07/07/2014 City Council work session

Aerial of existing Arch Bridge area

The July 7 joint city council and planning commission meeting was an exciting one as members received a progress report on the planning for the Arch Bridge and Bolton areas in West Linn.

Start of a vision

The city kicked off the 10-20 year visioning project with the city council on Jan. 27. The project is being guided by an advisory committee comprised of various community members that will meet throughout the year. A technical committee with staff from various agencies is also providing input and guidance.

The idea is to create a new identity for the area and transform the Metro-designated Bolton Center into a true town center with the mixed-use qualities of a village. No idea was off the table during the visioning process and public input was received throughout.

“West Linn, as we already know, is pretty much already developed, and this area has some opportunities,” Mayor John Kovash said.

There have been and will continue to be numerous opportunities for public input throughout the year during the process. The city conducted a survey earlier this year, held a storefront studio in April with community workshops, and an open house and an online “virtual” open house are planned in October.

Making progress

On Monday, the planning commission and council received draft concepts and recommendations, and a draft plan will be reviewed by the city council before the end of 2014. Any required regulatory changes are expected in early 2015.

The project is funded through a $220,000 Metro Community Planning and Development grant, which is funded through the construction excise tax. The city is providing an $80,000 in-kind match.

Consultants from LMN Architects, Walker Macy landscape architecture and EcoNorthwest presented the overview during the meeting.

The planning area spans from the Bolton Fire Station on Highway 43 down to the Arch Bridge and West Linn Paper Company, with the major focus being on redeveloping and repurposing the waterfront near the Arch Bridge. The visioning process included reconfiguring major streets, redevelopment, new investment and infill.

On the north end, near the Bolton Fire Station, the plan calls for soft infill development, enhancements to Willamette Drive and a mixed-use zoning district.

Some of the large changes include creating a renewed waterfront park below I-205 (near the McLean House), major street modifications, the creation of a “Main Street” and new development.

The waterfront park, West Bridge Park, would be updated to include an overlook, a small boat launch area, trails and a beach. Trails would connect the park to the new town center.

A new heart for West Linn

The biggest vision and changes are near the old police station, 76 gas station and the Arch Bridge – where Willamette Falls Drive currently connects with Willamette Drive.

An initial thought was to create a large roundabout in front of the police station to act as a hub for the area. However, that idea was deemed not workable.

“Basically, it would be amiss. It would be gargantuan,” Mark Hinshaw with LMN Architect said, adding that a roundabout could cause problems during rush hour.

After further review and realizing that particular area is a choke point, the consultants said if the city acquired the 76 gas station at some point in the future, roads could be realigned to create a more traditional four-way intersection. They also warned, if the gas station was to remain, it would pose some severe design restraints.

There are a number of roads in the vicinity that come in at odd angles, which prevents the area from feeling like a town center, Hinshaw said. “It is definitely an issue.”

“The goal is to create intersections that work for pedestrians and bicyclists, as well as vehicles,” Mike Zilis of Walker Macy said.

If the city were to acquire the gas station, then a realigned Mill Street could act as the “Main Street” and Willamette Falls Drive would be extended to meet it, creating a three to four block strip with Willamette Falls Drive at the intersection. The realigned Mill Street would run on the north side of the police station and through the gas station parcel.

“The folks at the mill would really like that better,” Councilor Jody Carson said about the new alignment, saying they were concerned about the roundabout option due to their use of semi-trucks.

The vision also includes repurposing the currently underutilized Broadway Bridge that spans I-205 to encourage pedestrian and bicycle usage to and from the Arch Bridge area. It could be converted to a “terraced linear park.”

Development

Development in the area could include a hotel, retail space and office space, as well as the opportunity for denser housing and affordable housing, which both are currently in short supply in the city.

“Affordable housing is something I feel very strong about,” Carson said. “I think it really behooves us to do that.”

Assuming building heights between three and six stories, the area south of I-205 could accommodate 250-300 housing units (300,000 square feet); 15,000-20,000 square feet of restaurants, services and other retail; 25,000-30,000 square feet of office space; and a hotel with 80-100 rooms. Consultants said parcels along Willamette Falls Drive and Territorial could have row houses with “extraordinary views.”

Where the West Linn Apartments, West Cliff Apartments and the mill area sit has been identified as well-suited for a hotel with meeting facilities.

How tall?

Building heights were discussed during the meeting. Currently West Linn does not have any buildings as high as six stories. However, planning commissioners and councilors agreed, that if planned well, taller buildings could work in the area.

“If it is planned property … this is an area where we can increase our density,” Councilor Mike Jones said. “We have to somehow appropriately increase density.”

“The overall goal is to keep this a people-centric and pedestrian-centric hub,” Commissioner Russell Axelrod said, recommending terracing the buildings to achieve the higher density and taller buildings.

According to the consultants’ economic study, there is a demand for denser housing in a town center as well as for restaurants and services. However, there is limited demand for office and retail space.

Along with the private spaces, the consultants envisioned public spaces in the area, including a pavilion and a plaza as well as access to the river. Consultants also envisioned a one-of-a-kind, stepped hill climb cascading down from West A Street through the town center and down to a fishing pier.

Impetus

Because this is a long-range plan that involves a lot of changes in zoning and code and working with property owners, the consultants said the city could kick-start the plan by developing a city-owned parcel at Willamette and Broadway. It could be a demonstration of new development types.

“I-205 really tore West Linn into pieces and hopefully this (plan) will help start to restore that,” Kovash said.

Going forward

The next steps in the planning process include taking some the pieces of the plan and refining them to the next level. The consultants will spend the next four to six weeks doing that. Then, an early October open house will be held for public comment along with an online “virtual” open house.

Also, residents can look for displays about the plan at Old Time Fair during July 18-20 and at Lock Fest on Sept. 13.

The city council is expected to review a draft plan in November.

In other city council news

The city council met in a work session after the joint meeting with the planning commission. The agenda included a discussion about appointments to the committee for citizen involvement, an update on city council goals and the economic development committee street maintenance fee recommendation, and a review of the Bolton Reservoir design contract the council is expected to vote on July 14.

CCI

Planning Commission Chairwoman Christine Steel and Historic Review Board Chairman Jim Mattis participated during the Committee for Citizen Involvement discussion.

West Linn has a longstanding commitment to citizen involvement on land use and legislative items. The creation of a committee on citizen involvement (CCI) is required in Oregon Statewide Planning Goals and Guidelines Goal 1.

“To develop a citizen involvement program that insures the opportunity for citizens to be involved in all phases of the planning process,” states the first line of Goal 1.

In prior years, the city council designated CCI responsibilities to the planning commission. However, this year, the city council requested the CCI be comprised of the city council, the planning commission chair and the historic review board chair.

On June 16, the recomposed CCI met for the first time. At the meeting, the committee heard from John Morgan of Morgan CPS Group, who explained the history and the benefits of CCIs. The council explored the suggested format for the meeting and the reasons for the council to consider adopting a resolution to officially form the CCI.

After discussion and some thought from the council and the planning commission, members agreed a seven-member committee, including two citizens at-large, two members of council, one business representative, chair of historic review board and chair of the planning commission.

The council is expected to vote to formally form the CCI during its July 14 meeting.

Council goals update

Assistant City Manager delivered the second quarterly update on the city council’s goals. This year, the council goals revolved around water, transportation, economic development and citizen engagement.

Wyatt touched upon ongoing outreach around the Bolton Reservoir replacement project, the visioning for the redevelopment of the Arch Bridge-Bolton area and continued work to support and grow business in West Linn.

She also shared that the new police station is on schedule to open on time. Open houses are slated for Aug. 9 and 10 with a ribbon cutting ceremony on Aug. 11.

EDC Street Maintenance Fee Increase

In 2013, the West Linn City Council made a concerted investment in pavement maintenance in West Linn. The council voted to increase the city’s street maintenance fee (SMF) on all residential users by 75 percent, with a 5 percent increase over the next four fiscal years. This resulted in a $4.42 increase in their SMF.

However, the council elected to not increase the SMF for nonresidential (i.e., commercial, industrial and public institutions) until they could review the impacts it would have businesses in the city. The council requested that the economic development committee evaluate and recommend potential increases in the nonresidential SMF that would be fair.

When the SMF was initially implemented, specific language was added to ensure that the highest users in West Linn would not shoulder a disproportionate fee burden. This language established a maximum “cap” that discounted the nonresidential fee for the highest users in the city. A consequence of this cap is that fee increases that have occurred for all other users in the city have diminished the proportional share that these higher users pay into the system.

The EDC recommended raising the cap by 75 percent to the highest trip generators. This will only impact the 17 highest generators in the city (11 of which would pay the new $892.50 cap).There will be no change for the remaining +200 businesses in the city.

The rate increase results in $65,402.40 more revenue per year for the city.

The city council agreed to move forward with increasing the fee and an ordinance will come before the council in August. Public input will be taken at that meeting.

Bolton Reservoir

During its July 14 meeting, the council will be asked to approve a $1 million contract with Murray Smith & Associates for engineering services for the Bolton Reservoir replacement project.

The Bolton Reservoir replacement is a priority capital project in the Water Master Plan. To meet this capital project need, the council approved a resolution dedicating the $5 million payment from the Lake Oswego-Tigard Water Partnership agreement to partially fund design and construction of the $9 million Bolton Reservoir replacement.

Highlighting this effort, one of the 2014 city council goals is to initiate the design, land use and citizen engagement process for the Bolton Reservoir.

To meet this council goal, a request for qualifications was issued following state and local procurement requirements.  A total of three proposals were received from the following firms:

1.  Murray, Smith & Associates of Portland

2.  AECOM of Portland

3.  OBEC Consulting Engineers of Eugene

Upon review of the submitted proposals Murray, Smith & Associates was deemed to be the preferred firm for the project based upon the evaluation criteria identified in the request for qualifications.

Once underway, the replacement of the reservoir is projected to be completed and online mid-2017.