The Oregon City Planning Commission voted 5-0 Aug. 23 to continue its legislative hearing on comprehensive plan and municipal code amendments to Oct. 11 to allow staff and the public more time to address changes and finalize proposed garage-design standards. Chairperson Carter presided.

Planning staff described a package of map and code clarifications adopted by the City Commission May 19, 2004, that staff says require follow-up ‘‘housekeeping’’ changes. Staff proposed converting some island-annexed single-family parcels zoned R-10 (10,000-square-foot minimum lots) to R-8 (8,000-square-foot lots) to match surrounding development; redesignating certain county FU-10 industrial parcels that lie inside city limits to the city's campus industrial zoning; and correcting ‘‘split zone’’ mapping errors in the downtown area so single tax lots aren't split between two zones. Staff said the R-10 to R-8 change would increase theoretical maximum density from about 4.4 units per acre to 5.5 units per acre but called that a minimal change in practice given parcel sizes and existing infrastructure.

Staff also noted three private requests for map amendments: a downtown parcel on Jefferson and 14th (requested by Dan Fowler) to change from medium-density residential to mixed-use downtown; a McLaughlin Boulevard property (Ryan Smith) to consolidate a split zone into historic commercial; and a property east of Mallory/Malala and north of Beaver Creek Road (Rocky Younger) seeking reclassification from mixed-use corridor to general commercial; staff recommended the first two but not the third. Staff recommended continuing the hearing to Oct. 11 to address concerns and finalize revised garage standards and related code language.

Public testimony at the meeting focused on several recurring issues. Builders and developers, represented in the hearing by Marjorie Hughes and Ernie Platt of the Home Builders Association of Metro Portland, urged the commission to refine proposed garage-design standards that would restrict forward-facing three-car garages and the common ‘‘snout-house’’ configuration, and asked for more time to work with staff on alternative design specifications. Multiple residents from annexed neighborhoods on Falcon Drive and nearby streets asked for time to consult neighbors and asserted they received limited notice of rezoning proposals. Other residents, including Tam Seashultz and Jackie Williams, said the draft code removed a prior allowance for farms, truck gardening and horticultural nurseries on lots of 20,000 square feet or larger in certain single-family zones and requested the commission reopen discussion on that change.

Property owners raised site-specific impacts. Roger Shirley of Pan Pacific Retail Properties, which owns the Oregon City Shopping Center, said application of the mixed-use downtown district to parts of the shopping center limits outside storage and compatibility with certain tenants; Mark Sachs, a tow-company operator, asked staff to clarify whether his storage yard is a grandfathered/nonconforming use after the rezones.

Commissioners and staff urged written submissions be filed in advance so packets can include them (staff suggested written material for the Oct. 11 meeting arrive by Oct. 4). The commission set Oct. 11 as a date-certain continuance and left the record open for additional evidence and testimony as allowed by the hearing rules.