HomeMy WebLinkAboutFINAL PC minutes 6-2-25
PLANNING COMMISSION Minutes – June 2, 2025
City of Tigard | 13125 SW Hall Blvd., Tigard, OR 97223 | 503-639-4171 | www.tigard-or.gov |
MEETING DATE: June 2, 2025 - 7:00 p.m.
HYBRID MEETING IN-PERSON & MS TEAMS
1. CALL TO ORDER
President Jackson called the meeting to order at 7 p.m.
2. ROLL CALL
Present: President Jackson, Vice-President Miranda (remote), Commissioner Bowerman, Commissioner
Brandt, Commissioner Sabbe, Commissioner Tiruvallur, Commissioner Murphy, Alt. Commissioner
Sprague.
Excused: Commissioner Choudhury, Commissioner Schuck.
CC Liaison Present: Council President Wolf, Councilor Schlack.
Staff Present: Assistant Director of Community Development Schuyler Warren, Senior Planner Brittany Gada,
Associate Planner Trin Miller, Planning Commission Secretary Joanne Bengtson.
3. COMMUNICATIONS
None.
4. APPROVE DRAFT MINUTES
President Jackson noted his request for minor language clarification around voters present in the February
3rd minutes and for the hearing that night. He asked Commissioners for other corrections and hearing none,
asked for a motion to approve the May 5, 2025, minutes. Commissioner Bowerman motioned to accept the
minutes with noted edits and Commissioner Murphy seconded. President Jackson called for a vote and the
motion passed unanimously. (7-0)
5. RIVER TERRACE 2.0 COMMUNITY PLAN UPDATE – HOUSING PLAN
Assistant Director of Community Development Schuyler Warren introduced Sr. Planner Brittany Gada who
will lead the River Terrace 2.0 (RT2.0) community planning effort. Sr. Planner Gada presented an overview
of the RT2.0 housing plan, an update on the project schedule and engagement efforts undertaken.
The draft housing plan lays out a high-level approach for delivering on the ambitious housing goals and
policies first identified during concept planning. The draft housing approach aims for 20 dwelling units per
acre for at least 3,000 homes, with integrated market-rate and regulated affordable housing stock, strategies
for facilitating affordable homeownership, a plan to integrate housing with natural resources, parks, and
commercial areas and complementary strategies that support financial, programmatic, and regulatory needs
of regulated affordable, small-scale and large-scale developers to encourage development feasibility.
In this phase, work focused on refining goals and objectives that once finalized, will form the base of the
City of
Tigard
P lanning Commission
Minutes
1
PLANNING COMMISSION Minutes – June 2, 2025
City of Tigard | 13125 SW Hall Blvd., Tigard, OR 97223 | 503-639-4171 | www.tigard-or.gov |
RT2.0 Community Plan
and amendments to the
Community
Development Code.
The housing plan includes policies, and a regulatory approach garnered from robust public engagement:
A Community Advisory Committee (12 Tigard residents with a broad range of lived experience focused
on housing types to allow and prioritize, density ideals and accomplishing a mix of housing &
affordability),
A Technical Advisory Committee (comprised of different jurisdictional and agency partners like
Washington Co., King City and Clean Water Services, focused on housing issues, density considerations
and a housing mix approach) and,
A Housing Advisory Committee (15 housing professionals local to the area - developers, real estate
professionals and finance experts discussing housing feasibility challenges in developing the area
according to a concept plan and housing objectives that achieve the desired housing mix and density.).
The Community committee wants RT2.0 to include a wide variety of housing types and price ranges to meet
everyone’s needs. Development should balance preservation of natural resources with density in areas with
good vehicular access, shared green space, and be close to parks and within walking distance of commercial
areas.
Regulated affordable housing providers with the Technical committee would like to see less common
housing types in RT2.0, integrated with market-rate housing development. They strongly support transit
through the area, and a walkable community with a wide range of prices so households of all sizes and
incomes have an opportunity to live in RT2.0.
Housing professionals emphasized a need for surety in planning with clear development rules, streamlined
and efficient processes, strong incentives from the city, opportunities for design flexibility and the ability to
place density hubs around commercial areas, which is more financially feasible for them.
Mitigating risk, especially financial risk, is of utmost importance, especially for small-scale developers
approaching new housing types. The ability to get financing is also a concern when planning less common
housing types. Few developers build a range of housing types, favoring one style, produced efficiently. Sr.
Planner Gada described challenges and efforts to strike a balance between what the community wants and
what developers find economically feasible.
2
PLANNING COMMISSION Minutes – June 2, 2025
City of Tigard | 13125 SW Hall Blvd., Tigard, OR 97223 | 503-639-4171 | www.tigard-or.gov |
The team also conducted Focus Groups - connecting with 10 Spanish speaking participants who reside in
Tigard, and a second group with eight high school students involved with the Tigard Youth Advisory
Council and the Tigard High School Future Business Leaders group. Both groups discussed a broad range of
topics - transportation, parks, housing density and increasing needed housing. A third focus group is
planned for late June or early July that will connect with residents and staff of a local affordable housing
development in Tigard.
Sr. Planner Gada said staff submitted the draft housing plan to the Department of Land Conservation and
Development (DLCD) for a grant opportunity and was awarded funding that will help the city fund housing
work.
The next step will discuss the draft housing plan with City Council on June 10, 2025. The team will
continue gathering community feedback to refine and finalize the Housing Plan so we can begin drafting
code amendments and plans. The project continues to be on track for consideration of adoption in the fall
of 2026.
At the next Planning Commission Meeting on July 7, staff will provide a RT2.0 Transportation Plan Update.
Commissioner K7 asked what developers mean by “surety”. Sr. Planner Gada said it means they can enter
into preliminary agreements for development, purchase land, start drafting conceptual designs with a certain
understanding of what the rules mean to successfully deliver their project, even if it needs to shift along the
way to meet the rules.
Vice President Miranda said, “I’d like there to be stronger guidelines or a decision tree to guide the
commission on public benefit as I have perceived the process to have been very subjective previously.”
Asst. Director Warren replied that the development code is worded broadly (purposefully) in terms of what
could be offered as a public benefit because every development is unique, and a planned development is
typically of a scale that it's difficult to anticipate every public benefit that could arise. This gives discretion to
weigh the factors on the public benefit versus the flexibility that's being granted. Staff will work with the
Planning Commission to revisit plan development criteria in general to learn what the commission would
like to see.
V.P. Miranda also spoke to accessibility around incentivizing elevators to create more single level living.
Schuyler said the city doesn’t have a plan for this as elevators are generally considered for buildings with
three or more stories and it’s an expensive feature that wouldn’t pencil out for builders.
3
PLANNING COMMISSION Minutes – June 2, 2025
City of Tigard | 13125 SW Hall Blvd., Tigard, OR 97223 | 503-639-4171 | www.tigard-or.gov |
Commissioner Murphy asked what type of deliverable can the Commission expect with the finalized
housing plan? Sr. Planner Gada said it would be a document, which would be used to inform code and other
elements.
Commissioner Bowerman asked what kind of incentives developers look for in Tigard. Asst. Director
Warren said in the Vertical Housing Development Zone, they sought tax benefits or exemptions.
Depending on the developer, the ‘asks’ are different. Affordable housing developers want land banking
which involves the city setting aside land for them and releasing it through an RFP. They also want the city’s
continued policy of SDC exemptions and tax abatements for affordable housing. Building around a walkable
neighborhood is especially attractive with affordable housing because the high cost of owning a vehicle can
extend to affordable transportation. It doesn’t make sense to build affordable housing far from the jobs and
services that residents rely upon. Market Rate developers work in an area where they're not necessarily
concerned about incentives although they’re happy to take them where available. Regardless of the type of
developer, they want incentives to fit seamlessly within their process.
The subject of Land Trusts and their ability to build affordable housing came up. Proud Ground, the
community Land Trust doing most work in our area does some bespoke development of their own, but
after one project in Portland they stepped away – the work was too far outside of what they felt was their
core capacity.
Commissioner Brandt asked what the city considers a short-term rental time period in relation to ADUs
that receive an SDC exemption.
Schuyler said tenancy of 30 days or more, is considered a long-term rental and is treated differently than a
short-term rental. Not just under our code, but under state law, you are afforded certain rights and privileges
as a tenant. The prohibition on renting an accessory dwelling unit (that received an SDC exemption) as a
short-term rental is specifically because those exemptions were offered as an incentive to provide more
housing units for community members, not to support short-term visitor rentals.
Commissioner Sabbe expressed concern about the complete lack of ADA parking with construction of
new 2-story cottage clusters on Bonita. Schuyler understood her concern, but said the issue is stalled
between regulatory frameworks. The Americans with Disabilities Act enforces accessible spaces governed
by the state building code. The building code was written so that the number of required ADA spaces is
based on the number of required conventional spaces. When the state laws for minimum parking
requirements changed, it eliminated the trigger for requiring ADA spaces. We still can require them based
on the number of spaces that a developer proposes for some types of development, but not all.
Cottage clusters are a good example of this challenge. It will take state reform before we can act, because the
city can’t place standards in our building code that are more strict than the state's building code. Tigard,
along with other jurisdictions, notified the state about this issue and the Land Conservation and
Development Commission is aware it needs correcting, they just haven’t proposed anything yet.
There was a question about Tigard getting into the business of land banking. Schuyler replied the city has
no capacity to do land banking – land prices per acre are very expensive, especially with the development
potential surrounding RT2.0. The scale at which the city could participate is extremely limited because funds
are incredibly limited. To attempt it would require a public private partnership of some kind, or a generous
grant from someone like the Bloomberg Foundation.
4
PLANNING COMMISSION Minutes – June 2, 2025
City of Tigard | 13125 SW Hall Blvd., Tigard, OR 97223 | 503-639-4171 | www.tigard-or.gov |
Commissioner Brandt asked whether we have an MOU with TriMet for bus service in RT2.0. Sr. Planner
Gada and Schuyler said we've been working with TriMet since the concept plan, but they are not going to
commit to a service line expansion prior to development of the area. They want the ridership to be there
before they commit. They recently adopted a Forward Together service expansion plan that includes a route
that terminates and turns around at Mountainside High School, the doorstep of this community.
6. Tigard HOME Kick-off UPDATE
Assistant Director Schuyler Warren introduced Associate Planner Trin Miller who is leading Phase II of the
Tigard Housing Opportunity, Mobility and Enterprise (HOME) project. This is Trin’s first presentation to
the Commission; she came to us from Florida and joined the city team in December. We’re lucky to have
her!
The purpose of this project is to deliver policy and code amendment recommendations for Tigard’s
residential neighborhoods intended to encourage flourishing, self-contained communities where housing,
economic and entertainment options are easily accessible to a wide variety of mobilities - walking, biking,
and rolling.
Assoc. Planner Miller shared that the project was awarded a $95,000 grant from Metro to support the
Interactive Community Engagement Plan and to engage with persons traditionally not reached through long
range planning processes. This funding will augment the project’s robust public engagement plan.
Public engagement for long range planning projects in Tigard has consistently indicated that residents desire
more amenities within walking distance of their home, more freedom regarding how they use their home or
property, more straightforward processes for sharing goods/services they make with their neighbors, and
more attractive and safe pedestrian connections with access to commercial amenities, work or services.
Those connections will allow residential neighborhoods to carry some of our jobs burden by exploring ways
that commercial activity can appropriately fit on a neighborhood scale.
Following Council’s 2022 adoption of new Urban Livestock Regulations - built by staff and community
members in Phase I of the HOME project, staff began community outreach efforts for Phase II.
Amendments to planned districts such as the Tigard Triangle and Washington Square and mixed-use
districts are not included, although emergency needs could be addressed if deemed necessary.
Phase II of the HOME project is focused on economic activity within our residential zones.
We are currently developing an engagement plan utilizing multiple strategies to connect with the community.
Engagement will be the heart of the Tigard HOME project moving forward, with a push to meet
community members where they are, through community-based outreach. We want to reach out to
historically marginalized Tigard residents to talk about project specific issues and gain valuable input that
reflects the diversity of our community.
The success of the Tigard HOME project will rely on effective community engagement, grant funding from
Metro, and the city's committed funding to support creative engagement with Tigard community members
who typically do not have their voice heard.
The city has contracted two consultants to execute our engagement plan. Zen Associates was selected as the
Community Engagement Consultant for their engagement strategy and experience using communication
strategies to foster social change and empower historically marginalized communities. Their project team will
partner with up to six community-based organizations/leaders with established trust with our priority
5
PLANNING COMMISSION Minutes – June 2, 2025
City of Tigard | 13125 SW Hall Blvd., Tigard, OR 97223 | 503-639-4171 | www.tigard-or.gov |
audiences and collaborate with each group to design relevant activities aligned with their established
networks (focus groups, interviews, hands-on activities, etc.). The Zen Associates team will assist the
project team with conducting four, pop-up events in neighborhoods with high traffic locations where we'll
utilize incentives to attract participation and interactive displays with engaging visuals to help residents
envision the possibilities of introducing commercial activity at a neighborhood scale.
Our second consultant is First Forty Feet, who will serve as the Urban Design Storyteller. They’ll create
graphic visualizations of potential Tigard HOME solutions. Professional graphics significantly contribute to
a discussion of complex ideas and consensus building with our residents, even across language barriers.
To accomplish Tigard HOME goals, the community needs to be able to see potential solutions and how
they could work at a neighborhood appropriate scale.
Assoc. Planner Miller invited the Commission to the summer engagement series launch- a Community
Development Get Together on Wednesday, June 18, from 5 to 7 p.m. in Universal Plaza. We’ll reintroduce
HOME to the community and expect we’ll continue work throughout 2026. Phase II of HOME
engagement efforts will seek to build community trust and empower residents to talk about planning issues
and how planning connects to their lives. Gathering community feedback and ideas will help the team shape
proposed HOME zoning codes and create better neighborhoods for everyone.
Assoc. Planner Miller asked if there were any questions she could answer. Alt. Commissioner Sprague
shared her excitement for this project and the possibilities for connecting with neighbors. Commissioners
were looking forward to the addition and availability of community bakeries, convenience stores, goods and
services without parking lots. Something that builds a sense of community not found elsewhere in River
Terrace. The addition of a makerspace was suggested for residents without a shed or backyard space to do
small hobby carpentry or woodworking projects, whether it's refinishing furniture or building a bookshelf.
When asked about the tools Tigard HOME would use to effect change, are they similar to the Tigard
MADE project that embraced zoning and code changes? Trin replied that the set of deliverables for
HOME will likely be a set of recommendations for both policy and code amendments, but the team remains
very open to community input steering the ultimate direction of this project.
7. OTHER BUSINESS
Asst. Director of Community Development Warren mentioned a few updates:
The new City Manager Brent Stockwell. started today. Community Development will take him on a tour
tomorrow of notable places and projects for Community Development, including the Tigard Triangle,
downtown, River Terrace 1 and 2.0.
Schuyler provided a couple of Oregon Legislature updates – SB974 is coming for vote and could take
certain types of decisions away from planning commissions rather than providing guidelines on decisions
work program going forward. One provision would prevent cities from applying design standards to
any development of over 20 dwelling units, unless that development is an apartment. It would impact
the outcomes of River Terrace 2.0, where through the community planning process, the city will be
developing a set of design standards that are intended to improve the livability of the area.
The other big housing bill is the governor's marquee housing bill, HB2138. It's likely to come up for a
floor vote and although the city met early on with the Governor's office to provide some direction and
guidance to in crafting the bill, not all our requests were incorporated. Another change is the bill would
prohibit transportation impact analysis for housing developments.
6
PLANNING COMMISSION Minutes – June 2, 2025
City of Tigard | 13125 SW Hall Blvd., Tigard, OR 97223 | 503-639-4171 | www.tigard-or.gov |
One bill we support along with some other cities, is a change in state law that would allow expedited
land divisions. It would include the middle housing land divisions and allow consolidation of middle
housing with a subdivision making a more streamlined process.
8. MOTION FOR ADJOURNMENT
President Jackson received a motion to adjourn from Commissioner K7, seconded by Commissioner
Brandt. Commissioners voted unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:46 p.m.
Joanne Bengtson, Planning Commission Secretary
ATTEST: President Nathan C. Jackson
7