PLANNING
On June 2, 2017 we received confirmation from the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) that the Sandy UGB Expansion was approved. On June 9 Planning staff sent notices to all property owners affected by this change congratulating them on being included in the revised UGB boundary. This is a monumental task that takes some communities well over a decade to accomplish. After much consideration we mutually decided with our new permitting software host that for the best transition we would not launch our software in June. Our staff discovered numerous errors with the software setup in regards to our fee schedule. We are actively renegotiating a new Go Live date, but it will most likely not occur until fall of 2017.

Planning Commission is being held on June 27th and will include three land use applications. Below is a brief summary of each application:

Cashatt Apartments – Cashatt Construction Inc. submitted an application to construct five (5) apartment units on the 0.35 acre property located at 38262 Hood Street. The project will include two buildings, one with three attached units and a second with two attached units. Each unit will be two stories and includes an attached garage and private back patio area. The proposal includes an application for a conditional use permit to allow stand alone multi-family housing in the Central Business District (C-1) zone.

Birdsong Retaining Wall – Ramsey LLC submitted an application for a variance to increase the height and length of the retaining wall to be constructed as part of the Birdsong Subdivision development at 19550 and 19404 Arletha Court. Construction of a 4 foot to 8 foot retaining wall was previously approved (16-039 SUB/VAR). The applicant is applying for a Type III variance to increase the maximum height of the retaining wall to 13 feet 4 inches, with a maximum wall reveal of 12 feet. The length of the approved retaining wall was 192 linear feet, but the length of the newly proposed wall is approximately 298 feet. 

Tankersley Hardship Permit – The owners of 16950 Hoffman Avenue submitted an application for a hardship permit. The proposal is to allow a thirty foot trailer to be parked in the back yard of the subject property for the purposes of a hardship trailer as set forth in Chapter 17.70 of the Development Code. The trailer will be occupied by the applicant’s 82 year old mother so that the applicant can better help with her mother’s care needs.

BUILDING OFFICIAL UPDATE
“Spring seems to be flying by quickly for the Sandy Building Department, due in large part to the increased building activity. Residential has been largely dominated with townhouses, while commercial projects have been varied and busy. With the completion of the new Goodwill building, the renovation of the Old Sandy High School (Pioneer Building) has become the largest project in Sandy. Another special project is the opening of the new Wolf Pack Theater in the Argue Building at 39570 Pioneer. Equally interesting is the activity at the new Sandlandia Food Court, and the Facade improvements to the Shell Station across the street. Finally, approval for occupancy was given to the new location for La Bamba Restaurant. It has made a very noticeable improvement to the Pleasant Street commercial district.

Residential construction remains steady with a tally of 56 active residential dwelling permits in May. Palladian Group leads with 21 single family town homes being constructed in Champion Village (behind Sandy Cinema) and many more about to begin. National Development is constructing new 7 townhouses near Tickle Creek, and excavation completed for 7 more. And the Zion Meadows subdivision is being very active with Raze Custom Homes, D. A. Gray, and Richard Haggerty currently working on 14 homes combined. Lastly, Vanport Builders is nearly completed with their model house, and is nearing finish stages of their second.” – Terre Gift

URBAN RENEWAL
Staff has been working with the owner of Next Adventure (formally the location of Winter Fox) to upgrade the building and site. As part of the ingress/egress improvements to the building the urban renewal district is contributing funds to increase the width of the sidewalk and install two tree wells. This sidewalk improvement will help improve the street presence of the building and the new walkway from the new front porch. See the second picture below.