Putting a price on Nature....

Mary A. Tinkler – Real Estate Broker
Shattuck & Co. Real Estate, Inc.
Gresham, Oregon
503-663-6502
http://www.marytinkler.com/




Vote in November......Metro Bond Measure to Fund Natural Areas

Since the unveiling of the various Urban Growth Boundary concept plans, it has been clear that in the future more thought and concern will be given to preserving ecologically tender areas than ever before. Frankly, I think it is a crucial and overdue endeavor. I thought we already had codes in place to prohibit destroying environmentally fragile sites. But I must be wrong on that.

A few months ago I visited an open house for newly constructed homes in east Gresham. I was appalled when I walked out onto the postage stamp deck of a $350,000 home, and looked down to see the property markers for the tiny lot were right on the bank of Kelly Creek. The creek was the back yard! It was Hershey brown, barely flowing, even after rain, and the banks were gooey mud…all plant life and watershed scraped away. They’d built a small gravel road between houses wide enough to accommodate a service vehicle, leading down to a single manhole cover that sat right next to the creek. A couple of snaggy dead branches had been thrown across the sad trickle…. probably in the name of habitat, though what self-respecting critters could reside there is beyond me.

I had to ask myself…”How did they get away with this? Who at planning and zoning approved this travesty?” One is compelled to wonder about local “deciders”…..no? Somebody spent a lot of money on the demolition of a small draw and creek that used to be a serene haven for wildlife.

I have also witnessed the site prep on new subdivisions that entails scraping off all the top soil and hauling it away to parts unknown. Can this possibly be sound land management?

Few would disagree that an eye to the environment is prudent. We must not let these destructive practices go on, but there is hope that we will be able to preserve existing sites, and reclaim other natural areas that have been damaged or ignored in the past.

In November voters will decide on Metro’s $227.4 million bond Measure; to raise funds to protect natural areas, creeks, rivers and streams, at the regional, local, and neighborhood levels. With the bulk of these funds Metro plans to continue work begun with the $136 million raised for this purpose in 1995. They propose acquiring 3,500 to 4,500 acres of targeted environmentally sensitive land. Many of these targets are in Damascus/Boring, Springwater, and Pleasant Valley UGB's, as well as in Gresham, Troutdale, Fairview, Sandy, and Happy Valley. The purchase of land will be on a “willing seller” basis…no one will be forced to sell, but there probably will be restrictions on land use in these identified areas. (And I hope no one finds ways to get around them the way they obviously have in Gresham!) The bond will levy 19 cents per $1000 of value, on property owners within Metro's boundaries. A portion of the funds would be distributed to local cities, counties and park districts. And $15 million will be used to advance the new “Nature in Neighborhoods” capital grants program, where non-profits, local governments and community-based orgs could apply for funds for compatible projects. If you know of a local/neighborhood site that would benefit from an environmentally-correct spruce up, start thinking now about how you might use this inviting grant program to improve land use and quality of life in your area! It seems like a great opportunity to accomplish what local city and county governments have not been able to budget for.

If passed this bond measure may have a profound effect on the various UGB’s and the preservation of wildlife corridors and conservation areas that are so vital to their goals. But it begs the questions: Will land owners within the UGB’s who are willing to sell be allowed to split off just the area to be preserved? There will likely be few property owners willing to sell an entire parcel, for the sake of a small area of stream bed. Won’t zoning codes accommodating that new sort of land partition need to be addressed by counties and cities sooner, rather than later? How will we go about determining fair market value on a segment of habitat that can never be developed?

Here is a link to Metro’s website that outlines the Bond Measure, lists the 119 targeted areas, and provides maps showing where the areas are. Feel free to contact me with any questions you have about real estate, or market trends. And your feedback is welcome on this web-log!

http://www.metro-region.org/article.cfm?articleid=16894