Land use planning

The proposal would grant Gov. Tina Kotek unprecedented power to alter where development is permitted around Oregon cities.

For exactly 50 years, Oregon’s farms and forests have been protected from urban sprawl by the nation’s first statewide law creating urban growth boundaries

A developer says his proposed destination resort in Central Oregon will actually benefit the environment. Opponents say it exemplifies injustice in Oregon water law.

Initial legislation aimed at boosting the semiconductor industry would also allow the governor to change urban growth boundaries.

And they can’t afford the infrastructure to prepare that land for development.

Anyeley Hallovà chairs the commission that oversees Oregon's growth management system. She's passionate about developing compact neighborhoods that provide equitable and affordable housing — and that help combat climate change. But not everyone is happy about moving in this direction.

Property rights activists nearly derailed Oregon's growth management system in the early 2000s. And no one was more prominent — or colorful — than Dorothy English.

The proposed Westside Bypass freeway in Washington County had a lot of momentum — until critics said it ran afoul of Oregon's growth management system. The freeway fight in the early 1990s wound up affecting transportation policies throughout the state.

In the 1970s, Oregonians looked to California and didn't want the same fate for their state. A new crop of young legislators in Salem saw an opportunity to advance an ambitious agenda. It took nearly a decade to put in place a system that has some of the strongest protections in the U.S. for farms, forests and other open spaces.

In drive to attack climate change, the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission moves forward with new rules aimed at reducing automobile use.