[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6610488,"mediaKeyId","2902134-f3bf9cac1a9b1ece0d09ae7e5b8af604","parentId",2902134,"title","Monroe residents press city and county on water, sewer and a possible UGB land swap; downtown Riverside plan also discussed","audioSeconds",5708,"startMs",2294000,"endMs",8002000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2902134-f3bf9cac1a9b1ece0d09ae7e5b8af604&start=2294&end=8002","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2902134-f3bf9cac1a9b1ece0d09ae7e5b8af604/thumbnail_2294000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6610488/Benton-County/Oregon/Monroe-residents-press-city-and-county-on-water-sewer-and-a-possible-UGB-land-swap-downtown-Riverside-plan-also-discussed","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6610488-0bfae8d197f3c96a1b310b16c1919d6a/orig.mp4?Expires=1771144362&Signature=JCeuIyOCtZvml3VOEDTISWPyEykdz-HTkviNGwfnJnEfaWEx-SLQgLdwe1EZeyvrJ7CP7ujozIpthCNH2hThVYO3onD9LEYRKvyrPrjkP2bGo6hD6MIttwS3TeZ8gKXs28iPmMi~LO2Wo9rKYcSn0NWveoRoHMPnadtLE05xXpmsy5a2~widKfJ-yaP70iEXxJ3iSW9Yt-lYnvJQW-W6Dni1qSmaGl-AhlL-WL1yc72SZQDOgXPtuOI2dsViYo71azy3~--bKZ5vyEHmigrxXxVYB0-PRP0AfBchczFz6Jy8QbWg1hWAVzz3EXeTM~gQ2-cQJmivML9eaJAJ7tNQ8A__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Benton County, AR","date","2025-04-08T21:00:33.88Z","article","City officials and residents of Monroe pressed Benton County planning commissioners and county staff about the local consequences of growth, water and sewer capacity, and a proposed land-swap discussion that could alter where future development occurs.

Steve March Maple, introduced in the meeting as the city administrator for Monroe, outlined local planning priorities and said the city is working to make permitting and approval processes more consistent and responsive. \"We have a very... Monroeland use code... it's been updated and changed,\" he said, describing recent efforts to tighten decision processes and improve coordination between city and county permitting.

A central local topic was a proposed swap involving two parcels commonly discussed as the Brickyard (a large borrow pit) and a property owned by the Stones. City officials said the Brickyard area contains deep borrow pits, wetlands and soils that developers have advised are expensive or impractical to build on, while the Stones property has city services and may be easier to develop. City speakers described the Brickyard borrow pit as roughly 18–20 acres and up to about 14 feet deep and said soils and floodplain constraints reduce its near-term developability.

Steve described discussions with county planners about whether a land swap could allow the city to control development that otherwise would remain under county zoning. He told the meeting: \"If the city has that stone property within the city limit, then the city is managing. If it goes to the county... you're just in just as bad a shape if not worse.\" Petra (county planning staff) explained the regulatory steps needed to alter an urban-growth boundary or adopt an exceptions/organizational study: municipalities must prepare an organization study, consult DLCD, file a legislative amendment, seek DLCD acknowledgement, and then implement zoning and map changes within approximately one year of acknowledgment.

Residents spoke at length about water, drainage and flood risks. Tanya Ross, a Red Hills resident, asked whether public input would meaningfully affect decisions and said she feared changes would be \"pushed through.\" Steve responded that the land-swap and any legislative land-use changes would follow an iterative public process with notification and opportunities for written and in-person comment and that final decisions rest with elected officials.

Monroe's water system and treatment plant drew detailed technical discussion. City staff said the current treatment plant is a modular membrane system that can be difficult to operate and that recent equipment failures limited filtering capacity during peak summer demand. The city reported it is using about \"19 and a half percent\" of its water-rights allocation; staff said upgrades funded in part by lottery funds and system development charges (SDCs) aim to increase storage and treatment resilience. Steve said planned upgrades would allow more sustained operation and would \"allow us to expand easier\" but that long-term growth would require further capacity and possibly additional water infrastructure.

On the subject of drinking-water quality, staff acknowledged the plant's existing treatment process can produce higher regulated disinfectant byproducts because it lacks conventional sedimentation/flocculation processes. The city said funding is targeted to change the treatment process and to increase storage levels in the distribution tanks to improve resilience during wildfire season and other high-demand periods.

Sewer infrastructure was also discussed. Monroe's wastewater system relies on a string of facultative ponds that discharge seasonally; staff estimated the current system (without major upgrades) could accommodate roughly 2,300 people and said aeration or more advanced treatment would be required to support greater growth.

Downtown planning and the Riverside District overlay also featured in the discussion. Speakers said the overlay is intended to support mixed-use development, encourage storefronts and housing above commercial uses, and make downtown more accessible to the river by improving pedestrian crossings and possibly adding a bridge. County and city staff said ODOT bridge priorities and funding constraints affect the timing of any bridge work.

County planners and staff suggested several next steps: technical studies (geological, hydrological and wetland delineation) for the Brickyard and Stone properties; a formal organization study and DLCD consultation if the city seeks to pursue a boundary/land-swap amendment; and continued coordination through the county's permitting-improvement project and the CDRT. County staff also pointed to available DLCD technical grants or consultant funding that communities can use to support draft plans or legislative amendments.

Speakers urged residents to participate in the public process as studies and draft proposals are prepared and said that while local input will be formally solicited, final land-use decisions would ultimately go through the established legislative and quasi-judicial procedures the transcript described.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","April 30. 2024 Benton County Oregon Planning Commission Meeting","oneSentenceSummary","City of Monroe officials and Benton County planners discussed a potential 'land swap' to trade less-developable acreage for more developable land, downtown 'Riverside District' overlay plans, and extensive concerns about Monroe's water and sewer capacity, treatment-plant issues and need for regional coordination.","taxTitle","Benton County, Oregon","taxId",8787,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6610491,"Benton County planning commission launches countywide outreach, orders development-code cleanup",1878,275000,2153000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2902134-f3bf9cac1a9b1ece0d09ae7e5b8af604&start=275&end=2153","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2902134-f3bf9cac1a9b1ece0d09ae7e5b8af604/thumbnail_275000.jpg","/articles/6610491/Benton-County/Oregon/Benton-County-planning-commission-launches-countywide-outreach-orders-development-code-cleanup","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6610491-20d26dfe7491c6ddb50b665c5ad6fda3/orig.mp4?Expires=1771144362&Signature=UndCgHKmQKt-JDJtjp3KaEoS8WIDjsEzNZXSqKfIHJzjd0B6n4WuMVZh9nraIEbf6nlWmlRSMDBG1YBemiBiyOfjYPVCeCD3hjtqf5m1fKXo9~tSW5k3Y7mqQm3~ssHFFfS0XB2M5mBuqnYhDKO4jMUuQk33~~ikq75q-i5MqTM~pBTNTwxS79tpd8p5TRj5PFxJmpnZFYCK0vmMUiGIF1sWVHnxRv2HljA28~I7TIU~QT8K6IT7eAM7sAZkzQIQEIttuR2Plt6vzpLLDaFHM9AzmHNY2m1O0~24sv35fcLEsHaaexRB2P-1G0kaKIwLoFoDLiGFzIHxQPHWgNov-Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","At a joint meeting in Monroe, Benton County planning commissioners outlined a new countywide outreach push and confirmed they have hired consultants to update the county's development code and begin a phased periodic review of the comprehensive plan.

The commission said the effort is intended to bring planning work out of Corvallis and into outlying communities and to solicit local feedback on housing, transportation, wildfire resilience, recreation, water and broadband.

Nick Fowler, chair of the Benton County planning commission, framed the effort as volunteer-driven and community-focused: \"We're all volunteers and so we don't have unlimited time. We almost have unlimited goals.\" He said the planning commission aims to \"listen to the community and get a better context for what the county is doing specifically around land use.\"

Petra, described in the meeting as a planning director on staff, told attendees the county secured general-fund money to contract a regional consultant to update the countywide development code. \"This contract was just executed yesterday,\" Petra said. She said the first phase will correct administrative errors and internal conflicts in the code rather than change policy, and that the work is expected to proceed over the next six to nine months and could extend up to a year.

Petra and Shannon Bush, interim deputy director of community development, said the comprehensive-plan periodic review will be a separate, policy-focused phase and that the county received funding from the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) for phase 1. \"Our task 1 in that project is to define what we've called an inclusive outreach plan,\" Bush said, adding that the consultant will help design outreach that reaches underrepresented residents and accommodates people who cannot attend evening meetings.

The commission also described smaller, topic-focused efforts that will run alongside the code and plan updates. Commissioner Greg Hammond and others said the planning commission has established a regional housing subcommittee to address housing affordability and availability across jurisdictions, and that the commission is coordinating quarterly working sessions with the Benton County Board of Commissioners on water availability and quality.

The planning commission flagged transportation, wildfire resilience and recreation as coupled priorities because \"the county growth has had impact on transportation\" and increasing recreational use of forest lands. Telecommunication planning to improve cellular coverage and broadband access also appears on the commission's long-term list.

Shannon Bush said the county recently received consultant bids to design a project that will coordinate permitting workflows across county departments, and she invited Monroe and other cities to participate in the Community Development Roundtable (CDRT), which is typically held quarterly and can be run remotely if towns ask.

The commission asked for local input on priorities and said the purpose of the listening sessions is to shape a work program that will feed the development-code phase that follows the comprehensive-plan phase. They urged residents to participate in future listening sessions and in the periodic review's iterative public hearings once draft materials are available.

Looking ahead, the planning commission said the next steps are a consultant kickoff for the development-code cleanup, continuing periodic-review outreach supported by DLCD funding, and formation of work groups for housing, water and other priority topics.","Benton County planning commissioners told Monroe residents they have begun a countywide outreach program, secured consultant contracts to update a dated development code and opened a voluntary periodic review of the county comprehensive plan, with DLCD funding for phase 1 and an early timeline of months to a year.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Monroe residents press city and county on water, sewer and a possible UGB land swap; downtown Riverside plan also discussed

Benton County planning commission launches countywide outreach, orders development-code cleanup