HomeMy WebLinkAboutfinal PC minutes 11-3-25_for PC agenda
MEETING DATE:November 3, 2025 - 7:00 p.m.
HYBRID MEETING IN-PERSON &MS TEAMS
CALL TO ORDER
President Jackson called the meeting to order at 7 p.m.
ROLL CALL
Present: President Jackson, Vice-President Miranda (remote),Commissioner Bowerman,Commissioner Brandt,Commissioner Sabbe, Commissioner Schuck, Alt. Commissioner Sprague.
Excused:.Commissioner Tiruvallur, Commissioner Choudhury
Absent: Commissioner Murphy
Council Liaison: Councilor Schlack, Council President Wolf (remote)
Staff Present: Assistant Director of Community Development Schuyler Warren, Senior Planner Brittany Gada, Senior Planner Agnes Lindor, Police Public Information Officer Kelsey Anderson,
Planning Commission Secretary Joanne Bengtson.
COMMUNICATIONS
President Jackson encouraged attendance at the November 4 Council meeting to support two new appointments to the Commission! He also thanked City Councilor Schlack, the Planning Commission’s
Council liaison who showed Planning Commission solidarity in August by bringing up the Oregon planning goal with SB 974 during the legislative session.
APPROVE DRAFT MINUTESfrom July 7, 2025
President Jackson asked for a motion to approveJuly 7, 2025,draft minutes with Sr. Planner Gada’s edits. Commissioner Brandt motioned to accept the minutes as amended, Commissioner Bowerman
provided a second, and the motion passed unanimously.
QUASI-JUDICIAL PUBLIC HEARING ANNEXATION - SANDER’S ANNEXATION - ZCA2025-00001Senior Planner Agnes Lindor
President Jackson described the hearing’s procedures. As a quasi-judicial hearing, he read required procedural statements and asked if any Commissioners wished to abstain or declare
a conflict of interest in this case. There were none. He asked if any members of the audience wished to challenge the commission for bias or conflict of interest; hearing none, he asked
if any Commissioners had ex parte contact to report or if any had visited the site of the proposal. Hearing nothing, he welcomed Sr. Planner Lindor to present her staff report.
Sr. Planner Lindor described the Sanders Annexation as a request to annex one property into the city to connect to city sewer. The property is generally located east of River Terrace
and is 0.46 acres in size. There's no other development proposed besides the connection to sewer. The staff report details how the proposed annexation meets all applicable approval criteria
in the city’s development code, comprehensive plan, Metro code and State statutes.
Staff is asking the Planning Commission to send a recommendation of approval to City Council for the approval of this annexation which is scheduled before City Council on December 2,
2025.
Questions:Commissioner Brandtasked if there would be a separate applicant presentation and Sr. Planner Lindor said no, and noted the applicant was present tonight.
With no further questions from the commission, President Jackson moved to public testimony, but none was offered so President Jackson closed the public portion of the hearing. He explained
that even though this is a quasi-judicial hearing, andthe commission would typically be the approval authority, but in this case the commission is providing a recommendation to the City
Council.
He asked each Commissioner for their thoughts on the case. Feedback from each Commissioner was positive in support of approval and there were no further questions.
Motion & Vote: President Jackson asked for a motion; Commissioner Schuck motioned for the Planning Commission to forward a recommendation of approval to the City Council for application
ZCA2025-00001 with adoption of the findings and conditions of approval contained in the staff report. Commissioner Brandt seconded the motion and when called to vote, President Jackson,Commissioners
Schuck, Brandt, Bowerman, Miranda, and Sabbe all voted ‘Yes’. The Commission’s recommendation for annexation will go to Council on December 2, 2025.
QUASI-JUDICIAL PUBLIC HEARING – LEGISLATIVE ANNEXATION -RIVER TERRACE 2.0 ANX2025-0001Community Development Assistant Director Schuyler Warren
President Jackson moved to the next hearing; a legislative annexation of the area collectively known as River Terrace 2.0. He noted the uniqueness of this case, but with the exact same
hearing procession so he didn’t repeat instructions. He welcomed Asst. Director Warren to present the staff report.
Asst. Director Warren stated that ANX2025-0001 is a legislative annexation representing nearly 500 acres of land. The city received a petition from property owners in this area to annex.
He noted that the land wasincluded in Tigard’s application to expand the urban growth boundary.In February 2023, Metro approved a land swapbetween Tigard and Clackamas County, trading
difficult to urbanize lands in Clackamas County for land outside Tigard city limits, but included in our concept plan.
Asst. Director Warren shared a map and stated the legislative nature of this case has broad policy implications beyond property-specific impacts, elevating it to governance with statutory
requirements.
The Oregon Revised Statutes (section ORS 222)provides specific standards and procedures that must be met, and Asst. Director Warren gave a brief history of Oregon’s annexations being
referred to voters for approval.
When the Legislature adopted certain procedures for annexations without a referral to voters, there were three pathways for those types of annexations under statute:
Island annexation- a process where a property(ies)surrounded by urbanized, incorporated land is annexed without reference to the voters.
Double Majority - allows annexation without a full city-wide election if the petition is signed by a majority of property owners and a majority of registered voters within the territory
proposed for annexation.
Triple Majority – this is the procedure required for ANX2025-0001. This path requires assent to annex from a majority of property owners in the area; those property owners must represent
a majority of the land area, and the land representsa majority of the assessed value according to the property tax assessor.
As detailed in the staff report, Tigard received petitions from owners of 29 of the 39 properties involved
representing 71.8% of the owners. Those owners represent a total of 407 of the 487 acres in River Terrace 2.0 or 83.6% of the land area, and the assessed value of the properties they
own is $94,000,000;roughly 85% of the total assessed value of $110,000,000. This meets all three majority requirements.
The city’s working on a Community Planthat will apply new zoning and development standards to this area and will include infrastructure plans anda financing strategy to support development
and growth. Until planning is complete, Washington County’s zoning and development standards will continue to apply.
Asst. Director Warren concluded his report with a request for the Planning Commission to recommend approval of the annexation to the City Council.
Questions:
President Jackson asked if there’s an idea about the costs the city could expect to see with development?
Asst. Director Warren said we try to use system development charges to get development to pay for the infrastructure it will utilize, but he couldn’t provide a firm number with so many
factors to consider. He said the concept plan containsrough order of magnitude estimates for infrastructure costs in this area - what the roads will cost, the publicly financed sanitary
system and water system costs but those figures are being refined through the RT2.0 community plan and will be used to set fees associated with development in this area.
Commissioner Bowerman noted the percentages of property owners supporting this annexation but asked what feedback the city received from the individuals that didn’t support the annexation?
Asst. Director Warren said we didn’t receive any public comments. The city sent over 900 notices; all the property owners and property owners within a certain distance surrounding the
entire area,which included folks in Beaverton. We received one question from a resident outside the property boundary who asked who would be involved in the annexation.
Commissioner Brandt asked about road development – will it be all at once or piecemeal? Is this going to be city roads or private roads.
Asst. Director Warren said it depends, but our development standards should be able to support both. most development aggregatesmultiple sites for a more efficient build-out of infrastructure.
We won't have any arterials within the area – Scholls Ferry, Beef Bend and Roy Rogers will serve the area, all are maintained by the county. Collectors, Neighborhood and Local streets
would all be maintained by the city. We’re mindful of when and where to allow private roads and alleys (also private). If the HOA that owns the private street isn’t active and dissolves,
the street falls into disrepair and homeowners come to the city for maintenance, unaware that it’s their responsibility. It sets up difficult conversations and sometimes the city ends
up taking on the road’s maintenance as a public street and applying our code to setbacks and easements.
Commissioner Bowermanasked for an estimate of the number of homes this annexation will support?
Asst. Director Warren said the concept plan shows between 3,000 – 4,500 home units but the unknown factor is how much land is protected by Title 13 and Goal 5 environmental protections.
With no one signed up to offer public testimony, President Jackson closed the public portion of the hearing and opened it for Commission deliberation. Commissioners provided their feedback
on the annexation:
Commissioner Brandt supports the controlled development.
Commissioner Bowerman said she’s in support of it, especially given the number of unitsprojected to be built and how that could help meet our housing needs.
Commissioner Sabbeagreed, she’s heard about this for months and has been present at public outreach events where we sought feedback.
Alt Commissioner Sprague said it looks good.
Vice President Miranda concurred with the group and said she appreciates all the information now and in the past. She said it’s nice to know there were no complaints.
President Jacksonsaid this is a big chunk of new housing and mused whether it will strain our existing services. Overall, he supports the annexation and asked for a motion.
Motion & Vote: Commissioner Schuck motionedfor the Planning Commission to forward a recommendation of approval to City Council of application ANX2025-0001 and adoptthe findings presented
by staff tonight andthe lack of objection from the public. Commissioner Bowerman seconded the motion.
President Jackson asked all those in favor of approving the motion to recommend approval to City Council of ANX2025-0001 say ‘Aye’. It was unanimous from those in attendance. With no
Commissioners opposed, the PlanningCommission will send a recommendation for approval of this annexation to City Council.
FACILITY BOND UPDATE Public Information Officer Kelsey Anderson, Tigard Police Dept.
PIO Anderson briefed the Commission about plans tobuild a consolidated facility that will be modern and safe for our city's first responders in the police and public works department.
The city will be asking the community to support a bond package on the May 2026 ballot.
PIO Anderson offered tours of current facilities and then shared photos of current conditions to illustrate some of the issues necessitating a new building:
Police staff have outgrown current space; “temporary” modular buildings behind the police buildinghave been in regular use since 1994to accommodate staffing, training space and evidence
storage.
Water is infiltrating the Police Records area; roof leaks above desks in the Police Records unit, require a tarp to capture the water and funnel it into a bucket.
Female officers use a cramped and aged locker room and at this timewe don't have available locker space for a new officer. Welacktraining spaceand pay to send officers to classes outside
of Tigard.
Evidence storage is limited; criminal case evidence isinleased,offsite storageto securely retain for a potential appeal.
The city’s streets crews work out of a utility building farther down Burnham St.and oftentimes hold morning staff check-ins outside because of lack of space. To accommodate space needs,
staff work out of nine scattered sites throughout the city.
When city facilities were built, Tigard’s population was 1/3of today’s figure. Today there are ADA access issues, security challenges and structural stability concerns for the future.
Studies of current facilitiespredict buildings will crumble in the event of a Cascadia-magnitude earthquake.The new facility will add security and stability for police staff, public
works staff and their expensive equipment, and Tigard’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) during a disaster.
If the bond is approved, the new facility would be built on a city-owned 9.5-acre site on Wall Street. Staff are undertaking due diligence to have a shovel-ready project if the bond
passes. PIO Anderson shared the project team names and estimated project costs of $150 million (including the land purchase, furniture, equipment and all development costs). Teams areconsidering
the merits of a 20-year or 30-year bond, and depending on the life of that bond, the average homeowner would pay an additional $8 - $15 per month.
Any bond the city goes out for will require accountability to taxpayers, including auditing and oversight from an independent committee to make sure money is spent as votersintended.
Support for the May 2026 bond will result in a facility that supports our work for decades to come and helps attract high-quality, diverse candidates to serve on our police department
and public works teams.
Questions?
Commissioner Bowermanasked how we’ll know whether to a 20- or 30-year bond will be pursued? PIO Anderson said City Council will likely refer the measure in February2026, and we’ll know
more about the optionselected.
RIVER TERRACE 2.0: UPDATE ON HOUSING, NATURAL RESOURCES, PARKS,
AND TRANSPORTATION
Senior Planner Brittany Gada
President Jackson called on Sr. Planner Gada to provide an update on River Terrace 2.0(RT2.0), this time on Natural Resources, Parks, and Housing.
Sr. Planner Gadapresented an update on three developmentscenarios in RT2.0 and asked for feedback from the Planning Commission on the draft Natural Resources, Parks and Housing approaches
created as a part of this project.
The materials in tonight’s meeting packet contain detailed outreach and study information, so Sr. Planner Gada began with the Natural Resources approach: RT2.0 is subject to Metro’s
Title 13 for natural resource protection. No other area in Tigard has been or is currently subject to these rules.
Staff have been working with consultants and Metro to design anapproach that maximizes flexibility and land for housing while complying with Title 13.
The intention is to balance comments from the community and developers. Residents have been clear: protecting natural resources is their priority.Developers are concerned about having
more land available for housing and more flexibility for the resources that must be protected and how they can comply with the rules.
Tigard’s unique approachdevelopsa natural resources inventory and categorizeshabitat areas. We protect
more land in high ecological value areas and less land in low ecological value areas. This approach preservesour highest quality natural resource areas and provides flexibility for development.
The first development pathway is the “clear and objective path”- development must meet numerical requirements for development, and the second development pathway is the “discretionary
path” which is more flexible and performance based. Developers have options for flexibility such as reducing or eliminating Tier 2 protections in exchange for more, higher quality Tier
1 areas.
The map (left) shows the Parks approach.
The draft parks system plan includes a variety of parks and trails across River Terrace 2.0, with three different locations studied for a possible community park. When development occurs,the
draft approach will require open space be set aside for public or private use,with incentives to support dedicated public park/open space.
The project team will discuss needs and funding implications for future community parks.
Overall, community parks require more resources than larger neighborhood parks.Sr. Planner Gada emphasized the need for better planning of parks and trails so operations and maintenance
in RT2.0 don’t impact existing park/open space resources.
Sr. Planner Gada moved to theHousing approach for Commission feedback. She recognized work done since the concept plan process finished in 2021 and the housing plan was completed for
the community plan project in June 2025. Since Covid, economic and societal shifts have changed community priorities. Public outreach consistently showsresidents’desire formore affordable
housing in an array of options and sizesto make home ownership possible for more people. For the first time, the State of Oregon will hold citiesaccountable for housing production by
income band according to the findings of theOregon Housing Needs Analysis.
Community and developer feedback has been incorporated into this refined housing approach and reflects the community’s top priorities ofaffordability, accessibility, and climate resilience
to ensure that needs are met.
Sr. Planner Gada shared a zoning map with three draft residential zone districts; red areas indicate commercial use, including an overlay area in hatched red where both commercial and
residential is allowed.
Minimum net density numbers shared in June were refined in some areas without compromising theaverage 20 units per net acre goal.
Sr. Planner Gada explained three development
scenarios created by the consultant team to test the feasibility of the housing and natural resources approaches and visualize neighborhood scale.Scenario 1: Clear & Objective Path:
meets minimum density by zoneScenario 2: Discretionary Path: reconfigures density across zones
Scenario 3: was added recently at the request of
a developer to study feasibility on a smaller
scale.
For Scenario 3, an 18.8-acre site was selected to study the implications of the housing natural resources approach if an existing, smaller-scale lot decided to develop. The site accommodated
22 units/acre by providing a combination of single detached homes, townhomes and apartments.
Based on the findings of all three development scenarios, the draft housing and natural resources approaches were found to be feasible without a significant departure from density or
scale seenin development of River Terrace orKingston Terrace.
Scenarios were created using property-specific information from real parcels in RT2.0 and lot size, building footprint, and building height information from recent nearby developments.
Undersupplied housing options have been refined from the Housing Plan based on the findings of housing needs analyses and community input.The proposed credit-based systemhas options
to maximize flexibility for developers whilesupporting needed housing features in neighborhoods.
Questions?
Alt. Commissioner Sprague said staff hasbeen creative and done an amazing job. She’s served on the RT2.0Community Advisory Committee, and she thinks we’re on the right track.
Commissioner Sabbesaid she appreciates the diversity in the housing options and parks and likes the accessibilityaccomodations.
Commissioner Bowerman said she loves the mix of housing options and praised teams for really listening to what the community wants. Although a challenge, it’s a nice complement to the
city.
Vice-President Mirandaasked if the three approaches are in conjunction or separate? Sr. Planner Gada said they’re all in conjunction with development.
Vice Pres. Miranda asked if there’s an option to have higher density at the edges of development closer to nature; she’s concerned that like River Terrace 1.0, density will be on the
main roads.Sr. Planner Gada said there’s still more time to work on plans; the team has completed just the first draft of the zoning map and we have another year before finalization.
President Jacksonnoted the three approaches (housing, parks, and natural resources) do notfollowing the zoning.
Housing does, but parks and natural resources will be treated with an overlay – a special set of rules for a geographic area. There are other mechanisms we can useto make sure we comply
with land use law, community needs, etc.
Commissioner Brandtsaid he too has been involved with RT2.0 outreach. He noted his preference for zero compromise on parks, sidewalk width, etc. if there aren’t concerted efforts to
accommodate e-bikes and transit. Adding 10,000 people with no transit is untenable. Beef Bend, River Terrace and Kingston Terrace MUST include public transit and walkability and urged
planners to advocate for future services before cars congest the area and remove any options we have to negotiate service.Sr. Planner Gada responded that the focus is on walkable neighborhoods
and proximity to services so residents can access services within the neighborhoodwithout driving. The team is working closely with TriMet, and they are aware of transit planning in
the area.
Commissioner Schuck- Thanked the team for the presentation. He said he works for a developer and in the six years he’s served on the Planning Commission, he realizes how difficult it
is for staff to get something passedwhile complying with all regulations – he also acknowledged the difficulties developers face in building within existing requirements. He asked why
RT2.0 doesn’t build along same guidelines as RT1.0? It was a good model, affordable for developers and with appropriate density. Sr. Planner Gada said the community found RT1.0- largely
unaffordable and excluded many from buying there. The City Council directive to staff was to plan for 20/units per acre, approximately five more units per acre than RT1.0. It’s not a
significant departure but adds more options for middle housing and housing affordability. To satisfy our housing policy and meet the Oregon Housing Needs Analysis, we’ll have to slightly
change the way we’ve planned for RT2.0.
President Jacksonobserved that based on the zoning map and the approach models, there’s a lot less mixed use. Why? Sr. Planner Gada said mixed use was removed but replaced with a commercial
options overlay to allow some commercial uses in more residential areas. In the overlay areas, even a home could be made into a commercial use provided they meet all the requirements.
OTHER BUSINESS:
Asst. Director Warren (Schuyler)reported that planning staff attended the Oregon APA conference in Bend and saw first-hand how the city is wrestling with the same urbanization challenges
that we are (workforce housing, developer feasibility, etc.)
He also attended the Urban Land Institute Housing Conference and the CEO of ECONorthwest gave opening remarks. His address was interesting and noted that housing itself is economic development.
Housing is the fundamental driver of Economic Development because you need housing to attract employers.
Community Development has hired a Housing Planner –Trinity Miller was the planner working on the Tigard HOME project. She’ll take the lead on our housing capacity analysis and housing
production strategy.
Tigard’s affordable housing plan from 2019 serves as a roadmap and has been used by other cities so our innovative housing policy is good.
Our new Associate Planner taking the lead on Tigard HOME is Amber Gomez. She was with the USDOT and then Troutdale and brings a lot of experience to the team.
In the new year staff will be back with more RT2.0 updates and in February 2026 the state begins a new legislative short session. We know it will be robust and certainly produce policy
that impacts land use and development. Schuyler will keep the commission up to date on rule making.
President Jackson asked about the Transportation bill – will the jurisdictionaltransferof Hall Blvd. still happen with stopgap funding? Schuyler said great streets program funding would
fund these jurisdictional transfers, but he will get more information from our Principal Transportation Planner, Tiffany Gerhke and share it with you
Commissioner Schuck said this could be his (and Commissioner Brandt’s) last meeting of 2025, as their terms expire. Commissioner Schuck thanked Tom McGuire, Doreen Laughlin, Joe Patton,
Joanne and Schuyler for their work, and thanked all the planning staff he’s worked with over the years.
Asst. Director Warren thanked both Commissioners for their service and said we’ll invite both commissioners to our first meeting in 2026 to share our farewell.
Commissioner Brandtshared his appreciation for working with Schuyler and thanks to his fellow commissioners. He told President Jackson he was stepping awayfrom the commission but not
going away and will keep watching their work. He said it’s been a wonderful opportunity to get to know staff.
MOTION FORADJOURNMENT
President Jackson received a motion to adjourn from Commissioner Schuck, 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