660-024-0065 Establishment of Study Area to Evaluate Land for Inclusion in the UGB (1) When considering a UGB amendment to accommodate a need deficit identified in OAR 660-024-0050(3), a city outside of Metro must determine which land to add to the UGB by evaluating alternative locations within a “study area” established pursuant to this rule. To establish the study area, the city must first identify a “preliminary study area” which shall not include land within a different UGB or the corporate limits of a city within a different UGB. The preliminary study area shall include: (a) All lands in the city’s acknowledged urban reserve, if any. If all land in the city’s acknowledged urban reserve area, or a subsection thereof, meet the requirements of section (6) of this rule, then no other land specified under subsections (b)-(d) is needed in the preliminary study area; (b) All lands that are within the following distance from the acknowledged UGB: (A) For cities with a UGB population less than 10,000: one-half mile; (B) For cities with a UGB population equal to or greater than 10,000: one mile; (c) All exception areas contiguous to an exception area that includes land within the distance specified in subsection (b) and that are within the following distance from the acknowledged UGB: (A) For cities with a UGB population less than 10,000: one mile; (B) For cities with a UGB population equal to or greater than 10,000: one and one-half miles; (d) At the discretion of the city, the preliminary study area may include land that is beyond the distance specified in subsections (b) and (c). (2) When the primary purpose for expansion of the UGB is to accommodate a particular industrial use that requires specific site characteristics, or to accommodate a public facility that requires specific site characteristics, and the site characteristics may be found in only a small number of locations, the preliminary study area may be limited to those locations within the distance described in section (1) that have or could be improved to provide the required site characteristics. For purposes of this section: (a) The definition of “site characteristics” in OAR 660-009-0005(11) applies for purposes of identifying a particular industrial use. (b) A “public facility” may include a facility necessary for public sewer, water, storm water, transportation, parks, schools, or fire protection. Site characteristics may include but are not limited to size, topography and proximity. (3) The city may exclude land, including whole tax lots or parcels, from the preliminary study area if it determines that: (a) Based on the standards in section (7) of this rule, it is impracticable to provide necessary public facilities or services to the land; (b) The land is subject to significant development hazards, due to a risk of: (A) Landslides: The land consists of a landslide deposit or scarp flank. If the owner of a lot or parcel provides the city with a site-specific analysis by a certified engineering geologist demonstrating that development of the property would not be subject to significant landslide risk, the city may not exclude the lot or parcel under this paragraph; (B) Flooding, including inundation during storm surges: the land is within the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) identified on the applicable Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM); (C) Tsunamis: the land is within a tsunami inundation zone established pursuant to ORS 455.446; (D) Other hazards identified in an acknowledged comprehensive plan or development code that the local government determines as presenting a significant risk to life or property including those that would be identified if the land was already within the city’s jurisdiction. (c) The land consists of a significant scenic, natural, cultural or recreational resource described in this subsection: (A) Land that is designated in an acknowledged comprehensive plan prior to initiation of the UGB amendment, or that is mapped on a published regional, state or federal inventory at a scale sufficient to determine its location for purposes of this rule, as: (i) Critical or essential habitat for a species listed by a state or federal agency as threatened or endangered; (ii) Core habitat for Greater Sage Grouse; or (iii) Big game migration corridors or winter range, except where located on lands designated as urban reserves or exception areas; (B) Federal Wild and Scenic Rivers and State Scenic Waterways, including Related Adjacent Lands described by ORS 390.805, as mapped by the applicable state or federal agency responsible for the scenic program; (C) Designated Natural Areas on the Oregon State Register of Natural Heritage Resources; (D) Wellhead protection areas described under OAR 660-023-0140 and delineated on a local comprehensive plan; (E) Aquatic areas subject to Statewide Planning Goal 16 that are in a Natural or Conservation management unit designated in an acknowledged comprehensive plan; (F) Lands subject to acknowledged comprehensive plan or land use regulations that implement Statewide Planning Goal 17, Coastal Shoreland, Use Requirement 1; (G) Lands subject to acknowledged comprehensive plan or land use regulations that implement Statewide Planning Goal 18, Implementation Requirement 2; (H) Lands identified by a Tribal government as not compatible with urbanization because they consist of important scenic, natural, or cultural resources. (d) The land is owned by the federal government and managed primarily for rural uses. (4) As part of the process of evaluating land for inclusion in the study area, a local government must notify Tribal governments of the establishment of a preliminary study area as provided: (a) Notice must be sent to Tribal governments with an ancestral connection to land within the study area and jurisdiction of the local government. The local government must obtain a list from the Oregon Legislative Commission on Indian Services of Tribal governments that have such a connection. (b) Notice to Tribal governments as identified in (a) must include: (A) A map of the preliminary study area; and (B) Information on how and when to provide input, including invitation for government-to-government consultation and staff coordination regarding potential conflicts or opportunities between future urbanization of land within the preliminary study area and cultural or natural resources, Tribal government strategic plans, or other Tribal government interests. (c) A local government must allow a period of no less than 35 calendar days after the notice was sent for Tribal governments to respond and opt in to consultation and coordination. (d) A local government that receives input from a Tribal government must explain how input was incorporated. If input from a Tribal government was not incorporated, the local government must provide a rationale explaining why. (5) After excluding land from the preliminary study area under section (3), the city must adjust the area, if necessary, so that it includes an amount of land that is at least twice the amount of land needed for the deficiency determined under OAR 660-024-0050(3) or, if applicable, twice the particular land need described in section (2). Such adjustment shall be made by expanding the distance specified under section (1) and applying section (3) to the expanded area. (6) For purposes of evaluating the priority of land under OAR 660-024-0067, the “study area” shall consist of all land that remains in the preliminary study area described in section (1) or (2) of this rule after adjustments to the area based on sections (3) and (5), provided that when a purpose of the UGB expansion is to accommodate a public park need, the city must also consider whether land excluded under subsection (3)(a) through (c) of this rule can reasonably accommodate the park use. (7) For purposes of subsection (3)(a), the city may consider it impracticable to provide necessary public facilities or services to the following lands: (a) Contiguous areas of at least five acres where 75 percent or more of the land has a slope of 25 percent or greater, provided that contiguous areas 20 acres or more that are less than 25 percent slope may not be excluded under this subsection. Slope shall be measured as the increase in elevation divided by the horizontal distance at maximum ten-foot contour intervals; (b) Land that is isolated from existing service networks by physical, topographic, or other impediments to service provision such that it is impracticable to provide necessary facilities or services to the land within the planning period. Impracticability shall be determined by the relative complexity and challenge required to serve an area with public facilities. The city’s determination shall be based on an evaluation of: (A) The likely amount of development that could occur on the land within the planning period; (B) The relative cost of facilities and services to provide a feasibility comparison; and, (C) Any substantial evidence collected by or presented to the city regarding how similarly situated land in the region has, or has not, developed over time. (c) As used in this section, “impediments to service provision” may include but are not limited to: (A) Major rivers or other water bodies that would require new bridge crossings to serve planned urban development; (B) Topographic features such as canyons or ridges with slopes exceeding 40 percent and vertical relief of greater than 80 feet; (C) Freeways, rail lines, or other restricted access corridors that would require new grade separated crossings to serve planned urban development; (D) Significant scenic, natural, cultural or recreational resources on an acknowledged plan inventory and subject to protection measures under the plan or implementing regulations, on a published regional, state or federal inventory, or identified by a Tribal government, consistent with OAR 660-024-0065(3)(c), that would prohibit or substantially impede the placement or construction of necessary public facilities and services. (d) As a safe harbor, a city may determine land impracticable to serve when the cost-per-unit calculation exceeds four times the median cost-per-unit of all sub-areas. (8) Land may not be excluded from the preliminary study area based on a finding of impracticability that is primarily a result of existing development patterns. However, a city may forecast development capacity for such land as provided in OAR 660-024-0067(1)(d). (9) Notwithstanding OAR 660-024-0050(3) and section (1) of this rule, except during periodic review or other legislative review of the UGB, the city may approve an application under ORS 197.610 to 197.625 for a UGB amendment, when paired with land use efficiency measures, to add an amount of land less than necessary to satisfy the land need deficiency determined under OAR 660-024-0050(3), provided the amendment complies with all other applicable requirements. Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 197.040, ORS 197A.305, ORS 197A.320, Statewide Planning Goal 14 & ORS 197.235 Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 195.036, ORS 197.015, ORS 197.610 – 197.650, ORS 197A.300 - 197A.325, ORS 197.478, ORS 197A.015, ORS 197A.020, ORS 197A.200, ORS 197A.215, ORS 197A.278, ORS 197A.348 - 197A.355, ORS 197A.362, ORS 197A.370 - 197A.400, ORS 197A.425, ORS 197A.445, ORS 197A.465 & ORS 197A.470 History: LCDD 8-2025, amend filed 12/23/2025, effective 01/01/2026 LCDD 6-2015, f. 12-29-15, cert. ef. 1-1-16