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New urban area planning

When new land is brought into the urban growth boundary, Metro collaborates with local cities and counties to plan how the new communities will be developed and served by roads, schools and other urban services.

In December 2002, the Metro Council voted to expand the urban growth boundary by 18,638 acres. In 2004 and 2005, the Metro Council voted to expand the urban growth boundary by an additional 2,500 acres for industrial land purposes. Before this land is converted from rural to urban use, Metro requires that it be planned by the local city or county that will provide services for the new urban area. In 2011, the Metro Council voted to expand the urban growth boundary by an additional 1985 acres to serve anticipated needs for new housing and jobs by 2030.

These requirements are contained in Title 11 of Metro’s Urban Growth Management Functional Plan. Title 11 first requires that local governments place interim measures on the new urban land to protect it from urbanization before a plan is completed and adopted. The plan, often referred to as a ‘concept plan’, must address the provisions listed in Title 11. These provisions include, but are not limited to a minimum level of residential units per acre, a diversity of housing stock, an adequate transportation system, protection of natural resource areas and needed school facilities.

Some concept plans have been completed in the region. For example, Pleasant Valley represents the potential for new, high-quality residential development...Visit the City of Gresham Pleasant Valley Concept Plan website

Plans have recently been completed for the Springwater Community Plan, Damascus/Boring Concept Plan, Park Place Village (Oregon City area) and Beaver Creek Road (Oregon City area).

Current plans underway include North Bethany (Washington County), South Hillsboro, Helvetia/Evergreen (Hillsboro) and Brookman Road (Sherwood).