A bill that would prohibit destination resort development near the Metolius River will get an airing at a public hearing in Salem on Thursday, April 5.

Senate Bill 30 (SB 30) is sponsored by Democrat (formerly Republican and Independent) Senator Ben Westlund of Deschutes County. The bill amends the language of ORS 197.455, the Oregon state law that regulates the development of destination resorts. In effect, SB 30 kills any plans for a destination resort near Camp Sherman by prohibiting any destination resort development "in or within three miles of the Metolius River Basin."

The Metolius Basin is the only location in the state that is called out in SB 30 for this special designation.

"I think that they (destination resorts) are great, but they don't belong near the Metolius River Basin," said Senator Westlund, whose own Deschutes County has the largest number of destination resorts in the state.

The Senator's position is frustrating to Shane Lundgren, whose company Dutch Pacific Resources has plans for an ecologically-oriented destination resort near Camp Sherman (see "Developer reveals resort plans," The Nugget, March 7, page 1).

"He (Westlund) has ambitions in becoming governor, and perhaps he thought this would paint him as the man who saved the Metolius," Lundgren said.

The developer noted that he has been in contact with Westlund who, he said, has expressed openess to Lundgren's ideas.

The mapping of destination resorts has been a long process. (See "Camp Sherman embroiled in land use debate," The Nugget, February 28, 2007, page 1.)

In addition to the 627-acre property owned by Dutch Pacific, there is an additional 29,000 acres zoned for destination resort development owned by Colson and Colson in the Green Ridge area.

If that is developed it would be the largest destination resort in Oregon.

Jefferson County spent considerable time developing its first zoning for destination resorts, which now appears to have become a political football.

Lundgren thinks the legislature is in the wrong arena.

"The most obvious thing about SB 30 is that it is so far out of line with protocol for how government works. Jefferson County spent a lot of time and energy doing what they have every right to do with their county commission. They held hearings, listened to all the input, and these people didn't bother to show up for that, and now you have big brother coming in and trying to reverse this decision," said Lundgren.

On that score, there is not a lot of disagreement from Westlund.

"In some regards we are circumventing a land use process. I don't mean to impact Jefferson County. This has nothing to do with Jefferson County. This has got everything to do with protecting a unique and irreplaceable place," said Senator Westlund. "There are some places that without question (are) so special and so unique in their beauty and natural heritage that they deserve special and unique protections. The Metolius River Basin is just such a place."

Lundgren is not opposed in principle to the concept of SB 30 and agrees with Senator Westlund that the Metolius should be preserved; however, he believes that the bill itself is ill conceived.

"What we are proposing is that we strip the language from the bill and make it site-specific with eco standards that need to be met. We really need to get the community up to speed so that they understand what is really going on," said Lundgren.

Lundgren believes that it is possible to protect the Metolius Basin and have economic development. He believes that the destination resort proposed by his company is engineered to help accomplish that very thing .

However, he believes there have been some misunderstandings.

"My biggest concern at this point is to go to the grass roots of Camp Sherman and develop a dialog with our neighbors," said Lundgren.

Anyone may submit testimony for the April 5 hearing by e-mail to [email protected] These comments will be presented at the hearing.

The full text of SB 30 can be found at: landru.leg.state.or.us/07reg/measures/sb0001.dir/sb0030.intro.html.