Oregon’s First Land Use Planning Director Arnold Cogan Dies at 90
Memorial Planned for Monday, July 17 at 4:30 pm
SALEM – Oregon’s first planning director Arnold Cogan passed away surrounded by family on July 15, 2023. He was 90 years old. Tapped by Governor Tom McCall to be Oregon’s first planning coordinator in 1969, Arnold had previously worked at the Portland Planning Bureau under Lloyd Keefe and was the first Planning Director of the Port of Portland. With Elaine Cogan, he then founded the consulting firm widely known as Cogan Owens Cogan, providing planning, community engagement and intergovernmental relations to cities and counties in the Pacific Northwest for another 40 years.
When Governor McCall selected Arnold to be the first state planning coordinator, Governor McCall asked Arnold to lead implementation of Senate Bill 10, a first-in-the-nation bill that required cities and counties in Oregon to zone all the land within their communities, protecting prime agricultural and natural resource lands. Governor McCall then tasked Arnold with conducting community engagement for Project Foresight in 1971-1972. Long before the internet, Arnold and his staff logged thousands of miles traveling around the state, engaging more than 20,000 Oregonians through 275 meetings and 48,000 questionnaires. That work was the basis of Oregon’s hallmark land use bill, Senate Bill 100, passed May 29, 1973, which formed the Department of Land Conservation and Development.
When Senate Bill 100 was passed by the Oregon Legislature in 1973, that led to more community engagement around the state, and the refinement of what would become of Oregon’s initial 14 statewide land use planning goals. As the program has evolved and integrated with the Oregon Coastal Management Program, all cities and counties must now generally align with 19 statewide land use planning goals.
Current Department of Land Conservation and Development Director Brenda Ortigoza Bateman, Ph.D., reflected on Arnold’s passing and the opportunity to look forward toward the next 50 years of the program, “Our state’s land use planning system, the only one of a comprehensive nature in the country, is a treasure that takes all of us to sustain. We are grateful for the contributions of the agency’s first director to have, with 10,000 Oregonians, forged the land use planning goals that have stood the test of time. On the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the land use planning program, Mr. Cogan celebrated the event from his home with his wife and business partner Elaine Cogan, who passed along their regards. They urged us all to carry on into the next 50 years of this laudable program, together.”
Immediate past chair of the Land Conservation and Development Commission Robin McArthur remembers Arnold with these words: “As the first director of Oregon's heralded land use program, Arnold inspired in all of us a strong commitment to protecting and enhancing the things we love about Oregon. He was a luminary, an advocate, a community builder, a teacher, and a gentleman. He will be sorely missed.”
In 2013, the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association recognized Arnold with a lifetime achievement award for exceptional achievement in planning. At the close of Arnold’s keynote speech at the planning conference, he advised all in attendance with these words:
“…I have a final challenge that may at first appear daunting. It's about Tikkun Olam. That's a Hebrew phrase which means, literally, Repair the World. Beyond that simple translation is the profound idea that we each, you and I, have a responsibility to do everything we can to repair the world or at least make it a better place…We may believe we are already doing the best we can, with our professional work, our volunteer activities, as we raise our children, donate to worthy causes and so on. But that's not enough. Obviously, we cannot change the whole world, but we can try to make our part of the world a better place.”
The family is holding a service at 4:30 pm Monday, July 17, 2023 at Congregation Neveh Shalom in Portland.
Contributions to honor Arnold’s legacy are welcome to Congregation Neveh Shalom https://nevehshalom.org/give-tribute-fund or the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education https://www.ojmche.org/support/donate/tribute-donation/.
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