West Linn Planning Commission Work Sessions: CDC Clean-Up Amendments and Waterfront Vision Plan — July 16, 2025

The West Linn Planning Commission met at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, July 16, 2025, in a hybrid format (in person at City Hall and remotely via Webex). All six commissioners were present: Chair Metlin, Vice Chair Will Botney, and Commissioners Jones, Evans, Watton, and Schulte Hillen. The agenda included two work sessions—proposed Community Development Code (CDC) clean-up amendments and the West Linn Waterfront Vision Plan—with public testimony taken on both.

Consent Calendar

• Meeting notes from June 18, 2025 were approved (5-0-1); Commissioner Jones abstained, stating she had not read them.
• Meeting notes from May 21, 2025 were approved (4-0-2); Commissioners Jones (did not read them) and Evans (was not present at that meeting) abstained.

Public Comments & Testimony — CDC Amendments

• Russ Axelrod (former mayor, former planning commissioner, longtime resident) opposed removing the Planning Commission from Class II design review and permitting, calling the package—framed as 'clean-up amendments'—a profound and 'offensive' change that would centralize approval authority in the planning director with no public hearings. He noted that SB 1537 (2024) allows exemptions for cities not contributing to housing delays, citing Lake Oswego, North Bend, Milwaukie, Salem, Sandy, and Tualatin as cities that applied, and urged the commission to pursue an exemption.
• Terrence Schumacher (Willamette area resident) opposed the changes, arguing they would eliminate an important level of public input and create a risk of conflict of interest by giving approval/denial authority to one person. He referenced a 35-acre parcel in the pond district owned by developer Robert Schultz (company name appears as both 'SGD2 Corporation' and 'SDG2 LLC' in the transcript), noting a preliminary PUD proposal was submitted in July 2024 and a right-of-way vacation request was later withdrawn after public opposition.
• Nicole Jackson (resident) echoed prior testimony, strongly encouraged pursuing an exemption, and requested more transparency on the proposal to move street vacations to municipal code, given a recently withdrawn right-of-way vacation application.
• The chair cautioned against discussing a specific property owner (Robert Schultz) because the property could come before the commission in the future, citing ex parte concerns.

Discussion Items — CDC Amendments

• Staff (Darren Weiss) announced that the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) had provided new information contrary to its earlier position on limited land use decisions, so topic 4 (which would have affected Planning Commission review of Class II design review and subdivisions) was pulled from the package while staff consults with the city attorney's office.
• Topic 1 (minimum/maximum density calculations): proposed replacing 'acres gross/acres net' definitions with 'developable gross area/developable net area,' creating a measurement section (CDC 05.025) that subtracts Type 1 and 2 lands, parkland, public rights-of-way, private streets, and optionally heritage/significant trees, and updating references in the PUD (Ch. 24), design review (Ch. 55), and land division (Ch. 85) chapters. Staff cited Metro Urban Growth Management Functional Plan requirements (Title 1, Section 307120b).
• Topic 2 (partition minimum density exemption): staff described a recent case in which an applicant argued that the existing exemption for land divisions of three lots or fewer applied regardless of parcel size. Using a five-acre R-7 example (24-lot maximum; 17-lot minimum at 70%), the code would be clarified so the minimum density applies unless the calculation yields three or fewer parcels.
• Topic 3 (shape of newly created lots and parcels): proposed requiring rectilinear lots unless 'not practical' due to location along a street radius, existing natural features (e.g., creek drainages), or existing lot lines.
• Commissioner Botney again raised the tree code, arguing minor wording fixes could be included in a future package without major study; staff responded that the tree code has not been prioritized by city council and will require a lengthy process when directed.

Work Session — Waterfront Vision Plan

• Staff presented the plan's roughly decade-long history: guiding principles from 2016, a COVID pause, consultant-led engagement and a draft plan (January 2024), and a final draft completed in June 2025. The working group found consensus to move the plan to council with five recommendations: consider affordable housing language, consider smart growth development concepts, recognize access as a critical component, consider stronger language for reuse of existing structures (Moore's Island), and provide additional time for feedback. Working group member Schultz objected, and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde took no position.
• The plan covers three districts: City Hall (mixed use, trail network, physical and visual access to the river and falls), Cultural Heritage (Moore's Island, PGE facility, mill structures), and Ponds (balance of environmental restoration/protection with private property rights). Staff noted the medium-density residential designation north of Blue Heron Pond is the existing comprehensive plan designation, with no intent to make it denser, and both ponds are labeled 'remediation and potential rezoning needed.'
• Staff confirmed the vision plan is not a zoning or code change and would be adopted by resolution; future zoning changes would go through separate community processes, and private property owners would still develop under current code.

Public Comments & Testimony — Waterfront Vision Plan

• Russ Axelrod called the later engagement phase a 'complete failure,' alleging that public comments—including his own—were filtered and not distributed to working group members, in violation of item 14 of the working group's own guidelines. He urged pausing the schedule to council and raised five concerns: clarifying coalition status for a national heritage area in the City Hall District; clarifying undefined Willamette Falls Trust project plans for Moore's Island; removing dense housing from the Ponds District (within the 100-year floodplain and West Linn's most significant remaining wetland) and cleaning up the settlement pond owned by Robert Schultz before planning decisions; a ban on casino operations; and other housekeeping items. He stated he supports dense housing in the waterfront 'but they need to be at the right location. And this is not the right location.' Regarding the settlement pond, he noted a DEQ remedial investigation was done about 10 years ago, but no feasibility study followed.
• Terrence Schumacher criticized the community survey as using 'classic double barrel questions' that force one answer to two questions, and said the plan's three development options (pages 27-28 of the engagement summary) ignore the majority community preference—documented on page 15—for preserving the Ponds District as a natural area with trails and viewing platforms. He also raised the inactive toxic waste lagoon at the former Blue Heron site, unmaintained for 10 years, possible levee breaches by burrowing animals discovered in aerial surveys by Friends of Willamette Wetlands, and contamination risk to Bernard Creek and the Willamette River, urging a thorough cleanup study before development. He said his concerns are mainly the ponds and wetlands, and there is room for residential development in the industrial and historic districts.
• Nicole Jackson argued the overwhelming majority comments for the Ponds District (preservation with minimal development) were relegated to Appendix A of the engagement summary, while medium-density development was proposed in critical natural resource areas including the floodplain. She cited comprehensive plan Goal 2, Section 7, Number 7, which requires medium-density residential lands to be 'areas that are not subject to development limitations, such as topography, flooding, or poor drainage,' and noted that adoption of the FEMA model floodplain code (deadline July 31, 2025) had not been addressed, having been canceled in March due to a lack of agenda items.

Discussion Items — Waterfront Vision Plan (Commissioner Deliberation)

• Commissioner Evans stated the city has done what council asked, noted the plan makes no zoning or code changes, and said the proper forum for community concerns about future development rules would be when zoning changes are proposed.
• Commissioner Botney noted the survey showed roughly two-thirds of respondents favored trails and open space in the Ponds District, and that the critical testimony received aligns with that majority. He also cautioned that past concept plans (Highway 43 and Willamette Falls Drive) were treated as final designs beyond their 30% level, and raised concerns about the Willamette Falls Trust (including its $45 million legislative appropriation and tribal participation) and about the Ponds District map reading as an endorsement of development.
• Commissioner Jones said there is a stark difference between disagreeing on data interpretation and questioning whether data was 'massaged,' and reiterated that full public comments should be shared and disclosed so community members feel heard.
• Staff responded: FEMA floodplain code adoption was delayed because the federal administration changed in January 2025, reducing urgency; the code will come forward later in 2025 and largely mirrors existing Willamette River Greenway requirements. No comprehensive plan or zoning changes are proposed for existing residential designations (to avoid takings issues); targeted changes would focus on other districts, with possible added language on mixed-use development. Staff also said that after 10 years of engagement and five comments received on the final plan in a city of 27,000 people, they believe the community supports the plan.

Key Outcomes

• Meeting notes for May 21 and June 18, 2025 approved as noted above.
• CDC topic 4 (limited land use decisions) was pulled from the amendment package; a public hearing on topics 1-3 is scheduled for August 6, 2025. Staff will circle back with the city attorney's office on DLCD's new information and return to the commission on topic 4 at a future date.
• No formal action was taken on the Waterfront Vision Plan (work session only). Next steps: open houses July 24 and July 31, 2025; Planning Commission work session August 20, 2025 (Commissioner Botney noted he is unavailable, and an email availability poll was proposed); Planning Commission public hearing September 17, 2025 (adoption by resolution); council work sessions October 6 and October 20, 2025; council public hearing November 10, 2025.
• Staff stated the FEMA model floodplain code changes will come forward later in 2025, with the previous July 31 deadline deprioritized due to the change in federal administration.
• Staff announced a Metro town center adoption work session will also be scheduled for August 20, 2025.