Planning Commission

Draft PC Minutes were reviewed and approved at the March 12, 2025 PC Meeting. Wilsonville Planning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes February 12, 2025 Wilsonville City Hall & Remote Video Conferencing https://www.ci.wilsonville.or.us/meetings/pc CALL TO ORDER - ROLL CALL Chair Karr called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. Present: Andrew Karr, Ron Heberlein, Sam Scull, Yana Semenova, Jennifer Willard, and Nicole Hendrix Excused: Matt Constantine Staff Present: Daniel Pauly, Amanda Guile-Hinman, Cindy Luxhoj, Miranda Bateschell and Mandi Simmons. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. CITIZEN INPUT Ryan Schera, Schuitzer Properties, noted the company is a property owner in Basalt Creek and had been engaged with Staff on the zoning work for the area, adding they looked forward to continuing to engage with Staff and work with the Planning Commission on crafting new zoning for the area. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS 1. Planning Commission Chair & Vice Chair Nomination City Attorney Guile-Hinman recommended that the Chair and Vice Chair nominations be moved until after the 2025 PC Work Program. Vice Chair Ron Heberlein moved to amend the agenda to address the Chair and Vice Chair nominations after the 2025 PC Work Program. Commissioner Nicole Hendrix seconded the motion, which passed 6 to 0. (Ayes: Karr, Heberlein, Scull, Semenova, Willard, Hendrix. Nays: None.) 2. Consideration of the December 11, 2024 and January 8, 2025 Planning Commission Minutes The December 11, 2024 and January 8, 2025 Planning Commission minutes were accepted as presented. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Page 1 February 12, 2025 WORK SESSION 3. Wilsonville Industrial Land Readiness (Basalt Creek) (Luxhoj) Cindy Luxhoj, Associate Planner, explained the Planning Commission’s input was again being sought on technical analyses and land use types related to refinement of the Basalt Creek Concept Plan (BCCP) for the Wilsonville Industrial Land Readiness (WILR) Project. She presented via PowerPoint an overview of the BCCP Vision as well as the documents for the Commission’s consideration, which included analyses from DKS Associates, Pacific Habitat Services, and City Staff, noting the documents would inform the Basalt Creek Tasks, which included drafting a Basalt Creek Master Plan and subsequent implementing Development Code. (Slide 3) Planning Manager Pauly also provided additional comments. Questions were addressed by Staff as follows: • The area north of SW Greenhill Ln is the City of Tualatin is zoned residential. (Slide 25) • Concern was expressed about traffic considering the 500 to 600 new houses being built in Tualatin as well as all the traffic flowing south from industrial areas in Sherwood, Tualatin, and Tigard with the only access to the freeway being at the south boundary of the planning area. Was there enough capacity to handle that amount of traffic and what was the timing for the road improvements throughout the process? (Slide 7) • Planning Staff did not have details regarding the timing of the improvements, but the City’s Engineering Staff had been involved with the County in planning the Basalt Creek Parkway Extension and the details could be provided outside the meeting. • In terms of the impact of Tualatin’s traffic, a traffic analysis was done with the BCCP and Staff is actively tracking development in Tualatin to ensure the balance of traffic between the two cities is maintained. The concurrency requirements in the Development Code would still apply, in that if development exceeded traffic capacity, occupancy would not be allowed until street improvements are funded and would be completed within 24 months. • At this time, Staff was not aware of any consideration for an additional light rail station in the area. The area was in TriMet’s territory, but the City hoped to correct that so SMART could serve the area. SMART’s focus would be to coordinate with the businesses to get employees to and from the WES station as efficiently as possible. • The dotted lines extending east at Basalt Creek Pkwy and Day Rd and stopping at I-5 indicated long-term plans for flyovers, not new interchanges; however, those plans were farther out than the planning horizon than the BCCP. • The Natural Resources Inventory revealed no huge surprises regarding Tapman Creek in the Basalt Creek Canyon, but West Railroad has more developable land than originally believed. • Information on the current mix of land use types in the city compared to what is being proposed in Basalt Creek, as well as on the vacancy rates for those product types in the city had been provided but was not organized in that manner. Staff would work with the ECOnorthwest to do so. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Page 2 February 12, 2025 • Conversations with PGE had been ongoing about whether the existing infrastructure would support the energy demands of any potential development, and PGE is confident in its ability to build out to serve heavy power users in the area. • Staff did not have any cost details as PGE manages that, but PGE had no red flags. PGE was building out the new substation, so a lot of power infrastructure was nearby to build upon. • Typically, the utility, ratepayers, and developer work out the cost burden for any required upgrades or additional infrastructure. Some cost analysis was done with ECOnorthwest’s work given the different types of uses that might occur, and availability of power was not noted as a limiting factor, but Staff would get more information for the Commission. • An off-street trail was proposed along the west side of the canyon that would cross under the landing off the southside of the extended Basalt Creek Pkwy and connect to the trail in Tualatin as well as extend farther south to another city trail that would connect to Day Rd and other bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure. • The Tonquin Trail was also proposed to go along the west side of West Railroad and east side of the Coffee Creek Wetland. • The gray area north of the Basalt Creek Parkway extension and south of Norwood Rd would likely be a combination of residential and recreation uses as Tualatin had recently acquired a couple of parcels for a park in that area. (Slide 7) The dark blue area north of the Basalt Creek Parkway is for manufacturing in Tualatin’s new Basalt Creek Employment Zone. (Slide 14) • The Infrastructure Summary did not include costs, such as for the Day Road improvements because costs had escalated but Staff would be doing a cash flow analysis in the coming months. Future infrastructure costs were hard to pin down. • Staff has market study information for the West Railroad Area from ECOnorthwest and would have a better understanding of the costs to provide industrial traffic access and other infrastructure, which would play into the feasibility. Through this project, a Comprehensive Plan designation would be identified for potential future development. • Understanding the current land use inventory citywide would help prevent overburdening an area with one land use that has no demand. For example, if the West Railroad Area is found to be best for Craft Industrial due to the nature of the current infrastructure, was there enough demand for Craft Industrial to cover the 162 acres? • Determining demand involved a combination of flexibility for certain corridors, like Day Rd and I-5, and design considerations, which have been discussed, as well as ensuring there is employment and inventorying the emerging uses and the market demand for current uses, such as data centers. Assumptions were made about potential water and sewer demands, as well as employee counts. Commissioner Willard: • Noted that with all the riparian areas and BC-2 Overlay, the West Railroad Area was not industrial-ready for any industry, adding that using it for industrial would be a waste of a beautiful area that could have a park along the wetlands. It seemed the concept plan was Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Page 3 February 12, 2025  flawed in flagging West Railroad as industrial. The market shows its value is light contractor laydowns that are somewhat disorganized and don’t require heavy equipment access. Perhaps the industrial concept should be abandoned and other uses considered that could enrich the community. • Associate Planner Luxhoj responded the area was added to the urban growth boundary (UGB) for industrial. Metro owned a lot of property immediately adjacent to West Railroad, and for conservation purposes, has protection as natural areas. The biggest change was that a lot more natural resources existed when the BCCP was done, and now much of the area has been developed for storage and lay down yards, which has influenced the City’s perspective. West Railroad is severely constrained by infrastructure, and the analysis of the Grahams Ferry access could have a huge impact on what is viable for the area. • Without semi-truck access, warehousing and distribution uses were not possible, and with no access for cement trucks, data centers could not be built. Staff did not believe another at-grade railroad crossing was possible. If changing Grahams Ferry Rd to get trucks through was not possible, the City would have to rethink the land uses for the West Railroad Area. • Planning Manager Pauly noted West Railroad is shown as employment land in Metro’s 2040 Growth Concept and depending on the Commission’s direction on preferred uses, Staff could follow up on the uses allowed under the regional designation to ensure all options are on the table. There is demand for industrial. West Railroad is surrounded by industrial areas and has access to rail, but road and utility access were the biggest challenges. • Expressed similar sentiment about the BC-1 resource area in the Craft Industrial area which is also heavily constrained. Disrupting zoning where housing currently exists while in a housing crisis seemed counterintuitive and zoning it for something like Craft Industrial was concerning given the uncertain future about the demand for live-work models, which did not often materialize as desired. • Planning Manager Pauly noted the live-work models presented were one potential long-term vision, and that Craft Industrial provided opportunities for someone to build a sign shop, for example, at the back of the lot and live in the existing home. • Replied that those types of employers could not afford the property, so it would never happen. • Planning Manager Pauly explained Craft Industrial was about providing flexibility in an area with unique qualities. The idea was to give options to residential property owners in a buffer area transitioning long-term from residential to industrial where industrial developers may outbid a residential buyer. • He confirmed that Staff was in contact with Tualatin about its planning journey, including their transportation and environmental impacts to ensure a concurrency between the two communities. Discussions had been ongoing around park coordination, for example. • Suggested adding to the report that both City Staffs were in communication and confident in the plans moving forward. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Page 4 February 12, 2025 Planning Manager Pauly stated Staff sought direction about what to explore for West Railroad, knowing some constraints may exist, noting that Staff would return to the Commission for a more detailed discussion on how the information from the Infrastructure Study would impact West Railroad. He asked about the Commission’s general thoughts on the land designations in the BCCP and whether any changes should be contemplated. Commissioner Hendrix responded the road access analysis for West Railroad and understanding the requirements around bringing the area into the UGB would be helpful. • She appreciated Commissioner Willard’s comment on Craft Industrial, noting she was also curious about turning the area into something useful for nearby residents. Having the context of the adjacent uses in Tualatin was helpful. She was open to more discussion. • Her first reaction was that Wilsonville already had a lot of Light Industrial. She was curious about the demand but understood Staff’s perspective of planning for what might be coming. She believed more information was needed to make a more formal recommendation. Commissioner Heberlein: • Regarding West Railroad, knowing whether the benefit is worth the cost of overcoming the challenges would help identify a potential land use type, whether industrial, residential, or a public benefit. While Metro had things in mind, a lot has changed since from a housing perspective, so perhaps another land use option could be considered. • Craft Industrial had similar challenges as far as knowing what made sense there. With such a small area, is there a benefit of trying to do something different? • Having more information on the current mix and what the demand might be would provide a better perspective on whether the right mix was in the right places. • Planning Manager Pauly stated talking about the market was always interesting, because Wilsonville would be very different if historically, the City did what the market said. It was always a tough balance. Frog Pond was about pushing a realistic change towards a policy goal, while still being realistic with the market. Some push may be needed to get the market to do some of the key design elements along Day Rd, for example. • Historically, Wilsonville has been very sensitive about how the city looks from I-5, and what policies and uses should be considered to ensure the kind of gateway the community envisioned. • Understanding the current state and the market demands is just a piece of the puzzle, not to match the market to have the right demand. However, if a significant imbalance is found, perhaps considering a change should be discussed in order to have some flexibility, rather a hard requirement for one area versus another. • The industrial side of things did not seem to be as strong a focus as some of the residential expectations. INFORMATIONAL Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Page 5 February 12, 2025 4. City Council Action Minutes (January 6 & 23, 2025) (No staff presentation) 5. 2025 PC Work Program (No staff presentation) There were no comments. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS 1. Planning Commission Chair & Vice Chair Nomination This agenda item was moved to the end of the meeting. Amanda Guile-Hinman, City Attorney, reviewed the rules for nominating and electing the Chair and Vice Chair. Ronald Heberlein nominated Nicole Hendrix for 2025 Planning Commission Chair. Andrew Karr nominated Jennifer Willard for 2025 Planning Commission Chair. Following a roll call vote, Nicole Hendrix was elected as 2025 Planning Commission Chair by a 6 to 0 vote. (Ayes: Heberlein, Karr, Semenova, Scull, Willard, Hendrix. Nays: None.) Sam Scull nominated Jennifer Willard as 2025 Planning Commission Vice Chair. Following a roll call vote, Jennifer Willard was elected as 2025 Planning Commission Vice Chair by a 6 to 0 vote. (Ayes: Semenova, Scull, Karr, Heberlein, Hendrix, Willard. Nays: None.) ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:13 p.m. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Page 6 February 12, 2025