OPJ Article on SB 1059

(As written for the upcoming issue of the Oregon Planners Journal, the newsletter of the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association)

SB 1059 Passed to Begin to Implement MPO Recommendations on Greenhouse Gas Reductions

“SB 1059 lays the groundwork for communities to plan for future population and employment growth while reducing greenhouse gases….” – Senator Jackie Dingfelder

Responding to the State of Oregon’s policy on Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions passed in 2007, and House Bill 2186 of the 2009 session, legislators passed Senate Bill 1059 during the final days of the 2010 legislative session. Introduced by Senator Courtney at the request of the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Greenhouse Gas Task Force, the bill contains these primary elements:

1. Directs the Oregon Transportation Commission (OTC) to collaborate with MPOs, other state agencies, local governments and stakeholders to adopt a statewide transportation strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as set forth under ORS468A.205. As background, ORS  468A.205 establishes Oregon’s policy on greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals:
   • By 2010, arrest the growth of Oregon’s greenhouse gas emissions and begin to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
   • By 2020, achieve greenhouse gas levels that are 10 percent below 1990 levels.
   • By 2050, achieve greenhouse gas levels that are at least 75 percent below 1990 levels.

   ORS 468.205 further declares that “it is the policy of this state for state and local governments, businesses, nonprofit organizations and individual residents to prepare for the effects of global warming and by doing so, prevent and reduce the social, economic and environmental effects of global warming.”

2. Directs the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and the Department of Land Conservation and Development Commission (DLCD), after consultation with MPOs, other state agencies, local governments and stakeholders shall establish guidelines for developing and evaluating alternative land use scenarios that may reduce GHG emissions.
3. Calls for development of a toolkit for use by local governments to reduce transportation sector GHG emissions through land use and other means.
4. Directs LCDC in consultation with the OTC, local governments and MPOs to identify a reduction target for the transportation sector for GHG emissions for vehicles weighing 10,000 lbs or less in each MPO area.
5. Directs ODOT and DLCD to work with other state agencies and the Oregon University System on public outreach and education associated with the need to reduce GHG emissions and associated costs and benefits of GHG emission reductions.
6. Asks local governments within MPOs to consider whether any immediate action should be taken to reduce transportation-sector GHG emissions, and to consider how Regional Transportation System plans outside the Portland Metropolitan area could be altered to reduce GHG emissions. [The Portland Metropolitan area has specific and related task it is working on per the 2009 HB 2001 Jobs and Transportation Act.]
7. Requires DLCD and ODOT to report on the above actions to the 2011 Legislature.

Credit goes to OAPA chapter Vice-President Brian Campbell for testifying on the bill, and to members of the emergent OAPA Sustainability Steering Team for their work – particularly Richard Ross and OAPA Legislative Liaison Stephen Kafoury.  For the full text of the bill, see: http://www.leg.state.or.us/10ss1/measpdf/sb1000.dir/sb1059.b.pdf

- Kirstin Greene, AICP, Managing Principal, Cogan Owens Cogan, LLC

January 2010: New Beginnings

Cogan Owens Cogan Celebrates 35 Years!
Passion drives our work at COC. We are inspired by our clients, the communities with whom we work and all our partners and friends.

While we are encouraged that 2010 has started off with a bang, it will continue to require efficiencies in our work, creative partnerships and innovation.  Through professional development and work with our clients, we continue to advance and refine our integrated practice areas of planning, community engagement and sustainability. We have had the good fortune to continue to be able to stretch our professional wings in broadening our creative and strategic partnerships in energy, climate change, urban design, asset management, community engagement, social media, strategic planning and process facilitation.

We hope to have the chance to work with you this year. Please continue reading for a sample of what we are up to!

~ Kirstin Greene, Managing Principal

Welcome Ric Stephens!
We are pleased to welcome planner and urban designer Ric Stephens to COC. Ric’s practice on local and national levels helps us stay on the cutting edge of public engagement and community building.  In addition to his work in Chehalem, Urban Reserves projects, the Dominican Republic and Haiti recovery planning, Ric is closely involved with community initiatives such as the recent urban design charrette in Beaverton. The Oregonian gave impressive coverage to this event. It attracted elected officials, experienced urban design and planning professionals, and agency staff to work with 70 high school students to design attributes and uses for the long neglected Westgate Theater site.

Building on his extensive expertise creating meaningful and memorable communities, Ric continues to inspire us all with his ideas and creativity in youth engagement, innovative community planning and urban design.

Climate Action Planning
As part of our 2010 commitment to continuing work on helping solve our most challenging problems, COC hosted a brown bag on Climate Action Planning on January 7.  Twenty committed professionals doing work in this field enjoyed a presentation by former COC planner Damian Pitt, PhD, on his recent research on climate action planning at Virginia Tech. The discussion that followed was intense and enlightening.  We were fortunate in 2009 to work on various aspects of climate change and greenhouse gas reduction strategies, and look forward to a continued focus in this area in 2010.  Let us know if you would like to be apprised of our next gathering on this or related topics. Please email us at coc@coganowens.com.

Community Renewal
In Oregon City, we are helping the community decide how to maintain and enhance the iconic Carnegie Center, a community asset that has been vacant for more than a year.

For the Office of Portland Mayor Sam Adams, we are facilitating meetings of a group of veterans for their perspective on how to revitalize and reuse the historic Memorial Coliseum.

In Rainier, COC assisted business owners, elected and appointed officials, railroad and ODOT representatives to reach consensus on a vision for A Street that will guide public investments to attract redevelopment along the city’s main downtown thoroughfare.

In Clackamas County, we are wrapping up an update to the County’s economic landscape project. The strategy will help decision makers and the business community guide investment, policy and regulatory decisions to maximize the benefits from both public finance and land use decisions.  Also in Clackamas County, we are facilitating Lake Oswego’s review of its sensitive lands ordinance to ensure compliance with regulatory standards, increase flexibility for property owners and simplify the permit process.

Internationally, we are initiating a new project to develop an eco-city master plan for Langfang, China, near Beijing.  COC is part of a team that includes the Woo Group, HOK Hong Kong, CW Group of San Francisco and others selected to develop a master plan to add to and redevelop an existing city of four million people.  The plan will focus on all aspects of urban development and redevelopment. Our firm will focus on the public policies necessary to implement and advance the eco-city vision and master plan.

Continuing our precedent-setting work in Asia through Team Oregon, we have completed work with Origin International on an Eco-City Plan for the City of Taipei, Taiwan.  See Net Green News’ coverage of this planning effort.  Bob Wise’s presentation on this  groundbreaking initiative given to the Natural Step of Oregon and other organizations is available here.

Sustainability Plans Roll On
Our 2008-2009 sustainability plans in Corvallis, Palm Springs, Clackamas County and Taiwan continue to gather momentum.  In Corvallis, volunteers created action teams to implement top community-based recommendations in the areas of transportation, energy, food, land use, natural areas, waste prevention and water. The Coalition is comprised of more than 130 community groups. COC designed and facilitated meetings with over 600 participants at three key points during the planning process.

Community Engagement
Individuals at COC remain personally committed to community involvement and participation. We volunteer our time to the Oregon Environmental Council, Urban Land Institute, Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association, Hands On Greater Portland, International Society of Japanese Gardens, Three Rivers Conservancy and others. Karen Beal with Hands on Greater Portland had this to say about COC’s Alisha Dishaw:

“…This is exactly the kind of experience that we hope for on MLK Weekend of Service.  I am grateful that you stepped up as you always do.  Being a good leader is all about relationship and inspiration and you’ve accomplished both with intention and grace.”

~ Karen Beal, PhD, Hands On Greater Portland

Recent Projects

Planning

• Civic Engagement and Land Use Framing Paper, Intermountain West Funder Network
• Floodplain Zoning Ordinance Update, City of Stanfield
• Stafford Triangle Infrastructure Cost Inventory and Analysis, Clackamas County Business Alliance
• Salem-Keizer Regional Economic Opportunities Analysis, Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments

Sustainability

• Sustainability Planning Assistance, Metro
• Eco-City Master Plan, Langfang, China

Facilitation

• Listening Sessions, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board
• Marine Reserves, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
• Memorial Coliseum Veterans Focus Group, Portland Development Commission and Portland Mayor’s Office
• Multnomah County Initiative Food Summit, Multnomah County
• Oregon Jobs and Transportation Act, Section 18 Implementation Project, Oregon Consensus and Oregon Department of Transportation
• Board Facilitation, Lewis & Clark College

Public Engagement

• Planning and Community Engagement, City of Damascus
• Junction City Transportation System Plan Update, Oregon Department of Transportation
• Complete Communities Healthy Communities Implementation, Clackamas County

Be in touch!
www.coganowens.com
Follow us on Twitter @coganowens

LCDC Adopts Climate Change Interim Strategy

(As written for the upcoming issue of the Oregon Planners Journal, the newsletter of the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association)

LCDC Adopts Inaugural Climate Change Framework July 31, 2009

The Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) adopted its first comprehensive Climate Change interim strategy and work program at their meeting in Brookings on July 31.  The strategy and work program build upon extensive staff research, stakeholder outreach and previous Commission discussions in April and June. The interim strategy focuses staff work on three concurrent efforts:

• Adaptation Planning. DLCD will work with state agencies and others to develop a state-level framework for adaptation planning. DLCD will continue staff work on the possible effects of climate change, including landscape level predicted effects of climate change such as flooding, landslides, wildfire, effect on water resources and transportation facilities.  Includes projects to undertake planning for the possible effects of climate change in up to five communities around the state.  Results of these pilot projects will help inform development of a state-level adaptation plan.

• Urban Mitigation. Efforts will center on reducing emissions in urban areas and specifically, the implementation of HB 2186 and HB 2001 recently passed in the 2009 legislative session. A report on HB 2186, which directions Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) to work with the Oregon Department of Transportation, the Oregon Metropolitan Planning Organization Task Force and other agencies to advance land use and transportation scenario planning to reduce GHG emissions in Oregon’s metropolitan areas, is due to the legislature in January 2010. Focus in this area will be on the regional integration of land use and transportation planning to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with climate change.
• Community Engagement.  The department will undertake community engagement in conjunction with work on adaptation planning and as other opportunities arise. DLCD will develop a program for broader community engagement to present to the legislature next biennium. Calls for initiation of an engagement effort that will continue into the next biennium.  LCDC’s Citizen Involvement Advisory Committee (CIAC) will be asked to help the approach to this effort.

All efforts involve collaboration with local, state and federal agency partners, as well as with the private, non-profit and academic communities.

In adopting the June 17 recommended interim strategy and work program, LCDC Chair John VanLandingham asked staff also to ensure that the topic of climate change is a discussion point in future LCDC roundtables with local government and that it becomes a standing LCDC agenda item starting in the spring of 2010. DLCD Director Richard Whitman, Coastal Conservation Coordinator Jeff Weber and Transportation Planning Coordinator Bob Cortright were the lead authors of the strategy.

See the Department’s Web site for more information on the interim strategy and work plan: http://www.oregon.gov/LCD/docs/rulemaking/072909/item16_climate_change.pdf and the next issue for additional and related information.

COC in the Oregonian: Planner to present Portland’s green policies in Taiwan

Following is the write-up on Bob Wise’s sustainability efforts in Taiwan taken from the Oregonian’s Web site. Enjoy!

Planner to present Portland’s green policies in Taiwan
by Dylan Rivera, The Oregonian
Thursday June 04, 2009, 10:37 AM

A leader of Portland planning firm Cogan Owens Cogan is traveling to a national conference in Taiwan to present the latest Oregon and Portland-area sustainability efforts.

Bob Wise, senior project manager for the firm, is helping draft the Taipei 2050 EcoCity Vision, a long-range planning document for Taiwan’s largest city. He’s been asked to make a presentation about Oregon sustainability efforts to the Taiwan National Council for Sustainable Development’s annual conference.

“We’ve worked in Taiwan off and on for 10 years,” Wise said. “They’re always interested in what Portland and Oregon are doing.”

The sustainable development conference includes business leaders and cabinet-level members of Taiwan’s federal government. Wise said he plans to explain how Portland became the No.1 city in the nation for sustainability in rankings by SustainLane. He also will discuss the Living Building Challenge, which is a new green building standard, and the eco-district concept, which would have buildings share water and energy infrastructure to achieve greater efficiencies.

Wise was chairman of the Portland/Multnomah County Sustainable Development Commission when green building policies and climate change plans were developed.

Cogan Owens Cogan’s Taiwan work is performed through Team Oregon, a joint venture with SERA Architects and Century West Engineering of Portland.

– Dylan Rivera; dylanrivera@news.oregonian.com

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/06/portland_planner_to_present_gr.html