Title
First Reading of Ordinance No.18-1009, Development Code Amendments Including Equitable Housing (Planning File LEG 18-00001)
Body
RECOMMENDED ACTION (Motion):
Approve the first reading of Ordinance No. 18-1009, amending the Oregon City Municipal Code, associated findings for the same, and continue file LEG-18-00001, including building heights in the MUD district, short-term rentals, shelters and any needed corrections and clarifications of the proposed code to September 4, 2019.
BACKGROUND:
Staff has prepared a final packet of draft code amendments that reflects the City Commission directions to date. The issues of height limits within the Mixed Use Downtown (MUD) zone, Shelters and Short Term Rentals are separated from the bulk of the amendments. Staff anticipates that the code amendments related to maximum height limitations in MUD and regulations pertaining to shelters will be resolved later this summer and adopted by separate ordinance, in addition to any necessary code clarifications or corrections of errors in the code proposed to be adopted. Development of a short term rental policy will require a separate, longer public process and is anticipated to be completed last. The City Commission will discuss these issues in Work Sessions prior to the next hearing date related to these items on September 4, 2019.
June 5, 2019 - Public Hearing
The Commission closed the public record and testimony and directed staff to prepare a revised packet of code amendments, not including code for height limits within the Mixed Use Downtown (MUD) zone, Shelters and Short Term Rentals.
June 19, 2019 - Public Hearing
Request for first reading of Ordinance 18-1009 approving a majority of code amendments.
July 3 - Public Hearing
Request for second reading of Ordinance 18-1009 approving a majority of code amendments.
A separate Resolution will be presented to the City Commission for consideration to amend the Planning Division fee schedule to clearly implement processes identified in the draft amendments as well as amend some existing fees. The draft changes will be presented to the Commission at a Work Session in July and are anticipated to be effective on the date the proposed amendments to the Oregon City Municipal Code are also effective.
LEG-18-00001 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 to accomplish this project. The 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;
• General clarification of standards and procedures for more efficient development review to support clear standards and efficient process for the development of housing; and
• A handful of other amendments identified by staff or through the course of the public hearing process which are not related to housing.
The project was driven by the community with more than 55 meetings or opportunities for input including multiple workshops, city advisory groups, project and technical advisory team meetings, three online community surveys, stakeholder interviews and a variety of Planning and City Commission meetings including:
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
7 Planning Commission Hearings
14 City Commission Hearings
3 City Commission Work Sessions