West Linn Planning Commission Meeting – May 6, 2026

The West Linn Planning Commission met on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at 6:05 p.m. in a hybrid meeting held in Council Chambers and virtually. Chair Shilta Hillen presided, with Commissioners Deeds, Kachariski, Walvotney, and Jones present. No public testimony was offered on non-agenda land use items. The commission approved prior meeting minutes, welcomed Senior Planner Erica Smith, recognized an Oregon League of Cities Good Governance Award, and discussed the Planning Docket before adjourning at 8:00 p.m.

Consent Calendar

• The commission unanimously approved the draft meeting notes for January 21, February 4, February 18, March 4, March 18, and April 15, 2026, by a 5-0 vote.
• Commissioner Walvotney objected to the February 18 notes’ description of state hazard maps as “informational,” stating that the maps are directly referenced in the Community Development Code and are part of the approval criteria. She asked that the notes be corrected.
• Commissioner Jones reported that the video links in some sets of minutes opened a Webex login page instead of archived recordings. Staff said the links could be updated.

Public Comments & Testimony

• There were no public comments related to land use items not on the agenda.

Discussion Items

• Community Development Director Steve Cooper introduced Senior Planner Erica Smith. Smith described her planning background, including work with a Portland consulting firm, her own landscape design business, service in Columbia County and Vernonia, and her current duties in West Linn. Commissioners welcomed her and acknowledged that the planning department had been understaffed.
• Cooper presented the Oregon League of Cities 2026 Good Governance Award for the Waterfront Community Vision Plan. The award was announced at the League of Cities Local Government Spring Conference in Pendleton, Oregon. The city cited seven in-person engagement events with roughly 700 participants, 18 meetings with property owners, stakeholders, and tribal representatives, 40 civic group meetings, more than 3,200 visits to the project website, and more than 800 responses to two online surveys.
• Cooper reviewed the proposed Planning Docket, describing a “small but mighty” staff and a limited budget. He said the city’s annual planning budget is about 1.3% to 1.5% of the overall city budget; about 80% of the planning operating budget is personnel, and about 91% of materials and services funding is spent on professional and technical consultants.
• In 2025 the department received 40 development applications, conducted 26 pre-application conferences, processed 7 final plat approvals, 13 sign approvals, and 3 zoning verifications. Council priorities influencing the docket include waterfront vision implementation and Vision 43.
• The docket is organized into legally required, scheduled/resourced, and unscheduled/unresourced tiers. Staff described housing production strategy implementation, FEMA model code compliance, Vision 43, waterfront implementation, annual code cleanup, public use zone creation, and a future Transportation System Plan update as current or near-term items.
• On the Rosemont Road code amendment request, commissioners generally supported treating assisted living and memory care as a conditional use rather than permitting it outright in the R-10 zone. They discussed emergency access, school traffic near Trillium school, compatibility with nearby neighborhoods, and examples from Oregon City, Milwaukee, and Sherwood. Staff agreed to research state licensing and emergency-access requirements before bringing a recommendation forward.
• Commissioner Walvotney said CDC Chapter 32, covering drainage, should receive higher priority and that the tree code needs correction. Commissioner Jones agreed that the tree code had created problems in recent decisions. Walvotney also noted that a 2018 CCI community involvement report had not been implemented; staff noted House Bill 2950 may require updates to statewide Goal 1 public involvement rules by 2029.
• Councilor Bright answered questions about drinking water capital needs, explaining that West Linn’s charter limits utility rate increases to 5%, while the South Fork Water Board’s capital costs can exceed that level. Oregon City excludes water treatment costs from its cap, and the city is seeking state and federal funding for the water line under the I-205 bridge.
• On the unprioritized item about returning the Willamette Meteorite, Councilor Bright said the meteorite is in New York and that some tribal representatives do not support returning it to West Linn. A commissioner strongly opposed a city effort to display the meteorite, calling it a sacred artifact that should be returned to the tribe rather than treated as a trophy.
• Commissioners supported Cooper’s suggestion to realign the Planning Docket presentation to the fall, matching the city budget cycle. All commissioners expressed agreement.

Key Outcomes

• The commission approved the six meeting minutes unanimously, with corrections to the February 18 notes and the video links.
• The commission reached consensus to recommend that the Rosemont Road assisted living/memory care use be considered as a conditional use, subject to additional research on licensing and emergency access.
• The commission agreed to recommend moving the docket discussion to the fall to better inform the budget cycle.
• The commission voted 5-0 to place a discussion of the Lot 7 memo on a future meeting agenda.
• Staff will prepare a memo on the status of neighborhood association plans, including which plans exist and which have been adopted, and what it would take to codify them.
• No formal vote was taken on the docket itself; staff will share the commission’s feedback with the City Council. Cooper said the docket would be brought to the council tentatively on June 6, 2026.
• Staff announced that a hearing date for the Tandler development was still being scheduled and would occur sometime in the summer.