Florence's Annexation War

Florence is generally a sleepy town--until someone or "ones" get a burr under their saddle. It happened when a casino was in the making. The casino is built, though opponents are still at it with a law suit which may come before the Oregon Supreme Court. Now opponents of annexation have scored a victory by waylaying the city's 2020 Comprehensive Plan : Lane County decided last week to send the plan back to the Florence City Council. Though the city adopted the plan way back in 2002, the county must also adopt it because they are responsible for the plans in the city's UGB, the Urban Growth Boundary, which lies north of the city limits. The city has worked diligently to address the concerns of annexation opponents, and a lot of key kingpins have given their blessing at the county and state levels. But members of Citizens Against Annexation (CAA) till oppose the plan contending that the city is creating a septic care to force residents of the UGB to annex. Opponents won the day when Springfield Commissioner Bill Dwyer said “This thing is not ready and I’m not going to vote for it.” So the Florence City Council will surely grumble about having to deal with the issue once more. Hopefully the local Planning Commission, working with all the right grand poo bahs to tweak the plan, will satisfy the County Commissioners at their May 19th meeting. I think many in Florence and Lane County hope that this issue won't end up on the docket of the Oregon Supreme Court. Stay tuned. For a more complete account of the issue, check The Siuslaw News.