Community panel December 6 at Ponzi Vineyards:
Incorporating Tech without compromising farmland
Hi Folks!
We need your help! This next year is going to present us with our
biggest challenge since the 2009-2014 Urban/Rural Reserves effort.
The next scheduled UGB (Urban Growth Boundary) Expansion Review will
occur in 2024 and various special interests and cities have spent the
past few years preparing their arguments for why they need more land,
both for residential housing and for industrial uses.
We are facing a perfect storm of influential groups determined to get
one thing: large blocks of land to be available for semiconductor
manufacturers.
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The City of Hillsboro has prepared a 273-page Economic Opportunity
Analysis (EOA) that they believe justifies their request for more
land that they can offer to semiconductor manufacturers and related
industries to take advantage of the extensive financial benefits of
the CHIPS For America ACT, passed by Congress in July 2022.
We expect the City Council to approve the EOA, known as Ordinance
6249, by the end of the year.
Information we have obtained
indicates that they may be looking for large tracts of land north of
US-26 (i.e. Helvetia) as well as south of US-26.
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Lobbyists for the semiconductor chip manufacturing industry have
already been approaching legislators to sponsor bills to facilitate
opening up more lands for industrial/manufacturing zoning.
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The Governor established the Oregon Semiconductor Competitiveness
Task Force after Intel selected Ohio as the site for their next
R&D/Semiconductor manufacturing billion-dollar investment.
This Task Force is heavily weighted with industry, special interests
and developers with few, if any, regular citizens.
They, too, are looking for ways to come up with more land to offer
the semiconductor industry.
This is a big challenge and we are looking for people who want to learn
more about this new threat to our farmland.
Save Helvetia and 1000 Friends of Oregon are hosting a panel discussion
on Tuesday, December 6, to learn more about the initial recommendations
of the state's Task Force.
We hope to see you on December 6 to learn more about this new challenge
and share ideas.
Please see below for more details.
In the meantime, have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Cherry Amabisca
Save Helvetia
Oregon's Tech: Where Could it Land?
Tuesday, December 6, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Ponzi Vineyards, Sherwood OR
In August 2022, the Oregon Semiconductor Competitiveness Task Force,
co-chaired by outgoing Governor Kate Brown, Senator Ron Wyden, and PGE
CEO Maria Pope, published initial recommendations for how to position
Oregon as a competitive state for investments in chip manufacturing,
research, and development authorized under the federal CHIPS and Science
Act 2022.
Some of the initial recommendations focused on how much land we have
zoned for industrial uses, the size of the parcels of industrial land,
and the infrastructure required for this kind of development.
1000 Friends of Oregon and Save Helvetia invite you to a night with
delicious wine and appetizers and lively discussion to learn more about
the Task Force's initial recommendations.
Our goals are to generate public awareness and hear your ideas for how
to create high-wage tech jobs and bring the CHIPS and Science Act
funding into Oregon while not sacrificing farmland.
Space is limited, so reserve your spot today.
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