Approved Minutes - 2011-02-28City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission
Minutes of February 28, 2011 Page 1 of 12
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CITY OF LAKE OSWEGO
Planning Commission Minutes
February 28, 2011
1. CALL TO ORDER
Chair Jon Gustafson called the Planning Commission meeting of February 28, 2011, to
order at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall at 380 “A” Avenue, Lake
Oswego, Oregon.
2. ROLL CALL
Members present were Chair Jon Gustafson, Vice Chair Lynne Paretchan and
Commissioners Puja Bhutani, Julia Glisson, Russell Jones and Todd Prager.
Commissioner Jim Johnson was excused. Council Liaison Jeff Gudman and Councilor
Mary Olson were also present.
Staff present were Dennis Egner, Assistant Planning Director; Hamid Pishvaie,
Assistant Planning Director; Sidaro Sin, Senior Planner; Evan Boone, Deputy City
Attorney and Iris McCaleb, Administrative Support.
3. CITIZEN COMMENT
The Commissioners viewed a video about Comprehensive Plan processes and pitfalls
that Commissioner Jones had provided.
4. COUNCIL UPDATE
Councilor Gudman reported that the Council had voted 4:3 to spend an additional
$129,000 to examine Foothills/transit alternatives. Mr. Egner reported at its next
meeting the Council was going to meet with the Commission to hear the
Comprehensive Plan quarterly update and then the Council would discuss the Lake
Oswego-Portland Transit Project Draft Environmental Impact Statement.
5. WORK SESSIONS
5.1 Design Handbooks (PP 10-0017) - Update and Discussion on Residential Infill and
Lake Grove Village Center Handbooks
Mr. Egner introduced consultant, David Bernicker, David A. Bernicker Urban Design.
He explained that Mr. Bernicker’s team had been contracted to fashion the two
handbooks. He said the Infill handbook would illustrate the related code and the Lake
Grove Village Center Plan (LGVC) handbook would better define and illustrate desired
streetscape and building design character in Lake Grove. Staff hoped the project would
resolve conflicts between the stipulated architectural styles the LGVC Plan called for
and design standards. Commissioner Glisson recalled the LGVC Implementation
Advisory Committee (Committee) had anticipated that a public process would be used
to identify appropriate design themes and architectural elements. She said they wanted
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to keep Lake Grove’s current eclectic mix of styles. She observed the list of allowed
architectural styles was very limited and there might be some additional styles that
would be appropriate and fit the code better. Mr. Egner and Mr. Bernicker planned to
work with former Committee members and other stakeholders to identify the key
elements that defined the allowed architectural styles. They said the design guidelines
would be illustrated in the handbook. They planned to use the book, “Ten Essentials for
Northeast Housing” as a model for the Lake Oswego Infill handbook.
Commissioner Glisson observed that sometimes a house had too many different
materials on it. She recalled seeing structures that had out-of-proportion columns or
supports. Mr. Egner invited the Commissioners to take an infill tour to view problematic
examples of infill design. Commissioner Bhutani suggested the scope of the project be
expanded to provide more guidance to the Residential Infill Design (RID) process, but
Vice Chair Paretchan suggested the current scope would determine what was good
design and the result could be used to inform the RID process. Commissioner Bhutani
advised the consultants to focus on less tangible aspects like form, proportion and
massing because they were some of the most challenging aspects of design to enforce
via code. She suggested they also look at what architectural features in a
neighborhood helped unify it.
Commissioner Glisson said that she had served on the LGVC Advisory Committee.
She agreed with Mr. Bernicker that form and mass were critical in the Village Center.
She was not sure the community understood the full ramifications of requirements such
as the one that required a building to be stepped back. She recalled the Committee did
not want a “cookie cutter” code that would require every building to look the same.
Mr. Bernicker suggested the easiest place to start was to look at how the form and
massing felt from the street and after the form and mass of the structure was right more
creativity of design could be allowed. Commissioner Glisson recalled the LGVC code
contained a very specific list of allowed materials and styles. Chair Gustafson asked to
see examples of the handbook models, so the Commissioners could get an idea of the
framework. Commissioner Bhutani observed the LGVC Plan already provided a good
framework to guide the urban design process when it talked about things like the String
of Pearls concept, village character, diverse architectural styles, preserving natural
elements, pedestrian scale, sustainability, connectivity, and parking behind the
buildings. Mr. Bernicker said the project would seek to better understand that
framework and identify elements that supported it.
Commissioner Glisson recalled the Committee agreed on the String of Pearls concept,
that it would make the linear-shaped district feel “linked” and that during events people
could meander through the pearls from one end to the other. She said the Committee
anticipated a public process would be used to create a logo and identify the gateways.
Commissioner Bhutani stressed the theme was very important to work out because it
would bring the district together. Mr. Egner saw “theme” as consistent elements that
linked the district. Commissioner Bhutani suggested the consultants identify a theme
for the streetscape as well as an architectural theme. Mr. Egner saw the Boones Ferry
Road median as a green “spine” and a key element. He indicated that an advisory
committee was currently examining the Boones Ferry Refinement Plan. Mr. Bernicker
said he would start work by getting a better understanding of the framework.
Commissioner Glisson encouraged him to get input from stakeholder groups - including
the Committee - first. Mr. Bernicker clarified he did not have a landscape architect on
his team, but they were not creating a plan for exactly where individual trees would be
planted. He said it would be more about what set of tree types would work for a specific
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area. Mr. Egner indicated he would arrange for Mr. Bernicker’s team to work with the
landscape architecture firm helping with the Boones Ferry Refinement Plan.
5.2 Comprehensive Plan Update (PP 10-0007) General Updates on the Vision Statement
and Goals 9 and 10.
During this discussion the Commissioners heard an update from Senior Planner, Sidaro
Sin; heard from two Councilors who had objected to the current version of the draft
Vision Statement; identified an issue related to housing capacity; and raised the issue
of the level of Planning Commission involvement in the Comprehensive Plan update
and visioning processes.
Mr. Sin briefed the Commission ahead of the upcoming joint meeting with the Council.
He observed the Comprehensive Plan update was in the early stage of a three-year
process. He reported that so far outreach meetings and activities had reached 1,500
persons and that 1,300 of them had become directly involved in developing the current
draft Vision Statement, which was intended to guide the update to the plan. He
indicated there were to be more public workshops. Mr. Sin said that on February 15 a
4:3 nod of heads from the Council indicated that the draft vision was moving in the right
direction. He said the dissenting Councilors had made some recommendations that
were going to be considered by the Citizens’ Advisory Committee (CAC) on March 10.
Chair Gustafson asked what the dissenting Councilors’ concerns were. Councilor
Olson related that more than three of them thought the draft Vision Statement was too
long and wordy and the validation survey results showed a relatively low support rating
for the statement that indicated the City would manage growth by providing the
opportunity for a variety of attractive and compatible housing. She said the dissenting
Councilors suggested it simply say the City would provide the opportunity for housing.
Councilor Gudman explained that he considered the draft vision too expansive. He
reasoned that “if you are for everything, then you are for nothing.” He indicated he
believed the update could be accomplished more expeditiously, using much less staff
time and fewer dollars. He observed that a great deal of effort was unnecessarily
expended on a discussion of employment and that applying Metro’s standard of 400 sq.
ft. per office worker to the half million sq. ft. of unrented space along Kruse Way
showed the City was close to hitting its target for jobs between now and 2035. He
indicated he objected to the City allowing Metro to decide what the number of
households should be.
Chair Gustafson asked Mr. Sin what he anticipated the difference would be between the
current and new Comprehensive Plans. Mr. Sin explained that the current Plan was
pretty good, but it was 17 years old, and the State required the City to look at it
periodically to ensure it was consistent with regional and state requirements. He said
the City had already incorporated Metro’s 2040 design types into the Plan; the text
called for high density development; and Transportation System Plan policies called for
a range and diversity of transportation choices. He indicated that the update was
intended to refine the Comprehensive Plan to reflect what the community wanted to be
in the next 25 years.
Commissioner Jones recalled the City had been found to be in compliance with the
regional density target of 10 dwelling units per acre in 1984 (when the first
Comprehensive Plan was adopted) and again in 1995. As far as he knew it was still
compliant. He questioned the need to increase density. Mr. Sin explained that the City
was required to review compliance with the State’s Metropolitan Housing Rule during
periodic review. He said the City had to demonstrate it provided the opportunity for a
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50/50 mix of attached/detached single family dwellings and the opportunity for an
average of 10 dwelling units per net buildable acre. He said the Housing Rule also
required the City to make those opportunities available under clear and objective
standards (not a subjective decision contingent on compatibility, for example).
Mr. Sin said that staff had done some preliminary work compiling the Buildable Lands
Inventory. They found that all the residential zones provided an opportunity for
attached single family dwellings. They also found the City had a capacity deficit of
about 4,000 dwelling units. He said based on the preliminary work, the City would need
to provide approximately 6,100 dwelling units to comply with the 10 du/nba average
requirement (616 vacant buildable acres x 10 dwelling units per net buildable acre). He
said that under clear and objective standards the City could only accommodate
approximately 2,100 units. Vice Chair Paretchan and Commissioner Jones questioned
that conclusion. Commissioner Jones observed that if all the small bits of developable
acres on the map were developed to high density that would not be compatible. He
was concerned that to use secondary dwelling units to meet density requirements
would result in changing low and medium density zoned areas of single family houses
into duplexes. He suggested the City take a step back and solicit citizen input about
that. Chair Gustafson and Commissioner Glisson served on the Goals 9 and 10 Work
Group. Commissioner Glisson reported the City had an alternative to filling in all those
little areas on the map. She said it could satisfy the Metropolitan Housing Rule
requirements by planning higher density in corridors. She reported that the Work Group
had learned the City was not currently compliant, that it had an average of 5.5 dwelling
units per acre and it needed to get to 10.
Commissioner Jones asked what had happened in the intervening years that reduced
capacity. Mr. Sin explained that underbuilding had occurred that placed fewer dwelling
units on parcels that could have had more units. Mr. Sin used the example of when two
houses were built on land that could have had four houses on it, the land lost half its
capacity. Mr. Egner suggested the loss of capacity might be partially due to a change
in the methodology used to measure capacity. Staff was not clear on what
methodology had been used to do the 1994 analysis. Mr. Sin said the result of the
current methodology was five units per acre, which was too low to meet the housing
rule and staff was looking for strategies for compliance. He said the analysis did not
count the potential for multifamily housing in commercial districts which could result in a
higher capacity if it were included. He indicated that rezoning Foothills to residential
would help as well.
Mr. Sin clarified for Commissioner Jones that the City had some concerns with a 2009
Metro forecast, but Metro was currently in the process of updating the forecast and City
staff was involved in that process. He said the results would come out in December
and those would be the numbers that the City would be required to “coordinate” with
Metro, as required under Goal 14 (Urbanization). He explained that Metro used its
forecast to determine if it could maintain the current urban growth boundary and it was
based on current zoning. He said Lake Oswego had contracted with its own economist
who had forecast that Lake Oswego would have a population of 51,000 in 2035. He
could not recall the projected number of dwelling units. He said the Goals 9 and 10
Work Group had reviewed that forecast and found it was reasonable, but it still showed
the City did not meet the State’s Housing Rule. He clarified that Metro did not require
up-zoning, but the City might have to do that to meet the State’s Housing Rule, which
required it to show how it would accommodate growth over the next 20 years. Mr. Sin
advised that one of the requirements of periodic review was to coordinate efforts of the
City and Metro regarding dwelling units.
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Commissioner Bhutani disclosed that she had been providing advisory services through
Team Oregon, which consisted of Cogan Owens Cogan and Sera Architects. She
explained that Cogan Owens Cogan were consultants on the City’s Comprehensive
Plan update. She clarified that no money was exchanged in her advisory role with
Team Oregon and Mr. Boone had advised her it would not be a conflict. She asked if it
were up to each municipality to negotiate with Metro after Metro estimated capacity
within the UGB and then told each municipality what its share was. Mr. Egner
confirmed there was a negotiation process, but in the end Metro might just assign the
numbers based on its modeling of what the City’s growth capacity was. He said the
City’s own capacity analysis might be different than Metro’s and the City only had to
meet its own number as long it did not reduce density. He indicated that it could move
forward using its own assumptions and that Metro no longer set a target density that
each city had to meet. He said Metro now simply applied a “no net loss” provision, that
the City could not reduce overall density, but it could shift it around.
Commissioner Bhutani observed a need to make the calculation of needed dwelling
units more realistic if existing zones were not going to develop to maximum capacity.
Mr. Egner observed that over time they properties may redevelop at higher density, but
the City only needed to show it was not reducing current capacity. Vice Chair
Paretchan observed that a 50% decrease in capacity since 1994 was huge and she did
not want to see 6,000 units added to the City. She asked if staff proposed they all be
jammed into Foothills. Mr. Egner clarified they did not propose to put them all into
Foothills and he acknowledged that 50% seemed like a lot, but he stressed the current
process was a very logical one, that it looked at vacant lands and partially vacant lands
and what they were planned for and found the average density was around 5 units per
acre. Mr. Egner said that he did not know what methodology had been used in 1994
and that staff would have to research those documents, if they were still in the archives.
Vice Chair Paretchan suggested another approach might be to state that everyone had
agreed in 1994 that the City could accommodate 10 units per acre and use that as a
starting point, then add or subtract units based on what had happened since then. Mr.
Egner indicated that was one method to show the City’s capacity.
Mr. Sin clarified that the purpose of the upcoming joint City Council/Planning
Commission meeting was ongoing review of and dialogue about the Comprehensive
Plan update process. Vice Chair Paretchan indicated she did not believe the
Commission was being adequately informed and involved in the process and that it was
not enough to have representatives serving on the Work Group. She observed the
Commissioners had not even been provided with a copy of the newest draft Vision
Statement, that the Planning Commission was overlooked. She indicated that if that
was what the Council wanted she would accept it, but she did not agree with it. She
said the Commission should be made aware of the issues. Commissioner Jones
agreed the Commission was kept out of the loop. Commissioner Bhutani agreed the
Commission should be more plugged into the process. She indicated that except for
one meeting in which they discussed the vision, she did not feel informed about what
was going on. She had prepared comments about the draft Vision Statement and
wanted to know how they could be conveyed.
Chair Gustafson recalled the Commission had discussed its role early in the process.
He recalled the Goals 9 and 10 Work Group had been provided with a lot of material
about housing density. He confirmed that analysis said the City was below what the
Metropolitan Housing Rule required. He sensed it was a realistic analysis and the City
was looking more realistically at what its real capacity was. He asked what level of
detail the Commission wanted to dig into. Vice Chair Paretchan suggested that unless
the Council agreed the Commission should not be involved in the process or receive
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much feedback, staff should reevaluate how it involved the Commission. She said the
Commissioners were a team of very capable and interested individuals who were just
working on minor code changes while an important planning process was going on and
now they were hearing that half the City’s housing capacity had been lost since 1994.
Chair Gustafson noted the CAC had already been formed and it might be too late to
raise the issue. Mr. Sin confirmed that staff could look for ways to involve the
Commission. He suggested the Commission indicate where it had the greatest interest
and what things staff should bring back to it.
Chair Gustafson indicated he felt involved enough serving on the Goals 9 and 10 Work
Group. He polled the other Commissioners. Vice Chair Paretchan wanted the
Commission to be more involved in hearing the assumptions and analyses that had
been made and providing direction. She said staff should ask the Commission for
direction and she did not want the Commission to just “rubber stamp” the
Comprehensive Plan when it finally came to the Commission. She noted the Council
had already reviewed the Vision Statement. She was not sure the Commissioners even
had the most recent version of the statement. Commissioner Glisson wondered why
the housing density issue had surfaced at the Commission level and not at the Work
Group level, where staff provided a lot of detailed material and discussion outlines. She
saw a need to find a way to identify hot button issues and bring them to the
Commission or Council. She indicated the Commission should not have to go through
all the detailed material.
Vice Chair Paretchan observed the Commissioners had not been aware of the decision
points or underlying assumptions for decisions being made and that no one had asked
them to validate them. Commissioner Glisson wanted to know how they could look at
bigger hot button issues and assumptions. Mr. Sin recalled staff had provided the
Commissioners with the draft HNA and EOA to review and discuss last October.
Commissioner Jones observed that transportation, zoning and land use matters were
within the purview of the Planning Commission and he felt it had been kept out of the
loop. He indicated it had no input and would just have to rubber stamp the
Comprehensive Plan after the fact. He said the Commission needed to be able to
provide input on important issues.
Commissioner Glisson asked if the Commissioners wanted to plan a future meeting to
look at assumptions and go back and read the documents Mr. Sin referred to in order to
refresh their memories and see if there were any other significant issues. Mr. Sin
advised it was not too late to do that and he would ask the CAC and Work Group what
issues would be important to the Planning Commission. Commissioner Glisson and
Vice Chair Paretchan agreed the Commission did not need to get into all the detailed
materials. They just wanted to know what assumptions had been accepted.
Commissioner Bhutani agreed the Commission needed to have more input into the
findings and assumptions of the work groups. Commissioner Glisson suggested staff
make the meeting notes or minutes of the work group available to the Commission.
Chair Gustafson agreed that would be helpful. Commissioner Bhutani and Vice Chair
Paretchan asked staff to highlight and group the hot buttons and assumptions. Chair
Gustafson suggested the Planning Commission could schedule a monthly look at the
progress of the Comprehensive Plan update process.
When asked, Mr. Sin related that a technical advisory committee (TAC) composed of
staff and representatives of the Department of Land Conservation and Development
(DLCD), Metro and Clackamas County staff, reviewed materials prior to taking them to
the Goals 9 and 10 Work Group. He said the TAC did not advise the CAC or the Work
Group. He could not recall whether the capacity issue had come up at TAC. Mr. Egner
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Minutes of February 28, 2011 Page 7 of 12
recalled the consultant had presented it to the Work Group, but had not highlighted it as
an issue. Commissioner Glisson indicated she did not recall any Work Group
discussion about losing capacity. Mr. Sin recalled it had been in the October staff
memorandum. Commissioner Glisson saw this as a good example of what the
Commission needed input on and wanted to understand, that it was important to the
community.
Mr. Egner reported that staff had not yet developed alternatives to address the housing
density issue. He agreed they needed to research what happened between 1994 and
2010 that would have resulted in a 50% loss of capacity. Commissioner Paretchan
suggested just starting with the fact that the City was in compliance in 1994.
Commissioner Jones recalled the City was in compliance in 1984 with 10.2 or 10.3
housing units per acre and again in 1995. Commissioner Bhutani reasoned it was
important to identify the reason why there was a change so the City could address the
difference in results. She said then it could decide whether to challenge the number or
go forward with it. Commissioner Paretchan suggested the City might need to change
methodology. Commissioner Glisson wanted to find out why there was such a big
change in order to remove uncertainty regarding how to move forward.
Commissioner Prager wanted to define the Planning Commission’s role in the process
so he could prepare to provide valuable input at the upcoming joint meeting with the
City Council. He did not want to get down to the level of detail of the Work Group. He
recalled he had offered comments on the vision but had been told that was a matter for
the CAC to work on. He indicated that if that was the case, he did not have a problem
with it, that he did not want to duplicate the work of other entities. He suggested asking
staff to return with a recommendation about the role of the Commission and how to best
use their time. Commissioner Bhutani had provided written comments about the
version of the draft vision she found on the City website. Chair Gustafson asked staff
what the best forum for feedback on the vision would be. Mr. Sin suggested the
Commission schedule a work session to consider each Commissioner’s comments and
then consolidate and forward them to the CAC. He said he would present them to the
CAC on March 10 at the same time the CAC looked at the Council feedback. Vice
Chair Paretchan wanted to know if the Commissioners had the most recent version of
the vision. Mr. Sin confirmed it was the version that participants at the January 6 work
shop had discussed. He clarified that the Council would not adopt a Vision Statement
until the Comprehensive Plan was ready to be adopted. They had recently just
indicated it was moving in the right direction.
Chair Gustafson asked staff to recommend a process to get the Commission more
involved in the Comprehensive Plan update process. He anticipated the
Commissioners would discuss the issues with the Council at their joint meeting the
following week. Staff recommended the Commissioners examine the validation survey
and explained that it was a telephone survey that statistically validated the larger
survey. Staff explained that the consultants called 300 people randomly, and asked
that they rank each aspect of the draft Vision Statement. The consultant then reported
it statistically validated support for the Vision Statement. The Commissioners planned
to discuss the draft Vision and their involvement in the Comprehensive Plan update
process at the next meeting.
City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission
Minutes of February 28, 2011 Page 8 of 12
6. PUBLIC HEARING
LU 08-0052 (Ordinance 2525) – Community Development Code –General
Housekeeping and Minor Policy Amendments. Amendments (Chapter 50) for the
purpose of clarifying, correcting, formatting, updating sections and discussing minor
policy changes. Final review of previously discussed items, Ordinance 2525,
Attachment B (dated August 8, 2008), Package B (pages 233-274). This hearing was
continued from January 24, 2011.
Chair Gustafson opened the hearing and reported that Commissioner Bhutani had
recused herself and left the meeting. The Commissioners discussed an aspect of
Package A before they continued with Package B.
Package A
Section 50.22.015 General Exceptions to Structure Height Limitations
Mr. Pishvaie had not been present at the last meeting when the Commissioners
discussed the proposed change to this section. He indicated the proposed change was
intended to codify the existing practice of not applying the building height calculation to
the portion of a building which consists of HVAC housing. He explained it would codify
the way staff, the Development Review Commission (DRC) and the City Council (in
cases of appeal) had interpreted this section of the code for 25 years. He explained not
accepting the proposed language would keep the existing code, but now that staff was
aware that the Commissioners’ felt that HVAC equipment should be counted in building
height they might have to tell potential applicants that there had been a significant
change in how the City interpreted the code which could potentially affect the number of
stories in a building. Mr. Pishvaie indicated that buildings like the ones that had been
approved along Kruse Way and Meadows (that typically had 1-foot tall HVAC
structures) would likely have to lose a story. Mr. Boone advised that the Commission
could ask for a formal interpretation or ask for language that would specifically exclude
HVAC structures from the exemption. He observed it was not just a matter of putting
staff in a quandary whether to keep the historic interpretation or change it to reflect
Commission input, but it could result in more appeals to the DRC and the City Council.
Vice Chair Paretchan recalled the Commissioners had previously discussed the issue
thoroughly and voted. Regardless of previous practice, the Commissioners specified
they did not want HVAC structures to be above the height limit. She clarified she
objected to allowing HVAC structures with no limit as long as they were screened, but
she could agree to set a height limit for them. She indicated she was concerned their
height would be disproportionate to the height of the building itself. Mr. Pishvaie
advised the buildings were also subject to the design review process, which considered
proportionality, scale and form. He clarified that all new buildings and substantial
remodeling of existing buildings were subject to design review. He indicated that staff
had been allowed to make decisions on some of these applications because they were
considered minor development, but the majority of the time staff forwarded the
applications to the DRC for discretionary review. He said that some of the examples of
those applications were along Kruse Way and Meadows Road. Vice Chair Paretchan
anticipated the change in interpretation would be applied to new buildings, not existing
buildings. She recalled the Commissioners had observed that buildings did not
necessarily have to lose a story. The equipment could be put in little indentations in the
building. It did not have to take up an entire floor. Mr. Pishvaie advised a change in
interpretation would have great ramifications for a big project and proper notice was
necessary, otherwise affected parties would assume the long-standing interpretation
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Minutes of February 28, 2011 Page 9 of 12
that exempted HVAC units from the height limit would stand. Mr. Pishvaie and Mr.
Boone advised the Commission to deal with the issue at another time and outside of the
LU 08-0052 process.
Chair Gustafson observed the City had been using the current interpretation for over 20
years. Vice Chair Paretchan recalled seeing examples of ugly buildings with HVAC on
top that were not balanced or adequately screened. She acknowledged some might
have been built before screening was required. Commissioner Glisson suggested if the
issue was that there was no limit on HVAC height, a height limit might resolve it. Mr.
Boone observed the provision also addressed belfries, domes and monuments, not just
HVAC. Vice Chair Paretchan confirmed it was the unlimited aspect that was disturbing.
It was like adding an extra floor. She questioned whether Kruse Way area buildings
were built to maximum height. She observed the old Oregon State Bar building was
short. Mr. Pishvaie related that was the exception and he did not know why, he
observed that applicants typically asked for maximum height. He indicated that as an
example, the Kruse Woods Five applicant initially wanted a 12 story building, but the
City and the neighborhood did not support that and it was built with 8 stories. Chair
Gustafson recalled the full roster of Commissioners had not been present at the last
meeting when the Commission considered the provision. Commissioner Glisson then
indicated she could agree to not change the existing code that had been in place for 20
years until the Commission took a look at height limits. She said perhaps there were
specific zones where a height limit should be applied. Staff agreed to draft code for the
Commission to consider.
Package B
Special District Limitations – Auto Service Stations: “Auto fueling devices”
Mr. Boone clarified for Commissioner Jones that LGVC planners anticipated that in the
future cars might be fueled by alternative sources and so instead of gasoline pumps
they used the term “auto fueling devices.”
Article 50.11 Commercial Zones, Section 50.11.010 Uses
6. Services – Business; Z. Pet Care, Daily
Daily Pet Care was entirely prohibited in the Office Campus (OC) and Campus
Research and Development (CR&D) zones. Since the Commissioners last discussed
this section, staff had changed it so it prohibited Daily Pet Care - Partially Conducted
Outside Building in the East End Commercial (EC) and Highway Commercial (HC)
zones too. Vice Chair Paretchan questioned not allowing Daily Pet Care as a
conditional use in the CR&D along Kruse Way, a huge employment area where many
workers might want to visit their dogs at lunch time and take them for a walk. Staff
indicated that the DRC could condition its impacts, but if it were partially conducted
outside the applicant would have to mitigate noise. Commissioner Glisson observed
that different people had differing levels of tolerance for impacts just outside their office
window. She observed a consensus to allow Daily Pet Care as conditional use in the
OC and CR&D zones if it were conducted completely within the building. When staff
asked if the Commissioners wanted to change the proposed prohibition on partially
outside pet care Chair Gustafson observed they were not inclined to do that.
9. Services – Medical & Health; B. Clinic, outpatient and medical office
Mr. Boone explained the proposed change would allow medical offices where
professional offices were allowed. Vice Chair Paretchan and Commissioner Glisson
each indicated they could agree to it.
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Minutes of February 28, 2011 Page 10 of 12
10. Services – Professional Offices
The existing code section listed multiple types of professional office uses. Staff
proposed to consolidate them and permit them in the Neighborhood Commercial (NC),
General Commercial (GC), HC, OC, EC, CR&D and Mixed Commerce (MC) zones.
Commissioner Glisson and Vice Chair Paretchan were concerned that some Artist
Studios and Jewelry Shops generated impacts like noise and fumes that would bother
neighbors and might not belong in this category. When asked, Mr. Egner indicated a
Jewelry Shop was categorized as Retail - General Merchandise, but perhaps a jewelry
repair business could be classified as M. Equipment service & repair places under 6.
Services – Businesses. Commissioner Glisson did not consider an artist’s studio a
professional office. Vice Chair Paretchan saw a need to recognize that artist studios
were different than Professional Office use and should not be a permitted use in all
those zones. She asked staff to note this topic as one the Commissioners could
discuss at a future time. She suggested for the time being that B. Artist studios should
continue to be a separately listed use under Professional Offices. Commissioner Jones
agreed the Commissioners needed to look at different kinds of artists. He contrasted
digital photography with noisy, dirty, outdoor metal sculpture.
11. Services – Amusement; A. Art galleries, B. Arcade gaming (video, pinball, etc.) for
amusement purposes, D. Fitness, exercise, and sports facilities [including billiard
and pool parlors]
Staff explained that in the current code B. was “Billiard and pool parlors.” Staff
proposed to allow Arcade gaming in specific zones based on whether they had more or
less than 2,000 sq. ft. floor area. When asked if there were any game arcades in the
City, Mr. Boone advised there used to be one and another one had been proposed as
part of the Nature’s store use. Vice Chair Paretchan questioned why staff would
prohibit them in so many zones instead of making them conditional uses.
Commissioner Glisson questioned why even small game arcades or billiard/pool parlors
should be allowed in the NC zone. She questioned whether Westlake would want a
billiards parlor in the small commercial center in the middle of their neighborhood and
whether arcade gaming should be allowed on the edges of the Lake Grove Village
Center (LGVC) that abutted residential use. Mr. Egner indicated there were other little
NC areas scattered around the City. Mr. Pishvaie clarified that the Westlake area was
zoned R-5 and was part of the Westlake Planned Unit Development (PUD), which
specifically listed what uses were allowed there. He could not recall if it allowed
billiards. Chair Gustafson and Vice Chair Paretchan explained they saw the use as a
neighborhood amenity – a place in the neighborhood where residents could go to play
games and have fun. Vice Chair Paretchan saw it as a way to build community. When
asked if the proposed code would allow lottery gaming and video gambling, Mr. Boone
said it would probably allow the primary use to have a lottery machine as an accessory
use. He pointed out the language specified, “Arcade gaming…for amusement
purposes” which would not allow things like video poker. Vice Chair Paretchan
suggested allowing the use in more zones that it could help build community in office
campus areas too. Commissioner Glisson then indicated she would accept the change
as proposed. She did not want to open up the other zones.
Commissioner Prager reasoned that if Art galleries were allowed as conditional use,
Arcade gaming should also be allowed as conditional use. When Vice Chair Paretchan
questioned the need to categorize Art galleries as conditional use in the NC, Mr. Boone
said the scope of the hearing notice did not cover changing it to permitted use. Vice
Chair Paretchan asked staff to put that on the list of things the Commissioners would
come back to look at later on. Commissioner Glisson said she would not want to see
her child ride his bike through an office area to get to the arcade gaming place. She
City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission
Minutes of February 28, 2011 Page 11 of 12
feared they would become attractive nuisances. Chair Gustafson indicated he
accepted what staff proposed. He did not believe Lake Oswego had a pool/billiard
parlor/arcade gaming site problem and to allow them would cause not harm. Vice Chair
Paretchan agreed. Commissioner Jones said it did not bother him. Commissioner
Glisson agreed to leave the change as proposed. Commissioner Prager confirmed that
he favored the proposal to allow Arcade gaming under 2,000 sq. ft. in the NC as
conditional use. Vice Chair Paretchan still questioned why the uses (even small ones)
were entirely prohibited in the HC, OC, CR&D and MC zones and not allowed as
conditional uses. Chair Gustafson observed there were still other zones in town where
they could be. Commissioner Glisson suggested they should be “where the people are”
and that if the use was in an area of office buildings, it would be in the midst of a “dead
spaces” at night. Vice Chair Paretchan clarified she was suggesting allowing them as
daytime use and the conditional use process could set appropriate operating hours.
Commissioner Prager said that if Art galleries were conditional use in the NC, the other
uses should be too. Chair Gustafson favored leaving it as proposed by staff. Vice
Chair Paretchan favored moving them from the “prohibited” column to the Conditional
Use column no matter what size and an applicant would have to make the case why
conditional use was compatible. She clarified for Commissioner Jones and Chair
Gustafson that she would not make any distinction between under and over 2,000 sq.
ft., that it did not matter because staff had advised they just chose an arbitrary number.
Mr. Boone cautioned that the conditional use process might not be able to condition the
operating hours of Arcade gaming if the surrounding uses were all closed at night.
Under the applicable criteria, uses could only be limited if operation would adversely
impact the surrounding neighborhood. Vice Chair Paretchan still supported making it
conditional use. Commissioner Glisson agreed because she did not anticipate a
rational person would open one in an area of office buildings. Commissioner Jones
agreed to what staff proposed. Chair Gustafson observed three Commissioners were
in favor of the staff proposal. Commissioner Prager opted not to go on the record with
an opinion.
16. Light Manufacturing and 17. Manufacturing
Light Manufacturing was a subset of Manufacturing. Staff proposed changes were
intended to remove the impression that Manufacturing was the same as Light
Manufacturing. Staff explained that they had eliminated Manufacturing use in non-
industrial zones and that Light Manufacturing was already allowed in the CR&D and
would become a conditional use in the GC zone. Staff indicated it would be prohibited
in the NC, HC, OC, EC and MC zones and it had to be conducted within an enclosed
building in order to reduce the external impacts of the activity. Vice Chair Paretchan
suggested allowing Light Manufacturing as conditional use in all of the commercial
zones except NC. She reasoned that if the City was trying to encourage people to do
innovative things and prohibiting Light Manufacturing in those zones made that very
hard. Mr. Pishvaie accepted making Light Manufacturing a conditional use in the HC
and MC zones, because they were similar to the CR&D, but he suggested not allowing
it in the EC zone (Downtown). Chair Gustafson agreed to that.
Mr. Boone agreed to move to the Definitions section of the code the list of potential
impactful things (like smoke and noise) that were to be kept inside the building that
were listed under Light Manufacturing, Processing or Assembly of Product. Mr. Boone
indicated he was going to reconcile and merge it with a similar list of special
requirements called for in the IP zone which would make the standards for Light
Industrial the same in each zone. He clarified that they were all to apply to the building
line, not the property line.
City of Lake Oswego Planning Commission
Minutes of February 28, 2011 Page 12 of 12
Section 50.11.015 Site Development Standards
This section allowed an exception for a corner of Grimm’s Corner from the Floor Area
Ratio (FAR) requirement. The exception was also listed in Appendix 50.11-B. Mr.
Pishvaie recalled that project had been built on a unique site at the bottom of a quarry
that was well buffered. He said it had been allowed to benefit from a higher FAR
because it generated lower impacts.
Section 50.11.020 Special Requirements
Staff indicated they had modified their recommendation and no longer proposed a 1-
foot increase in landscaping height. Commissioner Paretchan confirmed that she could
accept the change proposed by staff. Mr. Boone related the code audit consultant had
questioned the wording. Due to the lateness of the hour, the Commissioners agreed to
continue discussing this item at the next meeting.
Commissioner Glisson moved to continue LU 08-0052 (Ordinance 2525) to March 14,
2011. Commissioner Jones seconded the motion and it passed 6:0.
7. OTHER BUSINESS – PLANNING COMMISSION
None.
8. OTHER BUSINESS – COMMISSION FOR CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT
None.
9. SCHEDULE REVIEW
The Commissioners planned to continue with their examination of LU 08-0052,
(Ordinance 2525) pages 71-232 on March 14.
10. ADJOURNMENT
The next meeting was scheduled on March 14, 2011. There being no further business
Chair Gustafson adjourned the meeting at 10:08 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Iris McCaleb /s/
Iris McCaleb
Administrative Support