Development Services – Monthly Report – June 2020

Planning items:

Clackamas County Health Clinic (20-014 DR/VAR/DEV/ADJ): This request to construct a new county health facility for Clackamas County Health, Housing & Human Services at the old Oregon’s Wild Harvest site was approved by the Planning Commission at their June 30 hearing.  Final order is in process and should be issued soon.

Bailey Meadows:  The cautionary LUBA appeal that was filed by Allied Homes and Development was withdrawn. The UGB expansion and annexation/zone change for Gunderson Road and the parkland are now effective. Staff is currently reviewing the construction plans related to street improvements and utilities and will soon issue the grading and erosion control plan.

Salmonberry tree removal (20-026 TREE): This request to remove a retention tree has been approved; final order issued on June 17th.

Chapter 17.78 Annexation Code Amendments (20-010 DCA):  These code amendments were approved by Council at the July 6th meeting and will go into effect on August 5th.

DCA 5G Small Cell code adoption (20-012 DCA): This code adoption was approved at the PC meeting on June 30th.  It now gets forwarded to the City Council for final approval.

Jewelberry Ridge subdivision extension (20-021 EXT):  A request for an extension to subdivision approval for this nine-lot subdivision off of Jewelberry Road was heard by the PC at their June 30th meeting.  An extension of this approval until November 12, 2021 was approved.

Sandy Community Campus Replat (18-045 MP): Staff is still working on completing the final order for this project.

Pleasant Street Master Plan (18-022 CPA):  Staff continues to review the work already completed and create presentation materials for future discussion.  There are currently two staff members working on this project.

Sandy Feeder Reinforcement Project (20-015): – Staff is currently working on completing the staff report on this project.  It should be on the agenda for the Planning Commission meeting on July 27.

Design Review:

  • Marshall Ridge ADU (20-020): The approval for this ADU at 38448 Maple Street is still under review – staff should complete the final order for this project by the end of July.
  • OTSD/Bull Run tree removal (20-014 TREE): A request to remove two trees from the OTSD property on Industrial Way as part of the construction of the new Bull Run Electric facility on Industrial Way has been approved.  Final order was issued on June 17th.
  • Sandy Plaza Apartments (20-017 DR):  This project for an 18 unit apartment complex on Meeker Street is under review.
  • Bull Run Terrace (19-050 CPA/ZC/SUB): Staff has received updated application materials from the applicant and is reviewing them.  This project is scheduled to go to the PC on August 24th.
  • Chinook tree removal (20-027 TREE): This request to remove a retention tree is currently bunder review.
  • Eagle Park Improvements extension (20-029 EXT): This request for an extension to complete the improvements at the Eagle Park project is under review.
  • OAOR Annexation (20-025):  We recently received an application from the Thai Buddhist Monastery on Hwy 211 to be annexed into city limits.  Staff is currently reviewing the application for completeness.
  • The View PD (20-028):  Staff is reviewing this application for completeness.

Kelly’s Kudos:

Nothing this month.

Building Department items:

Nothing newsworthy to report from the Building Department in June.


Economic Development items:


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

  • Dutch Bros:  The 400th location for Dutch Bros is now open for business in Sandy.  The official grand opening was held on June 20th, with a soft open on June 18th to introduce themselves to the neighborhood.  At the start time for the soft open, the drive thru was at capacity with 15 cars queued up, which is pretty impressive considering that the promotion of this event was almost entirely done by word of mouth.  Franchise owner Abe Menschenfriend was delighted with the turnout and is excited about the potential for this store.  Special thanks to Mayor Pulliam and Councilor Exner for attending, and to the entire Council for your support throughout this project. 

  • Commercial vacancies:  We still have not seen many shuttered brick and mortar businesses in Sandy due to the pandemic, at least thus far.  In addition to the two businesses mentioned in the last report (Island Teriyaki, Jackson Hewitt), the Metro PCS wireless services shop in the Sandy Marketplace has now closed – however, Metro PCS had informed the complex owners of their departure well before the pandemic started.  We have also seen Mt. Hood Cigars move into the vacated space left by Island Teriyaki.  I also know of another financial services business that wishes to remain anonymous that may convert their Sandy location to a virtual office soon but will remain in business here.
  • AEC:  This business recently approached me about leasing opportunities in their building on Pioneer Blvd.  A remote workforce is apparently working so well for them that they are considering making their entire first floor available to tenants.  I am working with the Braches to put together something for the Available Commercial Properties database shortly.

Econ Devl – Internal Projects:

Downtown maintenance:

  • AntFarm downtown maintenance crew: Neal’s crew has been working steadily to complete numerous small projects for us in the public rights-of-way.
    • Street tree trimming: This has now been mostly completed for the north side of Proctor Blvd – 19 trees completed in June.
    • Planter strip outside of VFW: Weeds and grass dug out, weed barrier installed and filled with bark dust.  Established rhody left in place
    • Planter strip outside of Brady’s:  All river rock and grass removed, weed barrier installed and filled with bark dust for ease of future maintenance.
VFW planter strip
Brady’s planter strip
  • Action Center exterior lighting upgrade:  This project is complete.  This building now fully complies with Sandy’s dark skies ordinance.  Thanks to Bull Run Electric for the assist!
  • Jonsrud II:  The second stage of the refresh of Jonsrud Viewpoint is almost complete.  Interpretive signage has been received from the manufacturer and has been installed by the Parks Department (see below).  The refurbished original telescope and the new color-blind abled telescope are in inventory at the Ops Center – these have not been installed yet due to concerns about COVID transmission.  All other maintenance items have either been completed except for the refurbishment of the entry signage.  (note: unfortunately, the Clackamas County Tourism signage for the Mt. Hood Territory Heritage Trail seen in the far left of the picture below has been tagged pretty badly – Code Enforcement has been informed of the tagging, and we have asked ClackCo Tourism for new signage)

Flower baskets: 

  • At long last, AntFarm Youth Services now has a dedicated staffer for watering flower baskets.  Nunpa will now only water flower baskets when training or in the event of a staff illness or vacation.
  • Baskets are being fertilized regularly and will have a pesticide applied in late July to control the petunia bug. 
  • AFYS has also added watering services for the six street trees installed on Bluff Road near the PGE substation and the street trees installed with the Dutch Bros project to help them get established.

  • Highway 26 “islands”:  This project is getting an upgrade – the city manager’s office is supporting an improved landscaping design for these two highway islands to be completed later in the summer.  Development Services will put together an RFP for this project in the coming weeks.


Econ Devl – Economic Development Committee:

No Ec Dev Committee meeting in June or July, as City Hall is still officially closed for business.  We are operating on the assumption that the committee will meet again for its regularly scheduled August meeting on 8/5, but this is not guaranteed.  The committee chair shall make this determination later this month.

As an update to the committee, Economic Development put together a short report entitled “Moving Forward in the Age of COVID-19” detailing the efforts the City of Sandy has made in addressing the pandemic in the business community.  To read this report, click here.

Econ Devl – Conferences/training:

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no conferences or training opportunities for the foreseeable future.