Natural Resource Protection
Partnering for the Tualatin Basin Watershed
Over the past several years, the City of Tigard has been working with neighboring jurisdictions
to develop a program to protect local fish and wildlife habitat and improve the environmental
health of the Tualatin Basin watershed.
In 2002, Tigard entered into a partnership with Washington County and other local governments
to form the Tualatin
Basin Partners for Natural Places, an alliance aimed at protecting our
natural resources while meeting State and Metro planning requirements. Partners include the
Cities of Beaverton, Cornelius, Durham, Forest Grove, Hillsboro, King City, North Plains,
Sherwood, Tigard and Tualatin; Clean Water Services; Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation
District (THPRD); and Washington County.
Why work together?
The watershed is not confined to jurisdictional boundaries, therefore, it is
essential that environmental protection programs be coordinated and consistent
within the Basin.
The alliance provides the opportunity to address issues specific to the Tualatin Basin;
to shape a program that is tailored to local conditions; to cooperate for the best use
of public resources; and to integrate the Statewide Planning Goal 5 effort with similar
concurrent efforts (including Clean Water Services Healthy Streams Plan - completed
in June 2005).
Steps Towards Protecting Fish and Wildlife Habitat
In the Spring of 2004, the Basin Partners completed the initial task of assessing
the economic, social, environmental, and energy (ESEE) impacts of protecting recently
inventoried fish and wildlife habitat. This analysis formed the basis for determining
where to "allow", "limit" or "prohibit" activities harmful to adjacent habitat.
Based on the ESEE analysis, the group developed the Tualatin Basin Program to achieve
resource protection by emphasizing three key program elements:
- Preserve existing system through regulation in core resource areas;
- Enhance overall health of regional sites through capital improvements; and
- Mitigate new development impacts to significant resources through encouraging the
use of "habitat-friendly development" practices and remove barriers to their use.
In April 2005, the Tualatin Basin Natural Resources Coordinating Committee (NRCC) voted to
send the recommended Tualatin Basin Program to Metro. In September 2005, the Metro Council
approved the Basin Program as a compliance option under their Urban Growth Management
Functional Plan with two notable conditions:
- The Basin partnership is to be extended and the NRCC is to continue to coordinate
the activities of members
- Applicable program elements are to be adopted within one year
What is Goal 5?
Oregon's land use law requires that cities and counties meet
statewide planning goals.
Goal 5 calls for inventorying and protecting natural resources and conserving scenic and
historic areas, and open spaces.
What's Next?
As an initial step, the Tualatin Basin Partners completed two issue papers on habitat friendly
development. Issue Paper #1 presents a survey of the
approaches and methods which could be
successfully used within the Tualatin Basin to develop and encourage habitat friendly
development practices. Issue Paper #2 suggests code
concepts that could be included in local comprehensive plans and development codes
in order to implement and encourage
those habitat friendly practices recommended for the Basin in Issue Paper #1.
Ultimately, Planning Commission and City Council will be asked to consider amendments
to the Comprehensive Plan and Community Development Code (at a minimum) based on
the Tualatin Basin recommendations.
Comprehensive Plan
The City of Tigard is currently in the process of updating its Comprehensive Plan
which will serve as a guide for Tigard's investments and actions over the next 20 years.
One of the first Plan sections to be updated will be the Natural Resource section. The
process will determine where we are (through analysis of inventories, surveys, and
community values) and how the City will look and operate in the future (by defining
alternatives, policies and actions).
For More Information
Contact City of Tigard Staff Planner John Floyd, at 503-718-2429
or johnfl@tigard-or.gov.
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