Oregon law requires that local people have opportunities to participate in planning and development decisions within their communities. This is the purpose of Oregon’s first statewide planning goal: “to develop a citizen involvement program that insures the opportunity for citizens to be involved in all phases of the planning process.”

The best way to ensure that your voice is heard is to be pro-active by taking advantage of opportunities to present ideas and information to local advisory committees and decision-making bodies before major planning and policy decisions get made. What is important is to participate as much as possible in the visioning and drafting of the goals, policies, and guidelines that will direct future decision-making in your community and determine the outcomes of those decisions.

In most cases, though, people become involved in land use and growth management decisions in reaction to specific development projects that will affect their immediate neighborhoods. In such situations, proper timing and strategy is crucial, for once applications are approved, legal intervention becomes the only recourse, and this can be quite costly and time-consuming. Therefore, it is important to take advantage of the opportunity for public input, which means bringing compelling arguments and broad-based community support to bear on the situation as early as possible.

Goal One Coalition can help you get involved at the right moment and with the right strategy so that your participation is effective and has a better chance of success.

For more information about how to get involved in decisions that affect your community, please contact our Community Planner, Lauri Segel, at lauri@goal1.org, or (541) 431-7059.

For additional information, you can also visit our online resources page.