Hearing citizen voices

Creation of Beaverton Neighborhood Program propelled city into the future

By Christina Lent

The Beaverton Valley Times, Jan 11, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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Neighbors were given a much stronger voice in city government 20 years ago with the creation of Beaverton’s Neighborhood Program.

It’s been two decades since former Mayor Larry Cole and the City Council moved forward with a plan to formally recognize neighborhood association committees and encourage them to take a more active role in the land-use planning process.

“I felt it was important that neighbors had a say as far as what happens in their neighborhood,” Cole recalled. “The goal was for them to provide input to the city on what they would like to see happen in their neighborhood and conduct programs.”

In February 1987, the City Council adopted six resolutions recognizing the West Beaverton, South Beaverton, Denney/Whitford, Greenway, Highland and Vose neighborhood association committees.

“Seven other neighborhood association committees were added over time as neighbors expressed a desire to organize and as the city was moving out and areas were developed,” said former City Councilor Forrest Soth, who was one of the five councilors to support the creation of the Neighborhood Program.

“As other areas were annexed into the city, they were either added to existing neighborhood associations or formed their own.”

Laying the foundation

Mayor Rob Drake, who was also on the council in 1987, said the adoption of Senate Bill 100 in 1973 was a major impetus for the city to establish its Neighborhood Program.

SB 100 was the foundation of Oregon’s new land-use planning system. The city’s neighborhood program grew out of requirements in the bill for citizen involvement in the land-use process, he said.

“We did have a community involvement group during the years we were putting together the comprehensive plan to conform to Senate Bill 100 guidelines,” Soth added. “After the comprehensive plan was adopted in 1980, there was a desire by the council to maintain the citizen involvement and that led to the formation of the Committee for Citizen Involvement and later the neighborhood associations.”

‘Glad it survived’

Establishing a Neighborhood Program for the city was a top priority for Cole when he became mayor in 1985.

“Creating a program was a major goal of mine,” Cole said. “There had been a lot of lip service given to it years before during discussions when I was on the council.

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