Title
First Reading of Ordinance No. 18-1009, Development Code Amendments including Equitable Housing, Planning file LEG 18-00001
Body
RECOMMENDED ACTION (Motion):
Continuance of Planning file LEG 18-00001 and Ordinance 18-1009 to the January 8, 2019 City Commission Work Session; or
Continuance of Planning file LEG 18-00001 and Ordinance 18-1009 to the January 16, 2019 City Commission Hearing; or
Approval of Planning file LEG 18-00001 and first Reading of Ordinance 18-1009.
BACKGROUND:
At the October 22, 2018 hearing the Planning Commission voted 6-0 to recommend approval of File LEG 18-00001 to the City Commission.
The proposal includes amendments to the text of the Oregon City Municipal Code. Planning Division staff and consultants have been working with the community to provide updates to the development standards within the Oregon City Municipal Code. The standards include a variety of topics such as additional housing opportunities recommended by an Equitable Housing Public Advisory Team as well as other changes which were not reviewed by the equitable housing advisory committees but predominately implement their direction. As a whole, the amendments result in greater opportunities for housing, reduce regulations, streamline processes, provide clarity around existing standards, address existing concerns in the development standards, and are formatted to be easier to follow. This proposal does not include any changes to the adopted zoning map or any city-initiated construction or development.
The project began when the community identified concerns about not being able to afford to rent or purchase a home or condo. The availability of places to live at many income levels was constrained and the types of places available were not always matched with the types of places the community wanted. In response, the City Commission adopted goals for the 2017-2019 biennium including:
Goal 1 (Cultivate an Environment for Successful Economic Development): Complete site-readiness efforts which can be accomplished through ... improvements or process and permitting refinement.
Goal 3 (Enhance the Livability of the Community): Review local regulations and processes to remove barriers and provide incentives to additional housing opportunities
The City received a $100,000 grant from Metro, our regional government, to facilitate a public process to understand the barriers and solutions to facilitating a diverse, physically accessible, affordable housing choices within the city with access to opportunities, services and amenities. The Equitable Housing Policy project, initiated in 2017, included a thorough review of housing-related development standards, policies, procedures, and explanatory materials. The project goal was to make equitable housing more accessible by providing greater flexibility and incentives in zoning and development policies, informational materials for homeowners and developers to illustrate review processes, and mapping tools to for the development community.
A vast majority of the code amendments implement the direction provided by the Equitable Housing project by amending the applicable Chapters of the Oregon City Municipal Code related to land divisions and development of all types of housing such as multi-family, duplexes, and single-family homes. The amendments remove unnecessary standards, remove conflicting standards, reword for clarity, reformat for clarity, and streamline some housing processes, though a handful of additional amendments were added throughout the evolution of the project which are not related to housing. The complete package of amendments include:
Recommendations from the Equitable Housing Project Advisory Team, consultants, staff, and Planning Commission to support and incentivize a diverse, quality, physically accessible, affordable housing choices with access to opportunities, services and amenities as well as the removal of barriers;
General clarifications of standards and procedures for more efficient development review; and
Other amendments identified through the course of the public hearing process.
The project was driven by the community with 49 meetings or opportunities for input including a workshop, city advisory groups, and a project advisory team, three online community surveys, stakeholder interviews and more than seventeen Planning and City Commission meetings including:
49 Total Meetings or Engagement Opportunities
21 Meetings Dedicated to Housing Related Issues (Remaining Meetings Include All Code Amendments)
5 Technical Advisory Team + 5 Project Advisory Team Meetings for Equitable Housing
7 Planning Commission Work Sessions
6 Planning Commission Hearings
2 City Commission Hearings
3 City Commission Work Sessions
The following options for the City Commission include:
Continuance of Planning file LEG 18-00001 and Ordinance 18-1009 to the January 8, 2019 City Commission Work Session; or
Continuance of Planning file LEG 18-00001 and Ordinance 18-1009 to the January 16, 2019 City Commission Hearing; or
Approval of Planning file LEG 18-00001 and first Reading of Ordinance 18-1009.