SALEM—Rails-to-trails and similar projects crossing Oregon farmland would be subject to greater public scrutiny under a bill intended to reduce potential conflicts with agriculture.
Under House Bill 3367, recreational trails—such as converted railroad easements—would have to obtain conditional use approval from county governments in exclusive farm zones.
County governments are currently confused about whether such projects are allowed outright under Oregon’s land use laws or if they’re subject to permitting requirements, according to the bill’s proponents.
Recreational trails can create obstacles to driving farm machinery onto fields and pose safety problems when farmers are spraying chemicals, tilling or performing other common practices, said Stan Snyder, a farmer near Albany, Ore.
“All these things are not really compatible with bikers going through there,” he said during an April 7 hearing before the House Committee on Rural Communities, Land Use and Water.
Due to the current uncertainty, recreational trails may be subject to a different interpretation of the law in each county they cross, said Jim Johnson, land use specialist for the Oregon Department of Agriculture.
A controversial rails-to-trails project in Benton County was scrapped, but similar proposals exist in several other counties, he said. “This is an issue that is very timely.”
The conditional use permit process ensures that neighboring farmers can weigh in on recreational trail proposals so that counties can evaluate potential impacts on agriculture, proponents say.
“It does not ban them or make them onerously difficult to approve,” said Steve McCoy of the 1,000 Friends of Oregon conservation group.
The proposal has drawn opposition from the Oregon Recreation & Park Association, which interprets Oregon’s land use law as allowing trails outright in farm zones.
Hundreds of miles of trails in farm zones have been created under this interpretation, often along corridors and easements that already permit transportation, said Cindy Robert, a lobbyist for the Oregon Recreation & Park Association.
Adding more bureaucratic “red tape” to impede the building of recreational trails is unnecessary, she said. “For the most part, the system has worked.”
Source: www.capitalpress.com