Milwaukee City Council Meeting: Stabilization Center Update, Affordable Housing Incentives, and Public Safety Fee Adoption - August 20, 2025
Milwaukee City Council Meeting - August 20, 2025
The two thousand four hundred and thirty-first meeting of the Milwaukee City Council was held in person at City Hall and via video conference. The meeting included an update on the Clackamas County Stabilization Center, community comments, approval of the consent agenda, a public hearing on affordable housing code incentives, and a public hearing on a new public safety fee. Key decisions included unanimous approval of the public safety fee and a split vote on the affordable housing incentives ordinance, which will proceed to a second reading.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes of the July 15, 2025 regular session and July 16, 2025 site visit unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- General Community Comments: Dylan Cruz (Milwaukee resident) spoke about a middle housing town hall, tree code enforcement, and advocated for a waterfront amphitheater and entertainment district. No other general comments were received.
- Affordable Housing Incentives Public Hearing: Testimony was provided by Dylan Cruz, Allison Cruise, and Heather Buchanan (all Milwaukee residents). They expressed concerns about potential exploitation of variances, lack of enforcement mechanisms, reduced setbacks, increased height, and the need for explicit language prohibiting height increases on middle housing. They urged caution and clearer protections.
- Public Safety Fee Public Hearing: No oral testimony was provided, but written correspondence was noted, including one comment that was more about street maintenance than the fee.
Discussion Items
- Clackamas County Stabilization Center Update: Mary Rumba, Director of Health, Housing and Human Services, presented an update. The stabilization center has two components: a 23-hour crisis stabilization center (run by Claire Vita) and a housing/case management program (run by Father's Heart). The 23-hour center is for law enforcement and mobile crisis referrals (no walk-ups), with an average stay of 10–11 hours. Construction is on track for completion in October 2025, with a December 2025 opening and a ribbon cutting in early November. A “good partner framework” agreement is being finalized. Discussion included transportation for discharged individuals, integration with Milwaukee’s behavioral health unit, and information sharing under HIPAA. A separate Recovery Campus was also discussed: a two-building campus (withdrawal management/residential treatment and outpatient/transitional housing) on 6.6 acres near the former Clackamas Heights school. Cost estimated at $40 million, half funded; groundbreaking expected summer 2026. The county is working on a universal release of information to coordinate between programs.
- Affordable Housing Code Incentives Ordinance: Planning Manager Laura Wingle and Senior Planner Vera Coleus presented the proposed code amendments (new section 19.511). The incentives are for qualifying affordable housing developments (middle housing, mixed-use, multi-unit) with tiered affordability: e.g., 50% of units at 60–80% AMI, or 20% at <30% AMI. Up to 10 variances are packaged, including reduced setbacks (side yard 40%, front/rear 25%), reduced open space (25%), increased lot coverage, building height increase (one story or 20 ft, only in mixed-use and high-density residential zones, not middle housing), reduced bike parking, reduced facade articulation requirements, and reduced window glazing (minimum 12%). Continued affordability: 99 years for rental, 60 years for ownership (staff recommendation; planning commission recommended uniform 60 years). Townhouses: planning commission recommended a 200-foot linear length limit instead of a unit count. The review process is expedited (100 days). Council discussion focused on concerns about detached units, enforcement, tree canopy, and the pace of changes. A motion to adopt the ordinance passed 3-2 (not unanimous), so it will have a second reading on September 2, 2025. Council upheld the 99-year rental requirement and the 200-foot townhouse limit.
- Public Safety Fee Adoption: City Manager Emma Sagor presented the rationale for a new public safety fee to address growing demand for services. Since 2020, police calls increased 21% to over 21,000 per year, while staffing has not increased. Behavioral health crises, substance abuse (Milwaukee had the most overdose 911 calls in Clackamas County in 2024), library incidents (327 logged, 35% requiring police), and court dockets at pre-COVID levels all strain resources. The proposed fee: $7/residential, $5/multifamily unit, commercial tiered $5–$50 based on trip data, with a low-income exemption through the utility assistance program. Revenue estimate $900,000–$1 million annually to fund additional FTE (behavioral health specialist, training officer, two patrol officers, two library staff, one court staff). Council discussed transparency, performance metrics, and baselines. The motion to adopt the resolution passed unanimously. Implementation will begin on November or December 2025 utility bills, with ongoing reporting.
Key Outcomes
- Affordable Housing Incentives Ordinance (ZA-2025-003): Motion to adopt passed 3-2, but not unanimous, requiring a second reading on September 2, 2025. The ordinance was read once in full. Council adopted planning commission recommendations for 60-year affordability (both rental and ownership) and 200-foot townhouse limit.
- Public Safety Fee: Resolution adopting the fee passed unanimously. Staff committed to transparent reporting on expenditures and outcomes, and to establishing baselines.
- Stabilization Center Update: Noted progress and upcoming ribbon cutting. Council directed staff to continue coordination with the county.
- Transportation Bill Letter: Council agreed to send a letter to state legislators regarding the transportation bill, with minor edits.
Meeting Transcript
We are on the air. I call the two thousand four hundred and thirty-first meeting of the Milwaukee City Council to order. This meeting is being held in person at City Hall and by video conference. The public may participate in this meeting by coming to City Hall or joining the Zoom webinar. The meeting is being broadcast live on the city's YouTube channel and Comcast Cable Channel 30 within city limits. If you are interested in speaking, please let staff know by filling out a yellow comment card for those at City Hall or emailing OCR at Milwaukee, Oregon.gov for those on Zoom. Staff will monitor the comment cards, email inbox, and Zoom participant list and chat. Comments may be emailed to OCR at Milwaukee, Oregon.gov. We ask that all Zoom participants who intend to speak label their Zoom username to show their first and last names for the record. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which fans. The City of Milwaukee respectfully acknowledges that our community is located on the ancestral homeland of the Clackamas people. In 1855, the surviving members of the Clackamas signed the Willamette Valley Treaty, also known as the Kalapuya, etc. Treaty with the federal government in good faith. We offer our respect and gratitude to the indigenous people of this land. And then we will move on to some announcements. Continue tomorrow with the Portland School of Rock House Band. And then next Wednesday with the much beloved uh Norman Sylvester. Those concerts begin at 6 30 p.m. in Ball Michelle Park. The Art and Walt Johnson Creek Neighborhood District Association's annual concerts in the park continue this Thursday with Shelley Rudolph blending jazz, soul, and blues. And next Thursday, uh they have Ben Rice, who is quite an amazing local musician. So those concerts begin at 6:30 p.m. and are held in Ardenwald Park. So just to be clear, Ball Michelle Park on Wednesdays, Ardenwald Park on Thursdays. City Manager Emma Sagor will hold an open door session on Friday, August 22nd. That's this Friday from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at City Hall. This is a great opportunity to ask questions, raise concerns, or just learn more about what the city is currently working on. No registration is necessary. Those attending are seen on a first come, first served basis. The session will take place at City Hall in the third floor Bing Cherry Conference Room, which is right as you get off the elevator. Join the downtown Milwaukee community on Friday, September 5th for the next First Friday event. First Friday is a great opportunity to support downtown businesses while also fostering Milwaukee's arts, music, and food community. The Milwaukee Environmental Stewards Group brings their fourth annual sustainability fair to Milwaukee this year on Saturday, September 6th from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event includes local vendors, the Milwaukee Arts Committee, Trash and Fashion Show, Food, Drinks, Music, and Kids' Activities. The event takes place in the parking lot at Harrison and Maine where the farmers market is on Sundays. You can learn more details. There's a lot of opportunities there to bring things to be recycled. And reused.org. ESG stands for environmental stewards group. So Milwaukee ESG.org for all the details on who will be there to accept what kind of recycling and reuse products. For more information about each of these events and others, please visit the city's homepage at Milwaukee, Oregon.gov or call 503 7867555. And then I have a haiku, and I want to put in a pitch for more haiku submissions, or I'm going to have to end with the haiku because we are getting to AI generated haiku at this point. And I would like to have my haiku be human generated. But anyway, golden rays embrace. Laughter dances in the air. Summer sings with joy. It's a nice, it's nice late summer sentiment.
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