The Oregon City Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve a 25-lot planned unit development (PD03-02) at 19398 Leland Road, along with a water-resource permit (WR0308) and a variance to pedestrian lighting standards (VR03-17). The applications, submitted by developer Mike Fleury, will proceed subject to revised conditions the commission adopted and an added requirement for traffic calming and a pedestrian crossing determined by the public works director.

The commission’s approval covers a PUD on what staff described as roughly 5.31 acres (about 5.15 acres after a required lot-line adjustment). Planner Tony Conkle told the commission the proposal includes 25 dwelling units — 17 detached and 8 attached — access from two existing stub streets, an internal private street with parking on one side, and a seven-foot pedestrian bridge across a stream corridor that connects to Smoketree Drive. “The applicant is requesting a 25 lot, plan unit development located at 19398 Leland Road,” Conkle said during his presentation.

Why it matters: Staff and the applicant said the layout is designed to protect a mapped intermittent stream and a pond on the site by incorporating those resources into the PUD’s open space and by following a water-resource mitigation plan. The project requires a formal lot-line adjustment with the neighboring tax lot to consolidate a narrow flag connection to Leland Road and to include the adjacent water resource in the PUD’s protected area.

Key terms of approval and staff findings: The staff report, which was placed in the record prior to the hearing, documents the applicable approval criteria and staff’s analysis. Conkle summarized technical conditions adopted by the commission, including:
- Water-resource protections: a 15-foot buffer around the intermittent stream and a 50-foot buffer around the pond/wetland as identified in the water-resource delineation; the applicant proposed mitigation to replace any buffer lost for the bridge and path and provided a planting schedule for that mitigation.
- Lot-line adjustment: required prior to final plat or building permit activity to formalize the project’s access and the incorporation of the resource area into the PUD open space.
- Traffic and sight-distance: consultant David Evans & Associates identified a sight-distance issue at Lot 16; staff imposed a non‑access strip to control driveway placement and reduce backing conflicts.
- Fire safety: the fire department requested either a turnaround or sprinkling; the applicant proposed sprinkling the units and no turnaround was required.
- Street and frontage standards: the private street will have 28 feet of pavement (allowing parking on one side), a 7-foot sidewalk with street trees, and reduced planter strips to match existing streetscape. Staff limited driveway widths and added on-site parking measures for attached units to reduce on-street demand.
- Design controls: conditions and the CC&Rs will require horizontal siding, minimum living areas (1,410 sq ft for detached homes; 1,300 sq ft for attached units), limits on garage width relative to the street-facing facade, and a minimum 36-inch masonry (brick/stone) garage front treatment.

Neighbor concerns: Multiple nearby residents, including Bill Hucker and Willie Gould of the adjacent Silver Fox subdivision, testified at the hearing. Concerns focused on parking and congestion on nearby streets and on privacy impacts where attached units back to existing yards. Residents also questioned whether portions of the site had previously been identified as wetlands; staff clarified the city acted on a formal water-resource delineation and that the delineated stream/pond areas would be protected by the PUD’s open space and conditions.

Buffers and fencing: To address adjacency concerns, the applicant proposed both an enhanced vegetative buffer and a tall fence along the common property line with four Silver Fox lots. The commission added a condition requiring a fence that yields Silver Fox property owners approximately 6 feet of fence above their rear-yard elevation (the design includes a skirting and vegetation on the PUD side). Applicant materials and staff testimony described a targeted mix of evergreen trees and shrubs to visually obscure buildings over time.

Pedestrian and safety items: Commissioners pressed for a safer mid-block crossing near the active open space. The commission’s approval included an additional direction that “additional traffic-calming and pedestrian amenities, such as a raised concrete pedestrian crossing with lighting, be provided or that an alternative method be determined by the public works director” — language the commission adopted to avoid prescribing a single engineering detail and instead require coordination with public works.

Votes and next steps: The motion to approve PD03-02, WR0308 and VR03-17 as amended (including the revised exhibit D conditions and the traffic-calming direction) passed on a roll-call vote with Commissioners Orson, Powell, Mangelberg, Lejuez and Chairperson Carter voting aye. The approvals are subject to the listed conditions, the required lot-line adjustment, and standard platting/building permit procedures. Staff indicated the applicant must record CC&Rs to secure perpetual protected landscape areas and meet the timing (installation prior to final occupancy) listed in the adopted conditions.

What remains: The approvals require follow-on ministerial steps: the lot-line adjustment, final plat and design-review items for attached units, recording of CC&Rs for protected landscape areas, and coordination with public works on the pedestrian crossing/traffic-calming design and with PGE on lighting. The applicant also accepted revised conditions entered as exhibit D; the commission read and admitted the exhibits into the record during the hearing.