This is Floyd Wynne with THE VIEW FROM HERE

This is Floyd Wynne with THE VIEW FROM HERE.

Land Use is back in the news! There’s a special meeting tonight from 6:30 to 8 in the Community meeting room at the courthouse.

This is only the third town meeting by a committee called the “Big Look Task Force.” who are slated to travel around the state and get comments from the general public on what changes are needed in the current Land Use Laws. The Task Force will go on to meetings in Medford, Coos Bay, North Bend, Eugene, The Dalles, LaGrande, Burns and Bend.

This is a far cry from the old days when one had to submit all their plans to the LCDC board in Salem, and then were told they didn’t address this issue or that.

I can well remember that our relationship with LCDC when I was a County Commissioner were pretty testy. At one time we even headed a group of citizen s to meet with LCDC and received a pretty cool welcome

When I became a County Commissioner in 1977 the county had done little on land use planning except appoint some committees. The Board hired a professional planner who prepared an outline of the County resources, current and planned future uses. It cost the county several million dollars.

One issue particularly was disturbing. Many Klamath County farmers are older and many seek to retire, yet don’t want to leave the homesite. At one time we suggested that such a landowner could divide off up to five acres for his homesite and turn the rest of the farm over to his family or sell it with the provision it could not be further subdivided for at least 15 years. Strangely we faced opposition from the local grange whom we thought would favor the issue. However LCDC tossed it out the window. We still think it is a good issue to be discussed for further changes in the law.

We found out also that we could plan all we wanted to for Klamath County, but the plan was already settled by the LCDC. Hopefully the current Task Force is more open minded and able to suggest changes in the current Land Use laws.

Among other issues locally is the proposal for a new shopping center at the Southern end of Washburn Way. Commissioners and County planners are expected to attend tonight’s meeting and the general public is urged to attend.\ So…..the Big Look Task Force is off on another statewide series of meetings from which will come very few changes, but numerous complaints.

This is Floyd Wynne and that’s THE VIEW FROM HERE.

$Text Box: This is Floyd Wynne with THE VIEW FROM HERE. Land Use is back in the news! There’s a special meeting tonight from 6:30 to 8 in the Community meeting room at the courthouse. This is only the third town meeting by a committee called the “Big Look Task Force.” who are slated to travel around the state and get comments from the general public on what changes are needed in the current Land Use Laws. The Task Force will go on to meetings in Medford, Coos Bay, North Bend, Eugene, The Dalles, LaGrande, Burns and Bend. This is a far cry from the old days when one had to submit all their plans to the LCDC board in Salem, and then were told they didn’t address this issue or that. I can well remember that our relationship with LCDC when I was a County Commissioner were pretty testy. At one time we even headed a group of citizen s to meet with LCDC and received a pretty cool welcome When I became a County Commissioner in 1977 the county had done little on land use planning except appoint some committees. The Board hired a professional planner who prepared an outline of the County resources, current and planned future uses. It cost the county several million dollars. One issue particularly was disturbing. Many Klamath County farmers are older and many seek to retire, yet don’t want to leave the homesite. At one time we suggested that such a landowner could divide off up to five acres for his homesite and turn the rest of the farm over to his family or sell it with the provision it could not be further subdivided for at least 15 years. Strangely we faced opposition from the local grange whom we thought would favor the issue. However LCDC tossed it out the window. We still think it is a good issue to be discussed for further changes in the law. We found out also that we could plan all we wanted to for Klamath County, but the plan was already settled by the LCDC. Hopefully the current Task Force is more open minded and able to suggest changes in the current Land Use laws. Among other issues locally is the proposal for a new shopping center at the Southern end of Washburn Way. Commissioners and County planners are expected to attend tonight’s meeting and the general public is urged to attend.\ So…..the Big Look Task Force is off on another statewide series of meetings from which will come very few changes, but numerous complaints. This is Floyd Wynne and that’s THE VIEW FROM HERE.$