Dear Carus Neighbors,

For us living outside cities in unincorporated Clackamas County, being on the outskirts can be a blessing and a curse. We aren’t often bothered by State, County, City, or Community issues, yet it’s hard to keep informed and supported when we need it.

Back in 1979 the state of Oregon and Clackamas County created zones: your property is either in an urban zone, a rural zone, a natural resource zone, or industrial, commercial, or recreational zone, etc. Each zone has its own rules and ordinances and they can be either protective or restrictive, but are often confusing.

All of that being said, The Hamlet of Beavercreek like the Carus Community are in rural zones. We are impacted by local land use applications and zoning changes.

Both Beavercreek and Carus are close to the City of Oregon City. The city is interested in growing, developing, and annexing. This has had quite an impact on Beavercreek, Carus, and the surrounding areas. The Hamlet of Beavercreek has a very active and experienced Community Planning Organization (CPO) that works with the County to provide community land use input. This has helped represent our community’s concerns and suggestions.

The Carus CPO Board became inactive in 2018. The Hamlet of Beavercreek has been working with the County to invite Carus to join Beavercreek since then. We’re writing to you now with the support of Clackamas County inviting the Carus community to join Beavercreek as a CPO and Hamlet. Being a Hamlet means we’re involved with not just County land use issues, but also community identification, activities, and support.

If you would like to learn more about CPOs and Hamlets, please visit the County’s website at https://Clackamas.US/community. If you are not familiar with the County zones, want to understand more, or just have questions, please feel free to contact The Hamlet of Beavercreek Board Chair, Tammy Stevens, at 503.632.3552. The County Zoning and Development Ordinances, listing all zones and development requirements are at https://www.clackamas.us/planning/zdo.html

We sincerely hope that you find our invitation of value as we extend our offer to invite the Carus community to become informed, involved, and represented at Clackamas County by combining our CPO boundaries into one.