CITY COUNCIL (CC) ACTIONS ON PLANNING ITEMS

On May 5, 2020, the CC directed the City Manager to enter into an agreement with the Lake Oswego Chamber of Commerce for COVID-19 Business Assistance.

On May 19, 2020, the CC reviewed and directed staff on two Housing initiatives:

•  Authorized the Mayor to sign a letter supporting the City’s grant application to the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development for work on implementing House Bill 2001 (Middle Housing).
•  Directed staff to initiate comprehensive plan and zoning changes for multifamily affordable housing in two areas of the City, West Lake Grove/Boones Ferry Road (LU 20-0016) and Marylhurst (LU 20-0017).

PLANNING COMMISSION (PC) ACTIONS

City Boards, Commissions, and Committee meetings, unless legally required, were cancelled through May under the City Manager’s emergency declaration in response to COVID-19.

PC meetings are scheduled to resume online in June. Please refer to the following web page for the current PC meeting forecast: http://www.ci.oswego.or.us/boc_pc/schedule-and-information

DEVELOPMENT REVIEW COMMISSION (DRC) ACTIONS

As a precautionary measure due to the Corona Virus outbreak, the City Manager canceled meetings of City Boards, Commissions, and Committees. As a result, the May 4^th and May 18th DRC meetings were canceled. DRC meetings are scheduled to resume online in June.

HISTORIC RESOURCES ADVISORY BOARD (HRAB)

City Boards, Commissions, and Committee meetings, unless legally required, were cancelled through May under the City Manager’s emergency declaration in response to COVID-19.

May is National Preservation Month. Every year during the month of May, communities throughout the nation celebrate Preservation Month, first created in 1971 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Over the past several years, Lake Owego has celebrated Preservation Month by presenting a Preservation Merit Award to an individual or group who has excelled in the field of preservation and a bronze plaque is presented to a homeowner whose property is on the Landmark Designation List. Workshops and tours are conducted by the Lake Oswego Preservation Society and the Oswego Preservation Council. Unfortunately, Lake Oswego’s Preservation Month 2020 will be postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Many of the events originally scheduled for this year have been rescheduled for July, 2020.

ADMINISTRATIVE LAND USE DECISIONS

Staff approved one administrative land use case:

LU 20-0010, a request by the Lake Oswego School District for a sign variance to allow a second primary sign on the site. A 32.67 square-foot wall sign near the main entrance on the east elevation at Lakeridge Middle School, located at 4700 Jean Road. The Notice of Decision was issued on May 18, 2020.

PRE-APPLICATION CONFERENCES

In May, staff held six pre-application conferences as follows:

1. PA 20-0027, Development Review for a multi-family apartment building on Lower Drive.
2. PA 20-0028, 2-parcel minor partition with a flag lot on Wembley Park Road
3. PA 20-0029, Installation of a gateway art project at the entrance to the City along HWY 43 on State Street
4. PA 20-0030, Minor variance to reduce the front yard setback on Upper Drive.
5. PA 20-0031, Oak woodland resource enhancement project in the Westlake HOA Open Space Tract A.
6. PA 20-0032, Minor variance to reduce the rear yard setback to construct a new single-family dwelling on Maple Street.

PLANNING REVIEW OF BUILDING PERMITS, SIGN PERMITS AND BUSINESS LICENSES

In the month of May, Planning staff reviewed 31 building permits, 1 sign permit and 4 business licenses.

CODE ENFORCEMENT

In May, 15 code enforcement cases were resolved without Municipal Court action.

PERMIT CENTER ACTIVITY

Customer Contacts:  During the month of May, staff responded to 639 phone calls, or 32 customer contacts per day. Of the phone-in customers 34% were for Planning, 38% for Building, 8% for Engineering and 20% for other services.

Building Permit Activity: During May, Building staff issued three demolition permit on Upper Drive, Twin Fir and Summit Drive.-Three new Single Family Residential (NSFR) applications were received. Three NSFR permits were issued, as follows:

1. Canyon Drive
2. Canyon Drive
3. Oriole Lane

The above median timeline for review is from application completeness to “ready to issue”. As of November 2018, the Planning Department has provided NSFR plan review services for both Planning and Engineering reviews. Ready to issue includes time that applicants need to address corrections required for code compliance or factors beyond the City’s control.

In addition to NSFR permits, Residential Structural Permits include remodels, additions, decks, etc., of which there were 15 issued in May by Building staff, with the median days being 90. Commercial Structural Permits include Commercial, Industrial, Multi-Family and Institutional, of which there were 11, with the median days being 17.