Planning issues:

Current projects:

Sandyplace Apartments:  Foundation permits have been issued for the buildings, but this project has otherwise not seen any changes since last month.  Vertical construction of some of the structures could begin as early as June.

Pioneer Meadows Subdivision:  Directly to the east of Firhill Memorial Cemetery on Hwy 26 next to Safeway.  Has received approval to build six attached houses prior to second lift of asphalt on the roads.  Foundations are currently in the process of being poured, with two units already at the framing stage.

Marshall Ridge Subdivision:  The Planning Commission approved a 37 lot single family dwelling subdivision located at 19525 and 19545 Bornstedt Road. The proposed lots range in size from 7,500 square feet to 9,172 square feet with a Single Family Residential (SFR) zoning designation. In addition to the 37 lots, the subdivision includes two public storm water detention ponds, two tree preservation tracts, and one pedestrian access tract as well as extensions of Aspen Avenue and Oak Avenue to the south and Maple Street as a future street that intersects with Bornstedt Road.

Sandy Bluff Annex 6:  This will be heard by Planning Commission on May 29th. The applicant proposes a 43 lot subdivision of the property between the BPA easement and Olson Street (N-S) and between Jefferson Avenue and the existing Sandy Bluff development (W-E).

Property east of 362nd and south of Industrial Way:  Requests to build three new industrial buildings (10,000; 12,000; 19,250 SF) on the US Metal Works site. Additionally, they seek to obtain the following four variances: 1) eliminate a varied façade, 2) eliminate an entrance connecting directly between the right-of-way and the building interior, 3) eliminate the required 10% relief of the facade facing, 4) to have a roof pitch of 1:12 (3:12 required).

Sandy Bluff Community Campus Parkland Annexation: Presented to City Council on May 21st.  Should they approve the petition, it will go forth to a vote of the people on the November ballot and be passed via resolution should it be passed.

Other large reviews being conducted:

• Sandy Bluff Annex 6: Going to Planning Commission on Tuesday, May 29^th.
• Jewelberry Ridge: in process
• US Metal Works: in process – will end up going to Planning Commission.
• Tractor Supply Company: in process (about to issue a completeness report for the partition piece)

Other large reviews being submitted soon:

• Brittsview Heights: 23 lot single family home subdivision west of Village Blvd. and south of the Snowberry subdivision
• McDonald’s: Recently submitted for an exterior remodel
• Knapp property annexation and subdivision: 130 lot SFR homes immediately south of Dubarko Road at Antler Avenue between Langensand Road and HWY 26.
• Regional coffee retailer: Pre-application scheduled for May 31 for the commercial lot next to 7-Eleven.

Internal projects:

• Mount Hood Cigar Co.: This business has applied to do a monthly auto show in the parking lot outside of their store and the local O’Reilly’s Auto Parts store.  This application is in process, but should be complete by the time of the next show in June – they plan to do the show between
• Pleasant Street Master Plan: All public engagement activities for the PSMP are complete, there were over 280 participants across the three public engagement activities. There is a revised design for the proposed Alt Ave. realignment based on concerns of the original design from the community. The new design will be publicly released this week. Emma has been drafting the final report. Council can expect a work session, following a work session before Planning Commission and the PSMP Advisory Committee at the end of May.
• Downtown Walkability Assessment: All public engagement for the Downtown Walkability Assessment are complete. The May 16^th Community Walking Audit was a success! The audit had over 20 participants, including city staff, elected officials, and community members.  Emma is currently drafting the assessment report which will be presented at City Council on July 2^nd.

Economic Development issues:

Commercial Properties (vacancies, new businesses, etc.):

• Mount Hood Cigar Co.: The Mount Hood Cigar Company had their Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting ceremony over the weekend and is officially open to the public. Chris Bailey, store owner and patriarch, brought his family here all the way from South Carolina with a brief stop in Lake Oswego.They did a fantastic job of building out the store (they did the work themselves – Mr. Bailey is also a licensed contractor) and are very happy with the end result. They had a wide variety of quality cigars from around the world on display, and really seem to know their stuff. Curious to see if this store brings in enough weekend mountain traffic to really take off…
• Sandlandia: Both new carts (Swine Dining, Mountain View Café) are now operational. It also appears that the Captain’s Galley is no longer at the site. It also appears that the Captain’s Galley is no longer located at the site, so we are net +2 for carts at Sandlandia in 2018.
• Trout Pub space: I am currently working with Chris Corbin (building owner) to put together the first City of Sandy Tenant Improvement grant to help create a new restaurant here. At the time of this writing, Mr. Corbin intends to open his own restaurant at the site featuring quality burgers and sausages made on site.
• Joy Teriyaki: After a very long wait, Joy Teriyaki will be opening their new restaurant with a soft open on May 21. Their grand opening/ribbon cutting will take place on Saturday, May 26 and will feature several prominent local politicians including our current state senator, Chuck Thomsen. (Justin Hwang, owner of the franchise, is running for office in a neighboring district.)

Internal Projects:

• Downtown maintenance: We are beginning to focus our efforts on the downtown a bit more as spring kicks into gear. Flower baskets are up, and AntFarm’s watering contract is in effect. We are going to be collecting the remaining East County Gazette paper boxes lingering in our downtown (the paper is no longer being published) shortly, and beginning a number of façade projects that are currently in the works. We are also in the beginning stages of a push to clean up some of the derelict buildings downtown. Stay tuned…
• Community Partnership Program grant: Since we didn’t use all of the money allocated for our community due to the fact that we only had two valid applications, we requested that the AntFarm request for funding a farmer’s market study be fully funded (they had other funding from other grants listed in their original request) so the other sources of funding could be used elsewhere. Clackamas County Tourism was happy to grant that request, so AntFarm will be receiving $6,000 for this study instead of the $2,500 they originally requested.Also, I should receive plans this week for the new Meinig Park Gateway Arch. We hope to get this constructed as quickly as possible to have ready for the summer concert series and Mountain Festival if possible.
• CGI: I am currently beginning the process of updating our Welcome videos on the main page of our website with CGI Communications, the company that created them for us. More to come soon (Mr. Mayor – We will also be updating the short video introduction that you did for us. I will get in touch with you sometime in the coming month to schedule this.)

Conferences/training:

• Travel Oregon Listening Session (April 4): This is an ongoing discussion started by Travel Oregon last year as they witnessed record numbers of tourists in the Columbia River Gorge. The takeaway from this event was that, with gawkers out to look at the fire damage from last year, plus rapidly increasing tourism from places like China, the Gorge is now at capacity. This should result in a lot more local tourism on our side of the mountain as locals look to get away from the congestion and hike and mountain bike in peace.
• SACC Candidates Forum (April 9): This event represents the first efforts from the Sandy Area Chamber of Commerce to provide infrastructure for local elections. We invited all of the primary candidates for local public office to state their case and take questions from Chamber members and the public. It went exceptionally well, and we were inundated with thanks from the locals that came for putting on this event. The SACC Public Affairs Committee is looking forward to doing this again for the general election.