Planning items:

Forest Service Site remodel (19-035 DR/ADJ US): Final order on this parking lot remodel/expansion was issued on January 28, 2020 – this project is approved to begin construction.

Tickle Creek Village (19-038 DR/TREE/FSH):  Final order on this proposed construction of 67 condos at the NE corner of Ruben and Dubarko was issued on January 28, 2020 – this project is approved to begin construction.

Bull Run Electric Building (19-036 DR): Final order for this project was issued on February 5, 2020 – this project is approved to begin construction.

Idelman Park (Hood St) Tree Removal (20-004 TREE): approval to cut 1 dead Doug Fir tree down to a snag – issued February 3, 2020

Mairin’s Viewpoint (19-047 EXT): Planning Commission will hear a proposal to extend the plat approval for the Mairin’s Viewpoint subdivision. This is a 6-lot subdivision to the north of Green Mountain Street and west of Bluff Road.

Design Review:

• Bailey Meadows Subdivision (19-023 SUB/VAR): Planning Commission is reconvening on February 11, 2020 to deliberate amongst themselves and staff to make a decision on the Bailey Meadows subdivision. This subdivision is located to the south of Melissa Avenue and north of Highway 211.
• Proposed code changes to SMC (19-043 DCA): Planning Commission will hear parking and access code amendments (Chapter 17.98 of the Sandy Municipal Code) being proposed by staff at their February 24, 2020 meeting. Staff has scheduled these amendments to be heard by City Council on April 6, 2020.
• McCormick Drive re-zone (19-037 CPA/ZC): This request to re-zone a lot from C-2 to R-2 is currently under review and will be on the agenda for the February 24 PC meeting.
• Trillium Machine (19-017 DR/VAR/DEV/TREE): This application is for a new building behind their existing building in I-2 zone – this application is currently under review and is anticipated to be on the agenda for the March 30 PC meeting.
• Sandy Vault Storage (19-046 MOD/VAR/DEV): Applicant has submitted modifications to the previously approved storage units (File No. 18-047 DR/VAR/ADJ). The requested modifications include additional metal siding, reduced window percentages, and reductions to frontage features. The applicant is also proposing to add additional new structures (i.e. modular units) to the site; however, that request would be processed as a separate design review and the applicant opted to not provide the additional information and fees that would be needed to process that request with this application. The proposed modular units do not meet the requirements of Chapter 17.90. The applicant did not request variances or deviations to Chapter 17.90 for the modular units so staff cannot evaluate these structures as part of 19-046 MOD/VAR/DEV.  This application is anticipated to be on the March 30 PC agenda. 
• Proposed UGB expansion (20-002 UGB): Planning Commission will hear a UGB expansion proposal on February 11, 2020 that will include area for the extension of Gunderson Road and parkland to serve Bailey Meadows and the Nicolas Glen subdivision.

Kelly’s Kudos:

This month I would like to recognize Emily Meharg for her excellent work and amazing ability to pick up the slack in a huge way. During one of the hottest booms in the last 30 years we were faced with an absence in the Planning Division for almost four months. During this time Emily was tasked with several large planning projects, many pre-app meetings, and a constant barrage of questions from the public. She did a phenomenal job with everything big and small, and helped me keep my sanity. Thank you, Emily!

Internal projects: 

• City Hall: Blinds for the upper picture windows on the south and east surfaces of the building have been installed – Sandy Décor was able to perfectly match the blinds installed in the conference room several years ago.  They were also able to finish the touch-up trim painting on the east wall.  We are scheduling the installation of tinting on the Development Services Director’s primary office window (a unique situation here requires tinting) before closing this project and moving on to taking another crack at replacing the building’s aging plumbing system.
• Shade structures at Bornstedt Park: Sandy-based Mountain View Contracting has completed the construction of two shade structures (see below) at Bornstedt Park.  To recap, past Parks Board members reminded staff that the Bornstedt Park Master Plan originally called for shade structures, so we surveyed Sandy citizens to see if the demand for this amenity was still active.  Survey results came back 90% in favor, as lack of shelter from the weather was causing park patrons to leave these parks prematurely.  Mountain View Contracting was able to match the style of the entry arch to Meinig Park (also their project) almost exactly and really did a nice job with these structures.  Funding for this project was 95% Parks SDCs and 5% general fund money. 

Economic Development items:

Econ Devl – Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.):

• Old Chariteas (future Le Happy) site:  There have been a few minor setbacks with this future restaurant as some sub-standard work by a rogue contractor is corrected.  The owners seem confident, however, that their opening date is weeks away and not months.  Watch this space.
• Sandy Marketplace:  Remainder of project (upgrade of the remaining three planters to match test planter) will be completed by the next department report.
• Derelict buildings: The two derelict residences behind the Red Boot Branding Building at the corner of Strauss and Junker were demolished on Feb 10^th and 11^th.

Econ Devl – Internal Projects:

Downtown maintenance:

• After a citizen complaint about the exterior lighting at the Action Center came into our Code Enforcement office, Officer Moody referred Action Ctr management to the Ec Dev office for assistance.  Since all of their current exterior lighting is not compliant with our dark skies ordinance (and likely not outdoor fixtures anyway), I have offered a Façade grant to them to help pay for full cutoff lighting installed by a licensed contractor – the grant will reimburse them for 80% of the cost of fixtures and installation.  They are looking for compliant fixtures now…
• SCC parking lot fencing replacement:  The backstop is gone!  New 5’ black powder coated fencing installed around the parking lot on Pleasant Street and Smith Avenue.  Currently waiting on a new man gate for Pleasant Street and a new rolling gate on Smith Avenue to arrive and be installed.

Econ Devl – Economic Development Committee:

January 8^th was the inaugural meeting of the City of Sandy Economic Development Committee in Council Chambers after several months of planning by Committee Chair Pietzold, Mayor Pulliam, Councilor Exner, the City Manager’s office and the Economic Development office.  Meetings will be held in Council Chambers on the first Wednesday of every month (the first Wed of January 2020 was New Year’s Day, so we moved to the 2^nd Wed).  This committee currently includes the three City Council members mentioned earlier, the Chamber Director and management/ownership from 9 companies local to Sandy (Everfresh Fruit, AEC, Wippersnappers, Suburban, CCB, Boring Brewing, Johnson RV, Mount Hood Athletic Club and John L. Scott).

The inaugural meeting was really just a meet-n-greet and an opportunity for members to share their vision for the committee.  Next month’s meeting will include the distribution of a resource binder for members, discussion about a proposal for a new retail market survey and a policy discussion about the proposed Parks & Rec District being considered for the November 2020 ballot.

Econ Devl – Conferences/training:

Oregon Community Solar Program (February 5, 1:00 -2:00 PM, Clackamas County Red Soils Campus): Community solar is an emerging model that allows for individuals and businesses who are unable or unwilling to install solar on their property to connect with an offsite solar source. This program allows for PGE customers to subscribe to a portion of the project and jointly share the benefits by receiving bill credits on their monthly electric bill for their portion of solar generation.  Subscribers are required to participate for a minimum of 10 years, and most subscribers should see a discount on their bill of about 5% (20% for low-income subscribers, and 10% of subscribers must be low-income).  Oregon Shines is the project administrator for this program, which is still under development but getting close to launch – for more information: https://www.oregoncsp.org/p/Subscribers/

Metro Population and Employment Forecasts (February 5^th, 3:00 – 4:30 PM, Clackamas County Red Soils Campus): Clackamas County is currently working with Metro to do population and employment forecasting for 2020-2045, which is critical for planning regarding roads, transit, and water, wastewater & stormwater capacities for residential neighborhoods.  They would like to work with the small cities outside of the Metro boundaries (Sandy, Estacada, Molalla, Canby, the Villages) because these have impacts in Metro territory and vice versa, and because while Metro may not be responsible for planning in these areas, Clackamas County still is.  This meeting was to explain the process for that partnership, which is essentially to look at Metro’s data and add any suggestions on how to get a more accurate result from our perspective if necessary.  It will require our planning staff to look at semi-sensitive data from Metro, so some confidentiality protocols are necessary.