APRIL 2008: AROUND THE STATE
Ruling
muddles Metolius resorts
SISTERS
Central Oregon’s tangled web of destination resorts,
land-use laws and regulatory state agencies is no closer to
being unraveled following a ruling by the state Land Use Board
of Appeals on resorts near the Metolius River. LUBA ruled that
Jefferson County needed to do more studies on the impact of
resorts on big game.
LUBA also decided that state law did not regulate springs at
the source of the river. That means state law would have no
authority if potential resorts affected the water table and
springs. In March, land-use activists appealed LUBA’s
decision to the Oregon Court of Appeals. Last year, a bill that
would have blocked resorts from the Metolius area was stopped
by Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who argued the land-use process should
dictate the siting of
resorts.
ABRAHAM HYATT
Photo by Brian O'Keefe
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