Art and Oregon’s “Good for Nothing” Land

Next time you pour a glass of Oregon pinot noir, consider offering a toast to “SB 100” (Senate Bill 100) – the 1973 law that created Oregon’s land use planning program. Why? Back in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Oregon’s population was growing rapidly. Would-be developers and land speculators were eyeing the rolling hills between Newberg and McMinnville for expensive “large-lot” “view” subdivisions. The soil, they said, was good for nothing. But a guy named David Lett and a couple of young dreamers on the property next door  – Susan Sokol Blosser and Bill Blosser – saw a different future: Vineyards, not home sites. ...