DRAFT WILLAMETTE RIVER GREENWAY DESIGN PLAN <br />GUNDERSON, 352 OR AT 650-53. <br />Both the statutes that regulate the Willamette River Greenway (ORS 390.310 et seq) and Goal 15 itself <br />impose inherently subjective regulations on development within the Greenway area. ORS 390.314(2)(b) <br />requires that intensification and changes of use in the Greenway be limited so that "such uses remain, <br />to the greatest possible degree, compatible with the preservation of the natural, scenic, historical and <br />recreational qualities" of lands within the Greenway. In addition, Goal 15 requires that the City's Greenway <br />implementation measures: <br />• "Insure that the best possible appearance, landscaping and public access are provided" within the <br />Greenway, <br />• Ensure that to "the greatest possible degree" any "intensification, change of use or development will <br />provide the maximum possible landscaped area, open space or vegetation between the activity and the <br />river," and <br />• Ensure that that to "the greatest possible degree" "[n]ecessary public access will be provided to and <br />along the river by appropriate legal means." <br />The Willamette Greenway Permit approval criteria located at EC 9.8815 implement the requirements of <br />Goal 15, ORS 390.314 and the City's comprehensive plan; including the following specific language required <br />by Goal 15: "to the greatest possible degree, the intensification, change of use or development will provide <br />the maximum possible landscaped area, open space or vegetation between the activity and the river" <br />and "to the greatest possible degree, necessary and adequate public access will be provided along the <br />Willamette River by appropriate legal means." OAR 660-015-0005; Goal 15, Paragraph F(3). <br />IATE B <br />Prior to the 2017 passage of Senate Bill 1051, ORS 197.307(4), sometimes referred to as the Needed <br />Housing statute, and the Willamette Greenway laws worked in concert. Before the legislature adopted <br />Senate Bill 1051, ORS 197.304(4) provided that local governments could only apply "clear and objective <br />standards, conditions and procedures regulating the development of needed housing on buildable land...." <br />Or Laws 2017, ch 745, § 5 (emphasis added). In other words, prior to Senate Bill 1051, housing not located <br />on "buildable land" was not entitled to clear and objective standards. Lands within the Willamette River <br />Greenway are specifically exempt from the definition of "buildable land" by the Land Conservation and <br />Development Commission (LCDC). OAR 660-08-0005(2). <br />OAR 660-08-0005(2) defines "buildable land" as "residentially designated land within the urban growth <br />boundary, including both vacant and developed land likely to be redeveloped, that is suitable, available and <br />necessary for residential uses ...[I]and is generally considered 'suitable and available' unless it...[i]s subject to <br />natural resource protection measures determined under Statewide Planning Goals 5, 6, 15, 16, 17, or 18[.]" <br />(Emphasis added). <br />Land located within the Willamette River Greenway is subject to Goal 15 natural resource protection <br />measures and is therefore not considered "buildable land." Consequently, prior to the passage of SB 1051, <br />housing constructed on land within in the Willamette River Greenway was explicitly outside the scope of <br />the clear and objective requirement. Prior to Senate Bill 1051, because lands within the Greenway were <br /> - Page 41 of 91 <br />WILLAMETTE RIVER GREENWAY CODE AMENDMENTS <br />