www.lcd.state.or.us

Oregon's Land Use Program includes nineteen statewide planning goals. Cities and counties must adopt comprehensive plans and ordinances which are consistent with these goals. Following is a summary of the statewide planning goals. More detailed information on the goals is available under Statewide Planning Goals.

1. Citizen Involvement -- Goal 1 calls for "the opportunity for citizens to be involved in all phases of the planning process." It requires each city and county to have a citizen involvement program with six components specified in the goal. It also requires local governments to have a committee for citizen involvement (CCI) to monitor and encourage public participation in planning.
   
2. Land Use Planning --Goal 2 outlines the basic procedures of Oregon's statewide planning program. It says that land-use decisions are to be made in accordance with a comprehensive plan, and that suitable "implementation ordinances" to put the plan's policies into effect must be adopted. It requires that plans be based on "factual information;" that local plans and ordinances be coordinated with those of other jurisdictions and agencies; and that plans be reviewed periodically and amended as needed.

Goal 2 also contains standards for taking exceptions to statewide goals. An exception may be taken when a statewide goal cannot or should not be applied to a particular area or situation.

3. Agricultural Lands -- Goal 3 defines "agricultural lands." It then requires counties to inventory such lands and to "preserve and maintain" them through exclusive farm use (EFU) zoning (per ORS Chapter 215).
   
4. Forest Lands -- This goal defines forest lands and requires counties to inventory them and adopt policies and ordinances that will "conserve forest lands for forest uses."
   
5. Open Spaces, Scenic and Historic Areas, and Natural Resources -- Goal 5 encompasses 12 different types of resources, including wildlife habitats, mineral resources, wetlands and waterways. It establishes a process through which resources must be inventoried and evaluated. If a resource or site is found to be important, the local government has three policy choices: to preserve the resource, to allow the proposed uses that conflict with it, or to establish some sort of a balance between the resource and those uses that would conflict with it.
   
6. Air, Water and Land Resources Quality --This goal requires local comprehensive plans and implementing measures to be consistent with state and federal regulations on matters such as groundwater pollution.
   
7. Areas Subject to Natural Disasters and Hazards -- Goal 7 deals with development in places subject to natural hazards such as floods or landslides. It requires that jurisdictions apply "appropriate safeguards" (floodplain zoning, for example) when planning for development there.
   
8. Recreation Needs -- This goal calls for each community to evaluate its areas and facilities for recreation and develop plans to deal with the projected demand for them. It also sets forth detailed standards for expedited citing of destination resorts.
   
9. Economy of the State -- Goal 9 calls for diversification and improvement of the economy. It asks communities to inventory commercial and industrial lands, project future needs for such lands, and plan and zone enough land to meet those needs.
   
10. Housing -- This goal specifies that each city must plan for and accommodate needed housing types (typically, multifamily and manufactured housing). It requires each city to inventory its buildable residential lands, project future needs for such lands, and plan and zone enough buildable land to meet those needs. It also prohibits local plans from discriminating against needed housing types.
    
11. Public Facilities and Services -- Goal 11 calls for efficient planning of public services such as sewers, water, law enforcement, and fire protection. The goal's central concept is that public services should to be planned in accordance with a community's needs and capacities rather than be forced to respond to development as it occurs.
    
12. Transportation -- The goal aims to provide "a safe, convenient and economic transportation system." It asks for communities to address the needs of the "transportation disadvantaged."
    
13. Energy -- Goal 13 declares that "land and uses developed on the land shall be managed and controlled so as to maximize the conservation of all forms of energy, based upon sound economic principles."
    
14. Urbanization -- This goal requires all cities to estimate future growth and needs for land and then plan and zone enough land to meet those needs. It calls for each city to establish an "urban growth boundary" (UGB) to "identify and separate urbanizable land from rural land." It specifies seven factors that must be considered in drawing up a UGB. It also lists four criteria to be applied when undeveloped land within a UGB is to be converted to urban uses.
    
15. Willamette Greenway -- Goal 15 sets forth procedures for administering the 300 miles of greenway that protects the Willamette River.
    
16. Estuarine Resources -- This goal requires local governments to classify Oregon's 22 major estuaries in four categories: natural, conservation, shallow-draft development, and deep-draft development. It then describes types of land uses and activities that are permissible in those "management units."
    
17. Coastal Shorelands -- The goal defines a planning area bounded by the ocean beaches on the west and the coast highway (State Route 101) on the east. It specifies how certain types of land and resources there are to be managed: major marshes, for example, are to be protected. Sites best suited for unique coastal land uses (port facilities, for example) are reserved for "water-dependent" or "water-related" uses.
    
18. Beaches and Dunes -- Goal 18 sets planning standards for development on various types of dunes. It prohibits residential development on beaches and active foredunes, but allows other types of development if they meet key criteria. The goal also deals with dune grading, groundwater drawdown in dunal aquifers, and the breaching of foredunes.
    
19. Ocean Resources -- Goal 19 aims "to conserve the long-term values, benefits, and natural resources of the near-shore ocean and the continental shelf." It deals with matters such as dumping of dredge spoils and discharging of waste products into the open sea. Goal 19's main requirements are for state agencies rather than cities and counties.

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