Rural Communities
Recently the Beavercreek Committee for Community Planning (BCCP) learned from the Clackamas County Planning Department that Beavercreek is designated as a "Rural Community." Not knowing what a "Rural Community" is or what it provides, we investigated and learned the following:
In 1973, with the passing of Senate Bill 100, local jurisdictions were directed to plan and zone their lands based on specific statewide planning goals. The Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) oversaw these goals. The project was titled "Unincorporated Communities OAR 660 Division 22."
The purpose of Division 22 was to establish a statewide policy for the planning and zoning of unincorporated communities that recognizes the importance of communities in rural Oregon. The value of the project was to expedite the planning process for counties by reducing their need to take exceptions to statewide planning goals when planning and zoning unincorporated communities.
A "Rural Community" is defined as an unincorporated community which consists primarily of residential uses but also has at least two other land uses that provide commercial, industrial, or public uses (including but not limited to schools, churches, grange halls, post offices) to the community, the surrounding rural area, or to persons traveling through the area. Zoning in rural communities includes "low impact commercial use in a building or buildings not to exceed 4,000 square feet of floor space" and "low impact industrial use in a building or buildings not to exceed 10,000 square feet of floor space."
Other plan designations (other than Rural Community) included Resort Community and Urban Community.
In 1980, Clackamas County's Comprehensive Plan was acknowledged by the LCDC as being in compliance with applicable Statewide Planning Goals. Rural Communities included Colton, Beavercreek, Mulino, Redland, Damascus (now an Urban Community), Boring, Zigzag, Rhododenderon, Wemme-Welches, Wildwood-Timberline, and Government
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