Tour of Affected Areas

In November 2009, the City organized a tour of areas that may be affected by the new Natural Resources Overlay code.

The idea was to provide an opportunity for Advisory Group participants, the Planning Commission, and City staff to visit a sampling of the types of sites that the new rules will impact, to give us all more background information for the related discussions soon to follow.

The tours took place on two dates in November, starting from City Hall.

Each tour provided a mix of residential, institutional/commercial, and natural areas.

• Sunday, November 8 (1:30pm) – Approximately 20 people joined City staff for site visits to a residential site in Island Station, Milwaukie Presbyterian Church, the Blount International campus off International Way, and North Clackamas Park.
   
• Saturday, November 14 (10:00am) – Approximately 12 people joined City staff for site visits to the Portland Waldorf School, residential sites on Washington St and in Island Station, and a wetland area on Willow St north of Lewelling Elementary
   
• Legal Note: These tours were primarily aimed at introducing Advisory Group participants to the types of situations the code will come up against and not to reach any conclusions about the merits of any particular situation.

  In the future, there may be land use matters that involve some of the sites visited. At that time, a participant in the Advisory Group could be in a position where they are acting as a decision maker on a particular application.

  The purpose of these visits is not to form opinions about any specific property, only to gather a general sense of what issues are present in the community.