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City :: Rural Government :: County :: State Local and State Rule Making and Regulatory Bodies
Our monitoring begins on the lowest level, at the city or rural government level and working on up to the county and then state level.
The rules and legislation covered at the county and rural government levels are generally concerned with land use laws and restrictions on types of animals that can be kept within various jurisdictions as well as nuisance laws concerning various agricultural practices. Measure 37 is currently playing an increasingly important role in land use and development at these levels. Rural government or regulatory/taxing bodies are called Citizen Planning Organization or CPO, Hamlets or Villages.
Why you should be concerned with and monitor laws, rules and ordinances at these levels - *CPO's can and do affect land use, zoning, etc. * Laws, rules and ordinances at the rural level are sometimes the easiest to monitor and stop or alter, they are also most likely to affect you more rapidly than those at the national or international levels as laws, rules and regulations generally take longer to finalize and implement than those found at the local levels although they may be more difficult to detect before full implementation. * Nuisance laws can limit your ability to keep animals and operate equipment. * Land use laws can limit your ability to live on your own land and farm as well as driving up the value of your land resulting in property taxes that are prohibitively high and/or zoning changes that may restrict your ability to farm and/or keep animals. * As urban growth boundaries expand housing density increases in suburban and rural areas. Many of the people who move into these areas are unfamiliar with rural life and agriculture. Many people don't understand the requirements of farming and the sometimes inconvenient aspect such as dust, smell associated with livestock, fencing requirements, and occasional dangers that large animals can pose. They also at times do not understand the importance of containing their own animals, especially large dogs.
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Cities affect rural owners of animals and farms/ranches, probably more severely than counties and rural governmental bodies due to the fact that in many states the bulk of the population is concentrated in the urban areas and as stated above, many have little or no experience with agriculture other than the occasional trip to a fair, farmer's market, or a farm at specific times of the year such as Halloween, therefore having a less than optimal understanding of the needs of agriculture, especially small agriculture. Unfortunately, the bulk of the voters deciding on ballot measures and voter initiatives are in the urban areas in Oregon, particularly in Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington counties.
Laws and rule making on the city level can impact small farming through land use and the expansion of urban growth boundaries, which can increase land values and therefore add to the tax burden of the small farmer/rancher who is not interested in selling or developing their land, although this can be a plus for those who do as it may either whish to leave the rural areas and move to the urban or upgrade to a larger acreage and selling/developing their existing land may provide them with the funds to do so. They also can impose restrictions such as those resulting from the imposition of so called 'green spaces' on private property, which severely can severely restrict the use of private property.
Because urban residents are more familiar and concerned with urban needs, and somewhat disconnected from the needs of small agriculture, they are also more likely to elect state law makers who are more responsive to those urban needs at the expense of those of small agriculture. An excellent example of the urbanization of Multnomah county is the Multnomah county fair, which is now held at Oaks Amusement Park, to say the least a very small venue, as well as being held in the spring on Memorial Day weekend, when most fairs are held in late summer to early fall. To my mind, this is a good indication that Multnomah county has shifted in a big and public way from agricultural production to agricultural consumption.
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State government and regulatory bodies can have a profound effect on the small holder in Oregon in that, as stated above, much legislation is geared toward the more heavily populated urban areas of the state, the populations of which are more concerned with and knowledgeable of urban concerns. The state government is also responsible for implementing rules and legislation that concern national and international trade. As we will see, animal and plant movement as well as the movement of people from state to state and country to country can have a profound impact on the rules and laws that the small holder has to contend with.
Take one of the links below for links to governmental and rule making bodies at the named levels City :: Rural Government :: County :: State
Unless otherwise noted all content © Joanne Rigutto
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