I’m working this morning on an advance outline related to our planned discussion later this week.
Digression:
I comb the day’s news at my favorite site: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/
This morning these two links are fascinating examples of investigative journalism by Yves. She has been hounding CALPERS for its incompetence for a long time. This is an astounding investigation into a blatantly obvious violation of copyright that you are familiar with.
and a follow up to it:
It looks like such low hanging fruit to pick. Clearly an indefensible violation of magnitude with no leg to stand on. No loop holes. Gotcha! CALPERS lawyers will attempt to find them but they will be fighting a rear guard running retreat to delay and minimize the decision that inflicts a solution ending the war. Yves wins. The law and its system wins. Set, Game and Match.
Investigative Journalism. We need more of it. Our institutions are devolving into management failures. Journalism externally lights the fire of correction that should come from within.
To the point:
Maybe it is similar in a way to the Designated Forestland issue. The crux of which is what I wish to discuss with you. That is: Specific properties are in violation of city zoning that prohibits farming/forestry in a residential zoned area. That can be corrected by city zoning enforcement to correct existing errors.
What remains to be corrected and, hanging at the door of entry into city zoning on the west side of Bend, is Designated Forestland property in the UGB zoned areas that will, by intent, transition to city zoning regulations. The future door must be closed to continuing the application of that designation and its associated assessment value of $75.00 per acre beyond the time it becomes city zoned property. Limiting or stopping this not only in Bend but in cities statewide.
Forestry for profit within the city is not the intent of any ORS, OAR, County or City rules, regs or Management Plan (permitting/prohibiting) related to Designated Forestland. They must be changed to work as intended. I believe that city zoning permitted and prohibited land use rules take precedence unless otherwise reserved to higher levels of government.
The County Assessor may grant an "Application for Designated Forestland" and associated assessment value. The city, by virtue of its zoning prohibitions, may deny that land use and consequently its associated special assessment value. The problem is that the city has not done this and there are more than 100 acres of Designated Forestland within the city of Bend located in residential zoned areas. Most are small acreage and have existed as zone violations for a long period of time. A few are large and are for residential development. The tax advantage probably exists for a longer period of time than it technically should. That only delays the clawback of 5 years back taxes for these large averages.
There are two issues. (Really more, but…) Both of which may be of interest to you and the Bulletin. The immediate one will be resolved primarily by the application of existing city land use zoning rules, regs and intent with the aid of higher level rules and their intent. That may not be easy due to the amount of money and influence involved but the wheels should grind that out. The follow on is to revise rules and regs within and above the city level. Not so easy.
The former is a battle, the latter is a war. Join me in the battle if you wish or keep tabs on my progress if the matter is of interest. I appreciate the opportunity to discuss it with you as well as your advice. The court of public opinion is a powerful one. The war is bigger than I can fight and win but that is where I need to enlist institutional interests.
Oregon was largely a forest economy based state. Still is. The change: There is an increasing amount of money to be made in the transition of Designated Forestland to urban areas related to the tax assessment advantage ($75.00 per acre) being prolonged as long as possible within the city when its market value is in the vicinity of $100,000 per acre. It's the best of all worlds where cake is had but eaten too. It is wrong to perpetuate the tax advantage after entry to city zoning with the sworn owner intent to grow a tree to sellable maturity as the property value grows faster than the tree . That is where trees are managed into money that keeps coming year after year beyond a 5 year tax claw back applied under certain circumstances without ever selling any of them.
It is a simple problem at the core that is surrounded by complexities that hide or obviate a simple solution. The challenge of the Information Age is to reduce complexity to simplicity. Fortunately it gives us, gives an individual like me, the tools to reduce complexity to the clarity of addressable problem issues. Those tools are on a pick and shovel level. It still requires old school manual labor to discover problems and design solutions to change a fundamentally old school system operating within a context that lags restructure into the Information Age.
With that, I lower my lance and charge the windmill attempting to reduce complexity to clarity and send the result to you in advance of discussing it later this week.
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