OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

West Linn Planning Commission Meeting Summary – October 16, 2024

City Council & Planning Commission — Wednesday, October 16, 2024
BodyWest Linn, Oregon
SessionCity Council & Planning Commission
DateWednesday, October 16, 2024
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:21:58

Transcript — Verbatim
0:02

All right, go ahead.

0:04

Great.

0:04

Good evening.

0:05

Now's the time for the pre-meeting work session for the City of Westland Planning Commission on Wednesday, October 16.

0:13

I call that piece of the meeting to order.

0:16

Tonight we're going to have a uh quasi almost quasi judicial.

0:23

Uh is that correct?

0:25

It's legislative.

0:26

Legislative, sorry.

0:27

Legislative theory.

0:28

And the the then we're going to be reviewing what we've been discussing low these last nine months, eight months.

0:36

Um these different the code amendments and all that, and hopefully approve them tonight with the help of uh staff.

0:44

And the goal would be to approve them or amend them or what have you, but hopefully approve them and pass them on for the city council to approve.

0:52

Is that correct?

0:54

That is correct.

0:55

The uh the motion will be for a recommendation to uh city council.

0:59

Great, great.

1:00

Um and uh discussing you know kind of logistics tonight.

1:04

Are we gonna Mr.

1:05

Cadell are we gonna do the all all at once or gonna break down to the the discussions later on the record that by the different code sections or how do you how how do you think we're gonna how do you propose we cover this?

1:20

It's it's entirely up to you.

1:22

I was you know going to summarize my report and then um if you had any questions or maybe further discussion of the topics, it's gonna leave that to you.

1:32

But the amendment package is full and complete um, you know, as we have discussed for a few months now, and and that's the item you know that that uh we'll be talking about, but it's really up to you however you wanted to separate the topics.

1:47

I will address each each of the topics in my presentation, just a very brief sort of summary of it.

1:53

Okay, so if you if you would like to tackle the topics uh individually or the amendment package as a whole, it's really it's it's up to your discretion.

2:02

I I hadn't um sort of whatever's easiest for the staff, is there a consensus on that?

2:08

I I'm I'm happy to have you go through the whole process and then uh the whole package.

2:12

Absolutely.

2:13

So I as you know, just from me working on this, I find it easier to go from topic to topic as opposed to the entire package because there's so many topics in there.

2:23

Um but again, if you know things can there's not really a uh a strict format to the discussion here.

2:28

Okay, great.

2:29

Well let's yeah, the break it out, that's fine.

2:32

That's fine.

2:33

That's fine, and we can have some maybe dialogue or specific uh specific questions then that'd be what that'd be good as well.

2:40

Okay.

2:40

Yeah, we're we're happy to answer any questions.

2:42

Okay, yeah.

2:43

Great commissioners, anything, any questions about tonight's meeting?

2:53

Staff anything to add.

2:56

Uh yeah, just if anyone has any clarifications about the the staff report or process.

3:02

Uh I think the process is pretty the process is the process is pretty the process is pretty uh straightforward for legislative.

3:16

Uh again, we've got the city attorney here in case there's any uh uh legal questions.

3:20

Uh but yeah, we uh think it's a pretty straightforward process.

3:24

Uh we're not uh we don't have anybody signed up to uh provide testimony, but we may have a couple of folks in person.

3:31

Okay, great, thank you.

3:34

Anything else, commissioners?

3:38

Joel, Tom, anything I have one comment.

3:42

Um as staff is uh presenting everything, that's during the public hearing.

3:47

And so if there's questions for staff during the public hearing, um, and you you can break up your questions uh per section, and then after the presentation, you close the public hearing, and if there's deliberation or comments, you would make those after the close of the public hearing.

4:01

Very good point.

4:02

Thank you.

4:03

Thank you for the clarification.

4:04

Thank you.

4:05

And don't be uh shy to remind me if I go as astray of that.

4:09

Okay.

4:10

Thank you.

4:12

Anything else?

4:17

Um during the work session, I want to publicly thank uh Vice Chair Metland for uh stepping in my shoes the last couple meetings while I was on a trip.

4:27

So I appreciate that, Joel.

4:28

Thank you very much.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Affordable Housing█████████████████████████25%
Procedural███████████████████████23%
Legal Process███████████████15%
Land Use Law██████████████14%
Public Engagement█████████████13%
Noise Pollution██████6%
Education Policy██2%
Community Engagement██2%
Summary of Proceedings

West Linn Planning Commission Meeting Summary – October 16, 2024

The West Linn Planning Commission met on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, in a hybrid in-person/remote meeting. A pre-meeting work session at 6:00 pm reviewed hearing logistics, and the regular meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm. The commission approved meeting notes, recommended approval of the CDC-24-02 legislative code amendment package to the City Council, heard the Middle Housing Two-Year Check-In briefing, and received staff schedule updates. All seven commission members were present and voting. The meeting adjourned at 7:46 pm.

Pre-Meeting Work Session

  • Staff and commissioners reviewed the format for the legislative public hearing and agreed that staff planner Goodell would summarize the amendment package topic by topic.
  • Chair Carr thanked Vice Chair Metlin for filling in as chair at recent meetings.

Approval of Meeting Notes

  • The commission approved the September 18, 2024, meeting notes as amended, after a correction changed Vice Metlin to Vice Chair Metlin. The motion passed unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No one appeared to give public comment on non-agenda items.
  • Staff reported that one written comment and one verbal comment from residents were included in the staff report. The written comment from Shannon Knight asked whether arguments made before the Planning Commission but not repeated before the City Council could be raised in a LUBA appeal; the City Attorney answered yes, because submitting testimony at the Planning Commission provides standing to appeal to LUBA.
  • No live testimony was offered during the CDC-24-02 public hearing.

Public Hearing: CDC-24-02 Community Development Code Amendments

  • The proposed amendments to chapters 2, 37, 85, 96, and 99 of the West Linn Community Development Code address home occupations, extensions of approval, appeals of development permits, expedited land divisions (ELD), and middle housing land divisions (MHLD).
  • The amendments were developed through five Planning Commission work sessions on April 3, June 5, July 17, August 7, and August 21, 2024, and joint City Council work sessions on October 16, 2023, and March 18, 2024.
  • The staff presentation highlighted proposed changes: extension requests must be made before the original approval expires; only one extension is allowed, with a two-year maximum; unmodified extensions become staff-level decisions and modified extensions go to the original decision maker; appeal hearings retain de novo review but require the appellant to identify a code criterion not met or misapplied; home occupations remain staff-reviewed, may not conduct business or store materials outdoors, and home occupations with pupils/students are allowed 12 total vehicle trips while all other home occupations remain at 8 total vehicle trips; ELD and MHLD decisions are planning director decisions assigned to a land use referee and, under state statute, are not subject to a public hearing.
  • During questions, Commissioner Wolvante raised concern that the referee definition did not require land-use qualifications. Staff and the City Attorney responded that the referee will be selected through a city contract as a land-use attorney and that a broad definition preserves flexibility.
  • Commissioner Evans questioned the proposed change to home-occupation quiet hours from 6:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Staff replied that the 5:00 pm time and federal holiday reference were taken from municipal noise code Section 5.487 to maintain consistency, not in response to a specific complaint.
  • Commissioner Wolvante requested adding or designee after planning director in Section 99.060; staff agreed. The commission also agreed to a scrivener's correction capitalizing Referee as a defined term.

Middle Housing Two-Year Check-In Report

  • Planning Manager Weiss presented an informational briefing on middle housing development from July 2022 through July 2024.
  • The city adopted middle housing code in June 2022 to comply with House Bill 2001, and Senate Bill 458 later added middle housing land divisions.
  • In the 14 approved middle housing projects, existing zoning would have produced 23 dwelling units, while the middle housing code allowed 43 units, nearly doubling the number of units. Most projects were in the R10 zone.
  • The report found that detached plexes often produced larger single-family-style homes at high price points, whereas projects that retained an existing home and built around it produced smaller lots, smaller units, and lower price points.
  • Staff noted policy questions for the Housing Production Strategy: whether to continue allowing detached plexes; whether to adjust floor area ratio (FAR) for plexes and townhouses in R7 and R10 zones; and whether to study tying SDCs to home size instead of similar flat fees.
  • Commissioners added comments about school enrollment, the need for younger families, the difficulty of downsizing for older homeowners, macroeconomic constraints on affordability, and the challenge of finding feasible housing sites in West Linn's constrained topography. The commission took no vote on the briefing.

Planning Commission & Staff Announcements

  • Commissioner Wolvante reported that the Committee for Community Involvement has paused meetings while the city identifies a new staff lead.
  • Planning Manager Weiss announced a quasi-judicial public hearing for November 6 on a Class II variance, a joint Planning Commission/City Council meeting on November 18 to discuss the Housing Production Strategy, and the possibility that the November 20 regular meeting would be canceled. He also encouraged taking the Vision 43 survey before the end of October.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved the September 18, 2024, meeting notes as amended, unanimously.
  • Recommended approval of CDC-24-02, Ordinance 1755, to the City Council with two minor amendments: capitalize Referee as a defined term and add or designee after planning director in Section 99.060. The motion passed unanimously. The City Council is scheduled to hold its hearing and decision on December 9, 2024.
  • Received the Middle Housing Two-Year Check-In as an informational briefing; no action was taken. It will inform the Housing Production Strategy discussion at a joint Planning Commission/City Council meeting on November 18, 2024.

Meeting Transcript

All right, go ahead. Great. Good evening. Now's the time for the pre-meeting work session for the City of Westland Planning Commission on Wednesday, October 16. I call that piece of the meeting to order. Tonight we're going to have a uh quasi almost quasi judicial. Uh is that correct? It's legislative. Legislative, sorry. Legislative theory. And the the then we're going to be reviewing what we've been discussing low these last nine months, eight months. Um these different the code amendments and all that, and hopefully approve them tonight with the help of uh staff. And the goal would be to approve them or amend them or what have you, but hopefully approve them and pass them on for the city council to approve. Is that correct? That is correct. The uh the motion will be for a recommendation to uh city council. Great, great. Um and uh discussing you know kind of logistics tonight. Are we gonna Mr. Cadell are we gonna do the all all at once or gonna break down to the the discussions later on the record that by the different code sections or how do you how how do you think we're gonna how do you propose we cover this? It's it's entirely up to you. I was you know going to summarize my report and then um if you had any questions or maybe further discussion of the topics, it's gonna leave that to you. But the amendment package is full and complete um, you know, as we have discussed for a few months now, and and that's the item you know that that uh we'll be talking about, but it's really up to you however you wanted to separate the topics. I will address each each of the topics in my presentation, just a very brief sort of summary of it. Okay, so if you if you would like to tackle the topics uh individually or the amendment package as a whole, it's really it's it's up to your discretion. I I hadn't um sort of whatever's easiest for the staff, is there a consensus on that? I I'm I'm happy to have you go through the whole process and then uh the whole package. Absolutely. So I as you know, just from me working on this, I find it easier to go from topic to topic as opposed to the entire package because there's so many topics in there. Um but again, if you know things can there's not really a uh a strict format to the discussion here. Okay, great. Well let's yeah, the break it out, that's fine. That's fine. That's fine, and we can have some maybe dialogue or specific uh specific questions then that'd be what that'd be good as well. Okay. Yeah, we're we're happy to answer any questions. Okay, yeah. Great commissioners, anything, any questions about tonight's meeting? Staff anything to add. Uh yeah, just if anyone has any clarifications about the the staff report or process. Uh I think the process is pretty the process is the process is pretty the process is pretty uh straightforward for legislative. Uh again, we've got the city attorney here in case there's any uh uh legal questions. Uh but yeah, we uh think it's a pretty straightforward process. Uh we're not uh we don't have anybody signed up to uh provide testimony, but we may have a couple of folks in person. Okay, great, thank you. Anything else, commissioners? Joel, Tom, anything I have one comment. Um as staff is uh presenting everything, that's during the public hearing. And so if there's questions for staff during the public hearing, um, and you you can break up your questions uh per section, and then after the presentation, you close the public hearing, and if there's deliberation or comments, you would make those after the close of the public hearing. Very good point.

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