Similar to parks, golf courses play a significant role in a thriving, diverse community. Two west side courses are now scheduled for development closure or are in danger of doing so. In March, Banks’ Quail Valley Golf Course will close to make room for new residences.Despite having selected a new site for a possible stadium, the Portland Diamond Project might still seek to use the Red Tail Golf Center property in Beaverton as a practice facility.
The loss of the historically significant former Alpenrose property and the certain closure of Quail Valley and Red Tail both detract from the livability and richness of our city (Builder receives OK for 263 houses on bucolic former Alpenrose dairy site in SW Portland, Nov. 21).
We require additional housing. There is pressure to construct dwellings anyplace inside the Urban Growth Boundary due to the metro area’s scarcity of buildable land. The dwellings on the old Alpenrose property and the 955 homes in Banks will somewhat tilt the supply-demand curve in the correct direction.
In contrast, a 2,500-acre UGB expansion might produce ten times as many. Farmland preservation is also important, although 2,500 acres only make up 0.016 percent of our state’s total farmland. Development from urban and suburban areas does not pose a threat to the great bulk of such agriculture.
The conflicting demands of housing, agricultural, and recreational amenities are hard to balance. The destruction of important community resources should be seen by those taking on that challenge as a coal mine canary dying in its cage. I’m hoping they’re paying attention.
Lee Jones from Portland
Visit regonlive.com/opinion to read further letters to the editor.
