HB 1586 TIMELINE:
3/4 – Pulled from the legislative agenda – SB 1586 DIED
2/23 – Third Public Hearing
2/18 – Second Public Hearing
2/16 – Public Hearing
OUR POSITION on the Land Grab Bill
FoFF Opposes SB 1586: Don’t sacrifice farmland for data centers!
This bill is the latest in a long line of attempts to take a 1,700 acre parcel of land outside of Hillsboro in Washington County out of rural reserves and incorporate it into the UGB of the city. The targeted land comprises some of the best agricultural land in the world. Nearly 90% of the subject area involves prime farmland under normal management, the remainder being high-value farmland. Hillsboro received over 1,000 acres of industrial land in 2014, which was an ample 50-year supply. But the city has been burning through this land quickly with data center development and other commercial, recreation, and retail land uses. Data centers create few, relatively low-paying jobs. Additionally, the bill will extend tax breaks for these same corporations—companies that can easily afford to pay their fair share. The bill’s focus on Hillsboro ignores the needs of other Oregon communities and lands currently available around the state.
Why farmland protections make communities work
High quality agricultural soils are a finite resource. Although we have plentiful, good agricultural land in Oregon, some of the best is in the Willamette Valley, and paving it over once ruins it for perpetuity. Once we make this choice, we cannot reclaim these soils. Data center technology suggests that we will need less and less space for the same processing capacity as tech advances, but we will always need all the land we can get to feed ourselves into the future. Throwing away a valuable resource like these soils is a foolish choice.
If this bill passes, not only would farmers lose access to the land in question and its high quality soils would be wasted, but we would be harming the ecosystem of farm adjacent businesses and services necessary for small farms to be viable. A farming community needs a critical mass of operations and corridors of roads that tolerate large equipment to maintain access to the services and businesses that make farming possible. The re-zoning of this piece of land would cut off the farming community in Northern Washington County from the area of farming in Western Washington County where many of these services still exist. Because of the land rezoned in 2014 and the proliferation of data centers already in this area, the Northern Washington County farming community has seen businesses like tractor dealerships who offer vital repairs, seed cleaners and livestock feed mills leave the area. This means that farmers are paying more and travelling further for these services. If this land is re-zoned, this community faces additional barriers accessing these essential resources and services in the county.
Ignoring public process sets a dangerous precedent
This bill is going around all the usual pathways for land to be re-zoned. It ignores the planning that went into the “Grand Bargain” of 2014 which granted Hillsboro 1,000 acres of industrial land converted from EFU (500 of which is still available by the way). This amount of industrial land was supposed to last the city 50 years, it has been only 12. The land in question is in rural reserves until 2065. This is not an unfair situation for the city of Hillsboro, it is a reminder that the city has not been following through on its obligations for the Oregon land use planning system and has not been engaging in meaningful planning within its UGB. If Oregon was to grant a legislative solution to every city that decided that the lure of a vague tech promise was more valuable than their agricultural lands, we would not have the thriving farming industry that we do. Having farms close to urban centers and the direct to consumer sales, agritourism opportunities, and ability to connect with the origins of our food in Oregon are all because of the proximity of productive farmland and our population centers. This is not an accident, it is the result of holistic planning, and it does not exist everywhere. The free market alone does not produce an intentional community food system, our choices do.
Oregon’s agricultural sector is the second largest industry in Oregon and generates $42 billion per year in economic activity. This is prime and high-value farmland that is a primary example of the wealth of our soils. The community surrounding this piece of land knows this. They have worked tirelessly to organize themselves and seek allies like FoFF across the state to tell legislators and industries that farmland is valuable in production far beyond the dollars in a speculative land value calculation. The community stands firmly against this proposal, and we stand with them. Under normal circumstances, when a proposal to rezone vast swaths of EFU zoned land comes up there are strict processes that include opportunities for the community to weigh in on the impact of that decision. Although Oregonians can provide testimony on this bill, this takes the decision out of the local context and gives the power to decide to the statewide legislature with little community input. This process could be duplicated in other areas where the community and industry clash over land use, and more agricultural enclaves in Oregon will be left by the wayside.
Do not sacrifice this agricultural land for a vague promise of tech investment. Do not set a precedent of ignoring community input and public process. Do not support SB 1586!