Washington County commissioners on Tuesday, Aug. 25, changed how Bethany and Cedar Hills-Cedar Mill residents participate in the county's land-use planning process, adopting Ordinance 915 at a 6:30 p.m. hearing in Hillsboro.

The ordinance amends the community plans for both neighborhoods, along with seven other unincorporated communities, the Comprehensive Framework Plan, the Rural/Natural Resource Plan, the Transportation System Plan and the Community Development Code. All changes relate to community involvement in planning, according to the county's ordinance page.

Commissioners also adopted Resolution and Order 26-88 at the same meeting, finalizing the legal findings that support the ordinance. The meeting agenda shows both items marked "Adopted."

What's behind the change

Ordinance 915 writes into the county's comprehensive plan documents the community engagement overhaul that the Board of County Commissioners approved on Jan. 27. That earlier action replaced the nearly 40-year-old Community Participation Organization program with a new model organized across four geographic areas, one per commissioner district, with county staff facilitating meetings every other month.

The January restructuring also designated the Washington County Planning Commission as the Committee for Citizen Involvement, a role required by Goal One of Oregon's land use planning rules.

"All voices within our growing, diverse and vibrant community deserve to be heard," Board Chair Kathryn Harrington said on Jan. 27, when the board approved the CPO overhaul. "The board's action today helps us stay committed to that value by updating one community engagement channel among the county's many channels …"

The CPO program paused over the summer for transition planning. According to the county's community participation page, the new program will launch in fall 2026, though no specific start date has been announced for the Bethany or Cedar Mill areas.

What residents should know

Bethany and Cedar Mill are unincorporated. There is no city council. The Board of County Commissioners is the governing body for land-use decisions, and Ordinance 915 changes the rules for how residents weigh in on those decisions going forward.

The Planning Commission held public hearings on the ordinance on July 15 and continued deliberations on Aug. 5 before sending it to the full board. No public testimony from the Aug. 25 hearing has been published in county records reviewed for this article.

The full ordinance text is available on the county website. The document runs nearly 200 pages in the meeting packet.

The next Board of County Commissioners meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 1, at approximately 10:40 a.m. at the Charles D. Cameron Public Services Building, 155 N. First Ave., Hillsboro. Residents can attend in person or join via Zoom.