Planning Department items:

20-032 DCA code changes associated with House Bill 2001 related to duplexes and ADUs: Planning staff held a PC work session regarding HB 2001 on October 26^th.  These proposed code changes were heard at the January 25^th PC meeting.  This item will be heard at the March 15^th City Council meeting.

Creekside Loop duplex garage (20-049 ADJ):  This appeal to the 20-049 ADJ decision regarding the adjustment of setbacks for a garage issued on December 30^th is scheduled to be heard at the March 29^th Planning Commission meeting.

Leslie Pole Barn 37625 SE Kelso Road (21-005): This application for an accessory structure on a residential property is currently under review by staff for completeness.

Marin’s Viewpoint Tree Variance (21-004 TREE/VAR):  This application for a tree variance is scheduled to be heard at the March 29^th PC meeting.

Rogue Fabrication zone change (20-041 ZC):  This request to change zoning designation from I-1 to I-2 for Rogue Fabrication’s new facility at the corner of Champion Way and Industrial Way was recommended for approved by the Planning Commission at their meeting on January 25^th.  This will be heard by City Council at their meeting on March 15^th.

Downtown Walkability Assessment:  Final edits and review are being conducted by the department director.  Staff hopes to have this ready for Council review sometime in April.

Les Schwab Remodel (20-048 DR):  Final order was issued on February 24th.  SURA Board reviewed and enthusiastically approved a Façade grant proposal for this project at their meeting on March 8^th.

Pleasant Street Master Plan (18-022 CPA):  Staff will re-engage with this project in April upon completion of the Downtown Walkability Assessment.

City of Sandy Comprehensive Plan Update:  Staff will be meeting in the coming weeks with Councilors and Planning Commissioners to get their high-level visions and priorities for the Comprehensive Plan update.  Staff is also developing an RFQ for a consultant and looking into potential grant opportunities.

The Views Planned Development (20-028):  City attorney is working on writing up the final order for this project – it will be ready for the Mayor to review in mid-March.

Next Adventure Phase III Addition (21-006 DR/VAR):  This proposed project to upgrade the front building at Next Adventure has been received.  Staff to begin completeness check shortly.

16600 362^nd (20-053 TREE/VAR):  This application for tree removal from 16600 SE 362^nd Drive including a variance request for removal of healthy trees in the protected 30-foot tree preservation buffer is currently under review.

Tickle Creek Apartments (20-052 DR/MOD):  Developers of this project, formerly called Phase II of the Double Creek Condos project, requested modification adjustments to site layout, amenities and building elevations.  Final order was issued by staff on February 10^th. 

Internal projects: 

• Permanent Outdoor Covered Structures grant program:  This program was given a status review at the 3/8 SURA Board meeting:
  • All projects reviewed by Board; Board decision to keep moving forward with program was unanimous.
  • Ria’s/SFR – Construction will start on site around 3/20; should only take a couple of days to complete.
  • Le Happy – Scope of work being developed; nest step: put project out to bid.
  • Boring Brewing – Engineer discovered some issues with the site that need to be mitigated prior to building structure.  Engineering pending.
  • Waiting on engineering – No Place Saloon, Sandlandia, Red Shed Public House
  • Additional work needed – Paola’s, Tollgate Inn, Beer Den
• City Hall Repipe Project:  This project is now complete and has provided the City of Sandy with the following upgrades:
  • All potable water in City Hall is now flowing through brand new copper piping.
  • The City Hall water heater was replaced with a new, super high efficiency heater – “hot” water in City Hall is actually hot again.
  • The “knocking” sound coming from pressure build up in the old system has been mitigated.
  • Asbestos wrap around one pipe was identified and removed from the building.
  •  This project was completed on time and just slightly over budget (asbestos wrap was discovered after start of project – testing, removal and disposal was $2,200) – many thanks to Portland Mechanical Contractors for their professional and speedy work.
• Cedar Ridge Demo RFQ:  Staff received a scope of work and engineering from PBS Environmental in the first week of March.  City administration will make a decision about next steps.
• Community Center Porte Cochere & ADA Upgrades project:  Staff is making some final edits to the documentation to send out for bid, and the Community Center Director is working on the scope of work for the project.  Should be ready by the end of March.
• Minor changes to Community Center:
  • Lighting:  Complete.
  • Garbage enclosures:  Complete. 
  • West entrance awning:  Complete.
  • West entrance – new metal door:  Completed March 11
  • Homeless lighting: Complete.

Kelly’s Kudos

I want to thank the folks at the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) for their assistance on the House Bill 2001 considerations.  Sean Edging, Jennifer Donnelly, and Ethan Stuckmayer have been tremendous resources in helping write code, write findings for the ordinance, and interpreting state legislation.  They have also been more than willing to assist the Planning Commission and City Council in the form of presentations.  Emily Meharg and I are impressed with DLCD staff knowledge, patience, and interest in making Sandy’s municipal code comply with House Bill 2001.

Economic Development items:

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

• Façade project – Mtn Moka Building:  No visible progress has been made on this project since the last report.  Only lighting work remains.  Property owner asked via email in February when his final reimbursement check would arrive – the response to him was basically “As soon as the project is completed.”
• Façade project – Old Church on Pioneer Blvd:  Work continues on this project – steeple work is now completed; general contractor seems to be refocusing his efforts on completing siding and painting work.  City is assisting property owner with design work to replace entry flat work with an ADA accessible path to the front door; design work has been accepted by All County Surveyors and is in process.  Project appears to be about 80% complete.  
• TI project – Smoky Hearth:  This project (resealing of the concrete floors throughout the interior of the building) is now complete.  The owners have fulfilled the terms of the contract and have been reimbursed.
• Taco Time: This business has been closed since the February storm due to damage caused by snow pack on the roof. Water got into the ceiling and made quite a mess, but fortunately there was no structural damage to the building. Contractors have been repairing the damage, and a test of the kitchen’s fire suppression system was successful. No word on a reopening date yet, but this closure is temporary.
  

Econ Devl – Internal Projects:

Downtown maintenance:

• Homeless encampment cleanup:  Code Enforcement and the Sandy PD are currently addressing an expanding homeless encampment in the natural area on the east side of lower Ruben Lane.  Ant Farm Youth Services has been retained to provide the clean up labor, and the property owner is paying the lion’s share of the cleanup costs (the only City financial contribution to this project is the cost of renting the 10 yard trash container and the dumping fees).
• AF Downtown Maintenance – hiatus:  This is a general reminder that the AntFarm Downtown Maintenance crew is currently on hiatus for the winter.  We typically re-engage with them when the flower baskets are installed in May unless specific items arise during that time.  We already have several medium sized projects lined up for them this spring already – if Council members take notice of any specific areas in downtown Sandy that need attention, please send an email to the Economic Development Manager detailing the issue and we will get it on the schedule for maintenance.

Econ Devl – Economic Development Committee:

The February meeting of the Economic Development Committee was cancelled, primarily due to a combination of reopening activities for some of our members and meeting fatigue.  The April meeting of the Committee will take place on Wednesday, April 7^th at 6:30 pm.

Econ Devl – Conferences/training:

There were no conferences or training opportunities for Economic Development in the month of February.