Local Positions

League of Women Voters^®
of Ashland, Oregon

Parks & Recreation: (1969). Park Funding: (1992). Alternative Energy: (1983). Water Supply: (1990). Land Use: (1971) (1973) (1990). Growth:. Preservation:. Open Space:. Coordination:. Annexation:. Sewer & Water Services:. Homeless in Ashland: (1995).

Parks & Recreation: (1969)

The LWVA realizes that successful community development depends on a positive involvement of the people. With these concerns in mind, the LWVA has analyzed and clarified some criteria for recreational development:
1) Coordination - Any criterion for development of parks and recreation cannot be isolated from the criteria for overall city development.
2) People orientation - All community development should aim to benefit the whole person and the entire community.
3) Versatility - Developments which are as diverse and all-inclusive as possible will encourage optimum use and thus allow optimum economy by giving the most satisfaction for the money. However, small neighborhood parks and walking and hiking paths are important in providing recreation and quiet areas for the enjoyment of the outdoors.

Park Funding: (1992)

The LWVA believes the City Council should implement the parks and open space acquisition program adopted by the City Council and placed in the City Charter by amendment in 1990. The Council should proposed and support a tax measure that produces adequate revenue to acquire all of the mapped properties. The tax measure should be equitable, stable, easy to administer, and should add balance to the entire tax system by providing for broad sharing of the tax burden. We support developing acquired parks and open space by combining funds raised through private efforts with funds from public sources.

Alternative Energy: (1983)

The LWVA supports the continued independent monitoring of alternative energy resource development in and by the City of Ashland, and the model plan developed by the Northwest Conservation Act Coalition.

Water Supply: (1990)

The LWVA supports the concept that water conservation should be a major source of water in Ashland. Conservation measures should be employed for a period of three years to determine their effectiveness before proceeding with any other major source of water. LWVA supports negotioations between the City of Ashland and TID (Talent Irrigation District) to the end that Ashland receives its fair share of water, including the renewal of the contract for 795 acre feet due to expire in 1996. The City should support and effect comprehensive erosion and fire control measures to increase water-holding capacity and reduce siltation in the Ashland city watershed. The LWVA supports a ban on phosphate-containing detergents in Ashland. We recommend an expedited program for flow measurement and water quality testing of Bear Creek, upstream and downstream of the AWWT plant efflent entry.

Land Use: (1971) (1973) (1990)

LWVA recommends that governmental planning and action for land use in Ashland and the surrounding area preserve and enhance Ashland's unique character, especially as reflected in the following: its small town atmosphere, its cultural and educational resources, the health, safety and welfare of its citizens, the natural beauty of its geographical site, its farm and forestlands, its historical heritage, its varied economic and residential pattern, its clean air and lack of noise pollution; and its concern for the safety of downtown streets.

We recognize that growth, especially if it is unplanned, threatens many of these characteristics (under Land Use) and therefore that any proposed growth should have to be justified.
1) The LWVA recommends that Ashland's city government make every effort to determine what population Ashland can support compatibly with the above values and bring its plan and policies into harmony with that figure.
2) The LWVA joins the LWVRV in recommending that the county government determine what population Jackson County (and especially the Ashland-Pinehurst area) can support, consistent with the above values, and consider thsi factor in planning for orderly growth. Such growth should benefit rather than burden the existing community.

1) Taxing policies and building codes should encourage, rather than discourage, the restoration and improvement of existing residential and commercial property.
2) All multi-family residential, commercial and industrial building permits and subdivision plats should require the preservation, replacement, and/or the addition of trees and landscaping, the maintenance of water quality in streams, adequate parking, and a certain percentage of non-paved open space.

1) The city plan should anticipate parks, bicycle paths and walkways, recreational facilities, and the preservation of open spaces.
2) We recommend that the City begin now to obtain more land within the City and in the surrounding area for these purposes. We urge the City and County to cooperate in acquiring lands suitable for park development in area surrounding Ashland.

1) The City Comprehensisve Plan should be coordinated with city zoning and with the revised county plan for surrounding areas.
2) We urge cooperation between city and county planners and encouragement of more citizen participation in the planning process.
3) Appeal: We support provision of reasonable procedures for appeal from Planning Commission decisions.

1) Annexation should be in line with the revised county plan.
2) Before allowing annexation, the City should take into account whether or not there is still land available for development within the City for the proposed use.

Extension of city and water services beyond the present city limits should be primarily contingent on the following:
1) The consistency of the projected land use with Ashland's revised Comprehensive Plan,
2) Structural and financial feasibility (with the cost of extensions and a compensation for existing facilities to be borne primarily by the annexed area),
3) Enforceable written agreement that the property will be annexed after it is developed.

Homeless in Ashland: (1995)

1) The LWVA believes that the citizens of Ashland have a responsibility to help the homeless with programs for

(a) people who are temporarily homeless because they have lost their jobs or have had other personal difficulties and
(b) young people who have experienced various types and levels of abuse and/or parental neglect.

2) The LWVA supports programs that provide short-term assistance/maintenance intervention with focus on each individual case.
3) The LWVA is concerned that the community is educated about the types of homeless served.
4) The LWVA supports coalitions and cooperative efforts between the City and various public and private agencies and organizations to address the problem of the homeless in Ashland.

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