Jackson County, Ore. Passes Urban Growth Plan

Medford, Ore. is located just 27 miles north of the California border. It lies between the Cascade Range and Siskiyou Mountains in the Rogue River Valley.

The Mail Tribune of Medford, Ore reports that after 11 years debates and meetings, the Jackson County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a regional problem solving (RPS) plan to guide urban growth for the next half-century.

The commissioners approved 8,500 acres for urban growth. About half of the acreage is on the outskirts of Medford (pop. 74,907), the county's largest city. The Medford metropolitan area has a population of 207,010. The other cities involved are Eagle Point, Central Point, Phoenix, Talent and Ashland. Ashland is the only city that won't add development acreage, preferring to add density instead. Jacksonville opted out of RPS several years ago.

This is the first PRS plan passed by an Oregon county. The state asked counties more than a decade ago to identify their ''urban reserves'' to prepare for growth by 2050. Oregon has a population of 3,831,074 (2010 census), and has increased its population 12 percent since 2000.

The Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development will now review the county's RPS plan.