Marion County Comprehensive Land Use Plan Background and Inventory
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MARION COUNTY COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN BACKGROUND AND INVENTORY REPORT PREPARED BY MARION COUNTY PLANNING DIVISION ADOPTED March 31, 1982 Revised 10/98 Revised 05/00 Revised 11/04 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Introduction ............................................................................................................. 4 General Background ............................................................................................... 4 Geographic Description Settlement History Climate Geology and Surficial Deposits Natural Resources Inventory ................................................................................. 12 Soils Water Resources Natural Areas Scenic Waterways Fish and Wildlife Habitats Mineral and Aggregate Source Existing Land Use ....................................................................................................40 Urban Land Use Agricultural Land Forest Land Land Ownership Population History and Projections .......................................................................55 State Population County Population Urban Population Parks and Recreation Inventory ............................................................................ 59 Introduction Historical Sites Willamette River Greenway Development Limitations ........................................................................................80 Floodplains Landslide Areas Building Site Limitations Septic Tank Filer Field Limitations Energy Sources Inventory .......................................................................................92 Citizen Involvement Program .................................................................................97 Appendixes A. 1979 Estimated Cash Receipts ...................................................................... 103 B. Rules Governing Area Advisory Committees ............................................... 109 C. Location of Designated Natural and Scenic Area ......................................... 117 Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 137 2 Figures #1 Location of Marion County ............................................................... 5 #2 Population History ............................................................................. 56 #4 100 Year Floodplain .......................................................................... 83 #5 Energy Consumption ......................................................................... 92 #6 Energy Consumption ......................................................................... 93 Maps Geology and Surficial Deposits …………………………………………… 12 General Soil ……………………………………………………………….. 20 Soil Suitability for Agriculture ……………………………………………. 22 Mineral and Aggregate Sites ……………………………………………… 40 Existing Land Use ………………………………………………………… 42 Timber Productivity ………………………………………………………. 54 Development Limitations …………………………………………………. 91 Tables #1 Fish Species ....................................................................................... 32 #2 Numbers of Sport Fishery Harvested ................................................ 33 #3 Big Game Populations ...................................................................... 34 #4 Upland Game Populations ................................................................ 34 #5 Waterfowl Populations ..................................................................... 35 #6 Furbearer Populations ....................................................................... 35 #7 Nongame Wildlife Populations ......................................................... 36 #8 Existing Land Use ............................................................................. 41 #9 Acreage in Urban Growth Boundaries .............................................. 42 #10 1979 Estimated Cash Receipts-Farm Markets .................................. 44 #11 Land Use in Farms (Acres) ................................................................45 #12 Number of Farms (Size) .................................................................... 46 #13 Agricultural Uses by Geographic Area ..............................................46 #14 Forest Lands Classification System .................................................. 50 #15 Commercial Forest Ownership, Timber Volume .............................. 51 #16 Public Land Ownership ..................................................................... 53 #17 Federal Land Ownership ................................................................... 53 #18 State Land Ownership ....................................................................... 54 #19 Population History 1920-1995 .......................................................... 55 #20 Projected State Population ................................................................ 57 #21 Components of Marion County and State Population....................... 58 #22 Population - Actual and Projected .................................................... 58 #26 Existing Parks and Recreation Areas ................................................61 #27 Historical Sites in Rural Marion County .......................................... 65 #28 Willamette River Greenway - Historical Sites ................................. 75 #29 Greenway Natural Areas .................................................................. 77 #30 Projected Areas within Portion of Greenway.................................... 78 #31 Soil Conservation Service Ratings ................................................... 86 3 INTRODUCTION This report is prepared as an integral part of the Marion County Comprehensive Plan. Its function is to serve as a factual data source for the development of Marion County land use goals and policies. The Comprehensive Plan is divided into two main documents: 1) Background and Inventory Report and 2) Goals and Policies Plan. This, the Background and Inventory Report, is intended to separate factual data from the conclusionary directives stated in the County Goals and Policies Report. This report is primarily a statement of existing conditions, trends, needs and projections that lead to statements of problems or conflicts, therefore, the need to establish and implement policy decisions to deal with the planning issues. This report is not intended to convey County land use policy; it does, however, provide the necessary information to determine land use conflicts so that County goals and policies can be established and balanced to minimize these problems. By doing this, the inventory requirements of the LCDC Goals are also satisfied. The inventory data contained in this report represents the most current and most detailed information available. In some areas the data is not as detailed or current as is desirable. Most of it is, however, sufficient to serve the Plan needs at the present until better data becomes available. The 1980 national census will provide an abundance of current data that will be available by approximately 1982. This and other data being developed will be evaluated and incorporated into the Marion County Comprehensive Plan as additions to this report. Revisions to the base data may in turn require revisions to the goals and polices of the County. Even though this report is considered a part of the Marion County Comprehensive Plan, updating of the data in its contents will be accomplished on a more regular basis than the Policy Plan. Revisions are essential to inventory data maintenance, are ongoing and should be accomplished on a yearly basis. When inventory data is revised it will be necessary to compare pertinent policies and update if necessary. GENERAL BACKGROUND Geographic Description Marion County is located in northwest Oregon, in the central section of the Willamette River Basin. The Willamette Basin extends over 12,145 square miles between the crests of the Cascade and Coast Ranges and is drained by the Willamette and Sandy Rivers. The Willamette Basin is a major component of the Columbia River Basin. Generally rectangular in shape, the Willamette Basin is about 150 miles long and about 75 miles wide. The basin is bounded on the east by the Cascade Range, on the south by the Calapooya Mountains, on the west by the Coast Range, and on the north by the Columbia River, from Bonneville Dam to St. Helens, Oregon. Within the basin, elevations vary from less than 10 feet above mean sea level along the 4 Columbia to 450 feet on the valley floor at Eugene. Elevations in the Cascades are over 10,000 feet and in the Coast Range they are approximately 4,000 feet. Willamette Valley trough lies within the western half of the basin. With an area of approximately 3,500 square miles, the Valley extends almost the length of the basin at an average width of 30 miles. The generally level to gently rolling topography is interrupted by several groups of hills and scattered buttes. Marion County is located slightly north of the approximate geographic center of the Willamette Basin. It is bounded on the north and west by the Willamette River, on the south by the North Santiam River, and on the east by the Pudding River, Butte Creek, and the crest of the Cascade Range. Measured east to west, the County is approximately72 miles at its widest point and 12 miles at its narrowest point. From north to south, the County ranges from 41 miles to 10 miles in length. The total area of the County is 746,240 acres. Salem, Oregon’s capital city and the seat of Marion County, is located in the extreme western part