Landowners and conservation group press for protections for creeks and wildlife amid UGB expansion

At the hearing several speakers pressed for environmental protections in the proposed Urban Growth Boundary expansion. Landowner Bruce Rungland requested that the city include a wildlife corridor between Whitechuse/Whitechas Creek and Highway 126 to maintain connectivity with his privately managed wildlife reserve; he suggested a roughly five-acre corridor as mitigation. Environmental advocate Kristen Ridelberger of Central Oregon Land Watch supported protecting riparian areas and recommended excluding the Mackenzie Meadows Village parcel from the expansion while that parcel remains unacknowledged on appeal.

Staff and counsel responded that wetlands delineation has not yet been completed and that mapped features likely require site-level verification during the development and area-planning processes. Counsel and staff emphasized that bringing land into the UGB does not mean it will be automatically urbanized; the city could designate parts of incoming acreage as open space or protected areas during area planning. Staff also reiterated that planning tools, overlay zones and existing county protections would continue to influence where higher-density uses are appropriate relative to the airport and sensitive natural areas.