Regional Plan for the Greater Bear Creek Valley
After more than a decade, the Regional Plan for the Greater Bear Creek Valley is almost complete. This planning effort brought together the cities of Ashland, Central Point, Eagle Point, Medford, Phoenix and Talent, as well as Jackson County and a number of state agencies to identify lands suitable for long-term urban growth needs sufficient to accommodate the doubling of the region’s population over the next forty to fifty years.
As part of the planning process, lands that have been selected to accommodate future urban growth within the region have been designated as Urban Reserve Areas. These Urban Reserve Areas are those into which cities will eventually expand their urban growth boundaries and, ultimately, their city limits. Ashland is the only city participating in the regional planning process that has not identified Urban Reserve Areas, as it was previously determined that with more efficient use the lands already within Ashland’s city limits and urban growth boundary were sufficient to accommodate the anticipated growth for Ashland.
Jackson County's Planning Commission has been reviewing the draft Regional Plan during public hearings over the past year, and on August 11th they formally recommended approval of the plan to the County Board of Commissioners, the land use authority with regional jurisdiction that could ultimately adopt the plan. Their three-part recommendation which includes a revised draft of the Regional Plan, and the full record of the hearings to date, can be viewed online at www.jacksoncounty.org/rps.
The Ashland City Council reviewed the County Planning Commission's recommendations at their August 16th meeting, and adopted Resolution #2011-028 to provide comment to the Board of Commissioners as they consider adoption of the plan. See the resolution online at http://laserfiche.ashland.or.us/WebLink8/0/doc/97435/Page1.aspx
The County's Board of Commissioners will review the draft Regional Plan and the County Planning Commission's recommendations at their weekly Wednesday meetings for two months beginning on September 7th. A city-specific discussion of the plan as it relates to Ashland, including issues raised in Resolution #2011-028, will be held at the time and place below:
Jackson County Board of Commissioners:
(Discussion of plan as it relates to Ashland) |
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September 21, 2011 at 12:00 p.m.
Jackson County Courthouse Auditorium |
If you have any questions relating to the Regional Plan, please contact City of Ashland Associate Planner Derek Severson at (541) 552-2040 or email: derek.severson@ashalnd.or.us
