Eugene Weekly

Talking Land Use, Country Fair in Letters In spite of the excellent investigative reporting by Christian Wihtol (EW) and Zac Ziegler (KLCC) concerning the mansion constructed illegally by Kathy Jones-McCann on the McKenzie River…

There are 269 unincorporated communities in Oregon, and Lane County has 35 of them. Places such as Dexter and Marcola, Culp Creek and Dorena, Alvadore, Cheshire, Ni**od and Walterville, Rainbow… .

These rural enclaves may have a small store, gas station or cafe, perhaps a post office located in the store. They might be remnants, such as Fall Creek that once had a post office and store, then a post office in the store, but now has only a restaurant. These are distinctly rural settlements, whose services may include a grange or community center, a feed store and a farm stand, tailored to the needs and occupations, the history and culture, of the local populace. Housing is generally spread out in the surrounding countryside and often associated with farm and forest management.

As the population of Oregon has increased, most of these outlying communities have been able to retain their identities and boundaries, because in the 1960s a far-sighted Republican governor, Tom McCall, realized that, if he didn’t do something to stop it, urban sprawl would engulf them the way it had the countryside in other states.

From its inception, however, our land use program has been under relentless and effective assault from private property rights zealots and development interests who have weakened the program at both the local and state level, even, as in the last two legislative sessions, when Democrats have held a supermajority and a Democrat sits in the governor’s chair.

Read the rest of the Local and Vocal viewpoint in Eugene Weekly.

Land Use Program Enemy No. 1 There are 269 unincorporated communities in Oregon, and Lane County has 35 of them. Places such as Dexter and Marcola, Culp Creek and Dorena, Alvadore, Cheshire, Ni**od and Walterville, Rainbow…

In today’s Best of Eugene: Best Place to sip a cup of tea!

1. Portal Tea, 41 W. Broadway, 541-636-3021, PortalTea.co.

2. Farmers Union Coffee Roasters, 152 W. 5th Ave., FarmersUnionCoffee.com.

3. J-Tea, 2778 Friendly St., 541-357-5492, JteaInternational.com.

Want to get updates when this year’s nomination round opens? Check out bestofeugene.com/2026/01/how-to-get-nominated