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Coos Bay planners weigh Regional Problem Solving route to adjust urban growth boundary
Summary
Consultant Jay Harland presented Regional Problem Solving (RPS) as the likely technical path to bring several already-urbanized unincorporated areas into the Coos Bay urban growth boundary or designate them as urban reserve; commissioners discussed trade-offs including facility planning costs, parcel-level analysis and sewer capacity.
Coos Bay city and Coos County planning commissioners spent a lengthy work session considering whether to pursue a Regional Problem Solving project to adjust the urban growth boundary (UGB) and add or reserve land around Charleston, Barview, Bunker Hill and other nearby unincorporated areas.
The proposal matters because several areas near the city are already built to urban densities but lie outside the UGB; bringing them in through an RPS project or designating them urban reserve would change regulatory constraints and require facility planning, consultants said.
Jay Harland, consultant with CSA Planning, told the joint meeting that RPS—codified in ORS 197—offers flexibility from some statewide rules while still requiring compliance with statutes and statewide planning goals. “RPS is a statute that’s in ORS 197,” Harland said, describing the option as a technical path that has been used once previously in Oregon and could be appropriate in Coos Bay’s case.
Harland laid out four…
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