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View From Sherwood

Oregon now has the dubious distinction of having the highest unemployment rate in the country. It is ironic that this condition has been caused, to a large extent, by a program intended to improve our livability, the Oregon land-use regulatory system.

A major reason for high unemployment is the failure to provide adequate land for new industries at a price which they can afford to pay and operate at a profit. A legislative committee was told that a shortage of available land in Washington County was a principal reason the state recently failed to recruit a major high tech company. Restrictive urban growth boundaries are causing us to lose much needed jobs.

Other oppressive land-use regulations virtually prevent other much needed development to move ahead. Dave Riley, general manager of Mt. Hood Meadows Ski Resort, recently said it was almost impossible to build facilities to accommodate the growing recreation and tourism sector of Hood River County. He said that that land-use requirements for siting a destination resort in rural lands are virtually impossible to meet. A new destination resort now must be located more than "three miles" away from land which "could" produce annual crops valued at $1,000 per acre. Riley said there was no property in Hood River County which meets those demands.

Much land once used for agriculture, which can no longer be farmed at a profit because of changing markets, has been taken out of production. Owners of such land should have the option to put it to some use which would satisfy a public need and provide jobs in rural areas.

Other senseless land-use regulations throttle development of more jobs. Current land-use laws prohibit almost all owners of a parcel of rural land from building a home on their own property. In minutes, the Legislature and Governor could end this restriction and open up high paying jobs for many thousands of Oregonians in the construction, lumber and associated industries.

Not having a job is unfortunate under any condition. But, not having a job because of irresponsible decisions of our own government is unacceptable.