russell said she’s happy with the service the county sheriff’s department currently provides her neighborhood, and she’s not interested in paying more to be served by the Tigard Police Department.
City leaders contend, however, that cities are indeed the best providers of services.
“Counties are not set up to provide urban services,” said Tigard City Manager Craig Prosser. “It’s not their function.”
Prosser said people living outside city jurisdiction who want urban services like parks and libraries have to create various special service districts to provide them those services.
“There’s no one in that situation that’s looking at how it all fits together,” he said.
Washington County leaders convened an Urbanization Forum last year to discuss where and how to grow as more and more people move to the area over the next few decades. The group, made up of county officials, as well as representatives from various service districts and cities including Tigard, Tualatin and Sherwood, held four meetings between April and December 2008.
The agreement they approved in December states that “all future additions to the Urban Growth Boundary must be governed and urbanized by a City.”
Russell said residents of unincorporated areas fear that if the city uses the technique of cherry stemming — or annexing land not directly connected to the city, then proving services via a stem of annexed land or city jurisdiction such as a road — unincorporated areas will be made into islands and forced to annex.
She also pointed out that residents of unincorporated areas were not fairly represented during the forum’s vote because only one county commissioner was present.
“You can’t have a forum and create policy and not include the people who are affected by it, and that’s exactly what they did,” Russell said.
Washington County Commission Chairman Tom Brian emphasized that the forum’s agreement is not policy and will require much more discussion before it is finalized.
“These conversations about urban planning are going to go on for a year or two,” Brian said. “I’m hoping we can start more active community planning by area so the community can fully participate and have a voice.”