Sustainable Land Use Project
Evaluating land use laws, theories, and practices to ensure sustainable development in our communities
Launched in 2005 following the passage of Oregon's Measure 37, a property compensation initiative, the SLU Project addresses legal issues surrounding how we choose to develop — or not to develop — lands within our communities. Faculty leaders are Tom Lininger and Mary Wood.
SLUP News
2L Jessica Bloomfield Quoted in Huffington Post Article on UO Sustainable Cities Initiative
The Sustainable Land Use Project has completed an extensive White Paper suggesting land use reform to allow microlivestock on urban homesteads. Property owners nationwide are turning to their own backyards to raise food for a broad variety of reasons — to live a more self-sufficient life, have healthier food choices, provide enrichment to children, create home food security, and reduce the impact on the Earth. However, many local land use codes restrict homesteading activities that could provide meat and dairy foods. The White Paper sets forth a model microlivestock ordinance and supporting law and policy analysis designed to allow microlivestock husbandry within city limits. While the paper takes a focus on Eugene, Oregon, the analysis and model it presents applies to cities nationwide.
The ENR Program has presented the White Paper to the City of Eugene and local officials as part of ongoing local policy discussion to promote food security and sustainability. Read more about the City of Eugene's discussion here. Read the White Paper here. Click here for the Model Livestock Ordinance that can be used in land use reform efforts nationwide. Comments may be submitted to enr@uoregon.edu.
27th Annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference: Solidarity! United Action for a Greener Good, February 26 – March 1, 2009.
Panels:
Oregon Land Use Update
The West Eugene Collaborative: Multi-Party Decision Making after 20 Years of Stalemate
Destination Resorts in Oregon: Impacts, Cases, and Legislative Outlook
Cultural Conservation Easements Workshop
Restructuring Cities, Suburbia, and Society to Meet Energy and Environmental Challenges
Brownfields: Successes, Precedents, and Innovation
Green Construction and Sustainable Development
Permaculture: Designing a Greener Future
Sparking a Current of Change, Oregon Planning Institute's Statewide Planning Conference at the University of Oregon, September 10-12, 2008.
Database of Land Use Initiatives, Fall 2006
SLUP Fellows
Jessica Bloomfield is in her third year at University of Oregon School of Law, and is pursuing a concurrent Master’s degree in Community and Regional Planning. Last summer, Jessica worked as a law clerk for the White House Council on Environmental Quality in Washington, DC, where she focused on issues of federal environmental law and policy. Jessica also has experience working at the local and regional levels of government, and currently serves on the City of Eugene’s Sustainability Commission and on the Coordinated Land Use and Transportation Action Committee. During the academic year, Jessica works as a graduate fellow for the Sustainable Cities Initiative (SCI), an interdisciplinary curriculum at the UO that engages students in municipal projects throughout Oregon. Jessica grew up in Philadelphia and earned a B.A. in Architecture from Tufts University. She is very excited to work on her David Brower Fellowship project this year, regarding intersection of NEPA and federal transportation projects.
KC McFerson is in her third year of law school and in her second year as a fellow on the Sustainable Land Use Project. In addition to her J.D., KC is also earning a Master of Community and Regional Planning. During the summer of 2011, she worked for Western Resource Advocates in Boulder, Colorado, working with environmental groups and state agencies on oil and gas leasing decisions. During the summer of 2012, she worked in Colorado’s Department of Local Affairs in the Division of Local Government in Denver. At the law school, KC has served several student groups and worked as and a tutor in the Legal Research and Writing Program.
Bay Toft-Dupuy is a second-year law student at the University of Oregon with a strong interest in environmental law. As a sixth generation Wisconsinite, Bay grew up nestled between Green Bay and Lake Michigan, enjoying the blufflands, woodlands, and cheese in between. She graduated cum laude from Boston College in 2011 with a B.A. in Political Science and a concentration in Environmental Studies. During her semester abroad, Bay studied the environmental ethic and politics of New Zealand and volunteered at ecosanctuaries to help rebuild the kiwi habitat and learn about habitat preservation and reconstruction. This past summer, Bay clerked for the Oregon Department of Justice in the Civil Litigation Unit. She enjoys open-water swimming, piano, and both Wisconsin’s winters and its Green Bay Packers.
Faculty
Summary Sheet
For a full summary of the events and scholarship of the SLUP, click here.
