Dear Audubon Activists, We need your help to stop Portland from paving over critical natural areas and restricting our ability to protect and restore our urban rivers, streams and wildlife habitat. Next Tuesday the Planning and Sustainability Commission will hold its final hearing of 2014 on the city’s Draft Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan is the City’s 20 year land use plan. This is the plan that will provide the foundation for many of the city’s most important decisions over the next two decades. Unfortunately, better name for this plan would be the “The Portland Paving Plan.” Put simply , the plan is a disaster for our environment. Here is why we are concerned: The current draft resurrects the proposal to develop 300 acres on West Hayden Island for marine industrial terminals; The current draft proposes to convert significant portions of golf course adjacent to the Columbia Slough for industrial development; The Plan severely restricts the city’s ability to put new regulatory protections to protect wildlife habitat and water quality on industrial lands along the Willamette and Columbia Rivers; The Plan reduces the city’s target for cleaning up its more than 900 acres of brownfields from 80% to 60%; The current draft either removes or weakens dozens of important environmental policies contained in prior drafts with no explanation. Why is the city doing this? At the behest of industrial developers, the City has determined that it will have a 670 acre deficit of industrial land over the next two decades. Statewide landuse planning Goal 9 requires that the city maintain a supply of industrial land. However it does not require that the city destroy critical natural resources to find this land. Audubon has produced an 11-point Plan to address the industrial land deficit audubonportland.org/files/urban/10-point-plan/view that focuses on cleaning up contaminated brownfields, intensifying use of the existing industrial landbase, preventing conversion of industrial lands and other strategies that do not require sacrificing openspace and fish and wildlife habitat. We need your help to send a strong message to the Planning and Sustainability Commission that we want a green sustainable city that is healthy for people and wildlife. Key Messages: 1) Tell the commission that you support the Audubon Strategy for Addressing Industrial Land Demand and link to the plan: audubonportland.org/files/urban/10-point-plan/view 2) It is unacceptable to destroy critical natural areas and openspace on West Hayden Island and along the Slough in the name of finding more industrial land. The City should focus on cleaning-up brownfields and intensification of existing industrial lands, not destruction of openspace and natural areas. 3) It is unacceptable to restrict the city’s ability to place environmental regulations on riverside industrial lands---some of our most important and degraded fish and wildlife habitat; 4) The City should focus on cleaning up its more than 900 acres of contaminated brownfields, intensifying use of its existing industrial landbase, and preventing industrial landowners from converting their land to other uses. 5) Ask the Planning and Sustainability commission to review and restore natural resource policies that were removed or weakened from the January 2013 Draft. Hearing: Tuesday, November 4 4 – 8 p.m. 1900 SW 4th Ave, Room 2500A Comments: (can be submitted before or after the November 4th hearing) Send to: [email protected] CC. [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Finally you can Comment online at the MapApp. This allows you to click on the areas you are concerned about and write a comment. portlandmaps/bps/cpmapp2/ Thank you! Bob Sallinger Conservation Director
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 16:41:49 +0000
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