City Council recap of May 5 work session

The West Linn City Council tackled a wide variety of issues during its May 5 work session at city hall. The evening’s agenda included an update on the Stafford Hamlet, a discussion on water resource areas, as well as talk about revising the city’s annexation policy.

Stafford Hamlet update

Two representatives from the Stafford Hamlet paid a visit to the city council – Rick Cook and Thane Eddington. They told councilors the hamlet board is still working on planning the hamlet’s future and wishes to keep communications open with surrounding communities.

They the wish to collaborate with local cities, the county, Metro and the state.

“We will be good partners and work with our surrounding jurisdictions,” Cook said. “We wanted you to know we are working.”

Cook and Eddington said the hamlet board is working on its community vision and values plan  as to what they would like to see remain in the hamlet in the future.

“There are things worth preserving, worth fighting for,” Eddington said.

For more information about the Stafford Hamlet, visit Staffordhamlet.com.

Water Resource Area

The council continued its review of water resource areas within the city of West Linn.

In 2010, the planning commission began working on amending the community development code (CDC) in regard to water resource areas after it recognized ambiguities in the code. Those ambiguities resulted in a Land Use Board of Appeals decision, having to purchase property to avoid a takings claim, and continued difficulty for everyone.

Thus the city is redrafting the water resource area chapter of the CDC to address flaws.

The WRA boundary comprises all streams, wetlands and riparian areas plus an additional distance or setback to reduce the likelihood of eroded material (soil, pollutants, etc.) from getting into the stream or wetland.

West Linn has about 26 lineal miles of streams, wetlands and riparian corridors, not counting the Tualatin and Willamette rivers.

The city needs to protect WRAs to be in compliance with state goals, to maintain water quality, to aid in flood mitigation, to protect wildlife habitat and to add recreation/aesthetic value to West Linn.

Proposed changes to the CDC chapter include altering how all streams are regarded, mapping, increased flexibility in setbacks, more definitions and illustrations, additional hardship provisions, encouragement of habitat-friendly practices, and mitigation and re-vegetation.

A lot of the changes are considered “housekeeping” issues and others are tweaks to ensure the code is clear and easy to understand.

“It’s lengthy. This was difficult chapter to get where we wanted it,” City Manager Chris Jordan said. “It will be a vast improvement over where we are now. It alters the code in a way you want to see it changed.”

The council directed city staff to further refine several sections of the code, which will be up for approval during a May 19 special city council meeting.

Annexation Policy

In anticipation of future annexation requests, the city is working to clean up and streamline the process for annexing property.

The city has not processed an annexation request for a number of years, the most recent being for Trillium Creek Primary School. However, there are islands in the city that are not part of the city, and are considered county property instead.

“This is where we are going to possibly see applications come in soon for annexation,” Jordan said. “There are pockets here that are still in the county.”

Those property owners commonly pay for Tualatin Valley Fire& Rescue services, do not have city water service or sewer service, they use city parks but don’t pay city taxes, use the library and pay county library taxes, and they don’t pay city street fees or park fees.

The advantage of allowing islands to annex into the city is to recoup tax dollars from those properties that are benefiting from some city services but not paying for them.

Why would a property want to annex into the city? Jordan said mostly likely they want city services such as water and sewer so they can develop their property to a greater extent.

“I’ve always thought we shouldn’t have island properties in the middle of the city. I think we should have them annexed,” Councilor Jody Carson said. “They are part of the city. They are in the city. And they need to be included.”

Council gave direction to move forward in addressing the policy.

Assistant City Attorney Megan Thornton gave the council an overview of the law. Though there are several types of annexations, the only one the city is currently looking at is when both the property owner and the city agree to the annexation.

Thornton explained that annexation is a two-step process:

1. Land use:  Does the application meet land use requirements?

2. Policy: Does the city want to put the annexation on the ballot to allow voters to decide whether the property should be annexed?

The council reviewed its options to simplify the annexation process and directed staff to amend the CDC to fix hearing requirements, change municipal code requirements and to make the process more efficient.

Review of May 12 Agenda

The council also reviewed its May 12 meeting agenda.

“It’s kind of a loaded agenda,” Jordan said.

Some of the items on the agenda include:

  • “If I Were Mayor” poster contest presentation
  • National Preservation Month proclamation
  • Regulatory streamlining public hearing
  • Light signal at Santa Anita and Rosemont
  • Bland pump station contract

See the complete agenda online.