Project Summary

South Hillsboro presents a unique opportunity to create a new and innovative community responding to the needs of the Metro Region, City of Hillsboro and neighboring residents.  Extensive planning efforts and community and stakeholder support position South Hillsboro to become the first planned community capable of fully implementing Metro’s “Making the Greatest Place” agenda. 

The driving general principles for the South Hillsboro Community Plan efforts are:

• Complete – a community with the full spectrum of facilities and services.  A life-cycle community that addresses the needs and desires of all residents for health, housing, education, shopping and recreation
  
  
• Connected – a community that provides residents and visitors with full multi-modal access.  A community that seamlessly connects neighborhoods and easily transitions from urban to rural lands.  A community plan, which in addition to serving future residents, provides older neighborhoods to the East and North, with access to needed parks, trails, open space, shopping and family services
  
  
• Green – a community that integrates open spaces with neighborhoods.  A sustainable community that incorporates state-of-the-art green development practices.  Preservation and improvement of existing natural resources and wildlife corridors to create a truly distinct natural environment.

Complete : Connected : Green provides the framework for ensuring that the evolving South Hillsboro Community Plan Area remains a special and unique place.

2012 South Hillsboro Community Plan Map

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Regional Planning Efforts Update

Urban and Rural Reserves

Urban and rural reserves were adopted by the region in the spring of 2011. The Land Conservation and Development Department orally "acknowledged" the regional reserves ordinances in August 2011. A written order is pending from LCDC.

Urban reserves are lands currently outside the urban growth boundary that are suitable for accommodating urban development over the next 50 years. Rural reserves are lands outside the current urban growth boundary that are high value working farms and forests or have important natural features like rivers, wetlands, buttes and floodplains. These areas will be protected from urbanization for the next 50 years.

The urban reserves are now the first priority for inclusion in the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) in the event Metro determines there is a need to expand the UGB to accommodate needed housing or employment.  More information about the background of the urban and rural reserve designation process can be found on Metro's or Washington County's web pages.

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Urban Growth Boundary Review

In December 2011, after several years of study, Metro expanded the urban growth boundary to include approximately 1,063 acres of the South Hillsboro Plan (“SoHi”) area bounded by the Tualatin Valley Highway to the north, Rosedale Road to the south, 209th to the east and 229th to the west (Metro 2011 Urban Growth Management Decision).    

Metro set forth the following target for capacity of South Hillsboro in its adopting ordinance:

The city of Hillsboro shall demonstrate that land use regulations adopted pursuant to Metro Code section 3.07.1120 will provide, during the 20-year planning period, capacity to achieve a target of approximately 10,766 dwelling units in Area 2 and adjoining South Hillsboro Community Plan lands currently in the UGB. No current dwelling unit capacity in the adjoining South Hillsboro Community Plan lands may be counted toward the 10,766 dwelling unit target (Metro Ordinance 1264B, Exhibit B, emphasis added).

On June 14, 2012, the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission orally acknowledged Metro's 2011 Urban Growth Boundary Expansion.  More information on this process can be found on the Department of Land Conservation and Development’s web page.

Why South Hillsboro?

South Hillsboro (SoHi) is planned as a complete, mixed-use community, emphasizing schools, civic and open spaces, parks trails and natural areas, and public gathering areas.  South Hillsboro is designed around a town center along the Tualatin Valley Highway and neighborhood center along the proposed extension of Cornelius Pass Road.  Because of the strategic placement of these centers, SoHi will provide much needed services and recreational opportunities to both the new residences of the community as well as to the neighboring communities.  South Hillsboro will also allow provision of infrastructure to Areas 69 and 71.

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Amenities and benefits of South Hillsboro include:

• A 47-acre mixed-use town center along the Tualatin Valley Highway with a main street featuring retail, civic space, public plazas, and a mix of housing types to meet different lifestyle needs.
• A neighborhood center along the proposed Cornelius Pass Road extension providing a second smaller area for gathering, shopping, school and housing for seniors.
• Distinctive neighborhoods encompassing over 11,000 homes in varying design types and price ranges.  This housing will further the city’s efforts in providing a better jobs/housing balance.
• Placement of neighborhoods to be within a ten-minute walk of shopping, parks, transit and civic spaces.
• 333 acres – more than 20% of the plan area – dedicated to natural areas, open space and recreation – including an extensive bicycle and pedestrian trail system.  The trail system will not only provide connections within the SoHi plan area, but to surrounding neighborhoods and natural areas, as well.
• On-going collaboration with the Hillsboro School District for schools.
• A well-developed financing plan that addresses infrastructure service, delivery, costs and funding.

Qualities resulting in the inclusion of South Hillsboro in the UGB, as outlined in the Metro's 2010 Growth Management Assessment include:

• Large, flat area with a few landowners that control the majority of the land that are focused on developing their property. The SoHi area’s two main property owners control the bulk of the plan area (652 acres), including Reed’s Crossing (463 acres) and Butternut Creek (189) respectively.  Their active and long-term commitment to the future development of South Hillsboro, as currently planned, ensures successful and imminent plan implementation. 
• Few environmental constraints that are located in such a way that development could occur without significant impact to the resources.
• Proximity to the Tualatin Valley Highway.
• Adjacency to other recent UGB expansion areas [Areas 69 and 71], whose development would be facilitated by development of the larger South Hillsboro area.
  

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History of the South Hillsboro Community Planning Effort

Previous UGB Expansions

Areas 69 and 71, containing approximately 335 acres, where added to the UGB in 2002.  These areas were brought in under previous UGB expansion criteria (based on land resource value).  The prior UGB expansion criteria allowed only lower value agricultural land to be added to the UGB, resulting in additions that did not, in some cases, have the locational qualities or physical relationships necessary to create successful future neighborhoods and communities.  

As illustrated by the South Hillsboro Community Plan Map, areas 69 and 71 are “pieces in a larger puzzle” (Areas 69 and 71, shown in orange and brown lines respectively).  To be able to achieve the goals of compact urban form, efficient use of land, mixed-use development, and rational and economic provision of urban service, the City determined, and the County and Metro concurred, that Areas 69 and 71 should be planned as part of the larger South Hillsboro planning process.

Planning for South Hillsboro

The South Hillsboro community planning project began in February 2007.  A year-long stakeholder planning process was a joint effort between City staff, stakeholders, citizen-advisors, and project consultants.  Public participation outreach included seven citizen-led Task Force meetings, seven Technical Advisory Committee meetings, three project open houses, two community forums, over 12,000 mailings / five project newsletters, a scenario planning workshop, housing market focus group, Citizen Participation Organization (CPO) meetings and Hillsboro Vision 2020 Town Hall booth. A draft community plan was developed.

Because only Areas 69 and 71 were within the UGB, amendments to the Hillsboro Comprehensive Plan could only be considered for these areas. The Planning Commission initiated Resolutions for plan amendments HCP 3-08: Area 69, South Hillsboro Community Plan and HCP 5-08: Area 71, South Hillsboro Community Plan, as well as ZOA 2-08: Areas 69 & 71, South Hillsboro Community Plan on February 27, 2008 (see staff report).  These resolutions were discussed at a Planning Commission public hearing on April 29, 2008 see staff report. The public hearing was opened on April 29, 2008 and continued to May 28, 2008. See attached staff report and draft joint Resolution (draft).  There was no testimony in opposition of the proposed Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance amendments at the Planning Commission public hearings.

The Planning Commission generally supported the draft South Hillsboro Community Plan for the entire South Hillsboro area. However, most Commissioners were not comfortable or satisfied about the piece-meal approach to City approval of the proposed Hillsboro Comprehensive Plan (HCP) amendments for Areas 69 and 71. Based on their comments, the Commission seemed very concerned that this incremental Plan adoption approach would not provide an adequate foundation to proceed; instead, the Commissioners wanted a more holistic approach to mitigating transportation impacts and addressing governance issues.  Accordingly, at the May 28, 2008 hearing, the Planning Commission tabled the proposed Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance amendments for Areas 69 and 71. The Planning Commission then adopted the Joint Planning Commission/City Council Resolution and asked staff to bring the Joint Resolution to City Council for consideration and adoption.

On June 17, 2008 the City Council adopted the Joint Resolution (adopted)that formally expresses support of the inclusion of the entire South Hillsboro Planning Area (2,330 acres) as an Urban Reserve; endorses the South Hillsboro Community Plan; and prioritizes efforts to resolve governance and transportation issues in this area with Washington County and the State of Oregon recognizing the need for additional technical studies.

Tualatin Valley Transportation and Growth Management Grant

In 2009, the City was awarded a Transportation Growth Management (TGM) grant by ODOT that will: (1) develop a regional system level Tualatin Valley Highway Corridor Refinement Plan (CRP) to resolve current Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) classification inconsistencies and identify transportation solutions for all modes in the CRP Project Area; and (2) prepare a Hillsboro TV Hwy Focus Area Corridor Plan (Focus Plan) based on the outcomes of the CRP to address and implement transportation system solutions to South Hillsboro Community Plan area transportation issues. Work is underway on the Corridor Refinement Plan.  Accomplishments to date include:

The project management team is currently working on developing a solutions package.  An open house will be held on May 8, 2012 to hear from the public on proposed solutions.  Visit the TV Hwy CRP project web page for more information.

Next Steps

• Updating the South Hillsboro Community Plan for Adoption.
• Complete the Tualatin Valley Highway Corridor (Summer 2012) and Focus Area Plans (Fall 2012)
• Amend Transportation System Plan
• Develop Zoning/Development Standards for Adoption.
• Annex areas for development to the City.
• South Hillsboro Implementation next steps shown below. Click on image below to enlarge.

Contact Us:

For additional information contact Jeannine Rustad at (503) 681-5321 or by email.

City of Hillsboro

Planning Department

150 E. Main Street, 4th Floor

Hillsboro, OR  97123

(503) 681-6153