6.0. SR 05-13-1996 - Laserfiche WebLink

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unknowledgable. Worst of all, when they try to give background information, they find that many young reporters have what is called the "Woodward and Bernstien" syndrome. They are much more intent on exposing corruption than in understanding what goes on at a meeting. The State of Oregon is evidently highly organized. One city manager complained to be about their myriad of regulations about their plans, their ordinances and their urban service areas. Every time a zoning ordinance is changed, for example, even if it only a change in setbacks, some forms have to be filled out, and it has to be approved by a state office, which can take a few months. According to this manager, it was a good idea gone wild. On the other hand, the state has mandated some procedures for inventorying and preserving historic buildings, and this has been the catalyst for the economic rejuvenation of some downtowns. Lot sizes in that state (and in many other locations) are typically much snaller than here. Their residential zones are R-5, R-7 and R-10 for minimum sizes of 5,000, 6,000 and 10,000 square feet respectively. In the agricultural zones, though, there are some huge minimum lot sizes of 640 acres. One complete morning session was devoted to the costs of urban sprawl. The session included a great deal of valuable information, but like the Southeast Michigan COG piece in our packet, it was more about the costs to a metropolitan area when suburbs develop. One of the presenters was a professor from Rutgers University, and he told me afterwards that he would try to send me information on studies comparing the urban costs of small and large lots in outlying areas.