Title
Oregon City School District Request for Comment on Urban Growth Boundary Expansion Proposal
Body
RECOMMENDED ACTION (Motion):
Staff requests the City Commission identify an overall level of support for the School District to submit an application to proceed through the Metro review process.
BACKGROUND:
In mid-March, the Oregon City School District intends to submit an application to Metro, our regional government, seeking to expand the urban growth boundary (UGB) by approximately 32 acres north of Holcomb Elementary School to allow for the construction of a new middle school sometime in the future. The property is located on Forsythe Road in unincorporated Clackamas County and is adjacent to the City limits of Oregon City and the UGB.
Metro’s review of this UGB amendment will take place through a public hearing process that is likely to extend through the spring and summer of 2019. The School District is still working on its application but it is expected that it will address the applicable approval criteria including impacts resulting from extending city services. As part of the application, the Metro Code requires that the School District submit a form completed by Oregon City which identifies our general level of support for the application. The form asks:
• How the proposal would generally effect the efficiency of serving other properties within the UGB;
• If the City could serve the property in an orderly and economic fashion; and
• An overall position of if the City supports the application.
The form provides an avenue for the City to submit a high level reaction of the proposal. The School District understands that the City has not evaluated the service and facility extension demands placed on the City by this proposal. The analysis of how the proposal complies with the Metro code will occur in a public review process and the analysis of adequacy of infrastructure will be analyzed with increasing specificity and detail as the application is reviewed and the proposal proceeds through the development process.
The School District will be presenting background on the project at the January 16, 2019 work session and answering questions of the Commission. Based on the guidance by the Commission at the work session, staff will prepare a draft of the required form. The City Commission will review the draft form with a Resolution on the consent agenda at the February 6, 2019 City Commission hearing.
After the document is submitted, City staff will remain engaged in Metro’s review of the UGB expansion request and provide an opportunity for the City Commission to weigh in on how the proposal complies with the Metro criteria if the City Commission wishes.