Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Hey, like to call to order the meeting of the planning commission for January 26th, 2026. Uh Christina, can you please call roll? Chair Narok here. Vice Chair Bruce here and Commissioner Moreno here. Mitchell here. Guinea here. Slime here. and Ting here. Joining us as also um council leazison Rachel Ber.

Thank you. Uh moving on to item number three on the agenda, city council update. Uh councelor Verdict, we invite you to join us.

Great. Thank you. And I'm excited to be your liaison for this next year. and I will be attending at least one meeting a month. But if you need me in between or have questions, please don't ever hesitate to reach out. I'm happy to do so. I'll be in contact with Eric quite a bit as well. So again, if there's anything you need or any questions, any clarifications, just please reach out and let me know. Um my updates are not as long as Councelor Wland's, but probably not as short as some of my colleagues. So um if you have questions, please again just let me know. But the last two weeks we've had um some great study sessions. One was on the library and the need for a new library and why we need a new library. So again, if there's any interests, if you'd like me to go more into that, I'm happy to. If not, you know, I know you guys always have very busy uh meetings, but that was an excellent discussion. is basically that the existing library is the building's done and we need we have to get a new location because that location will not suffice for the size of a library that we need. So when it was built in the 1980s it was already approximately 25% under the size that was recommended at that time. It was supposed to be around I want to say if I'm remembering correctly 37,000 square feet and it was built at like 28,000 square feet approximately. Um, now you know in the ideal deal world we'd be having like a 70,000 square foot library. We can't afford that. So that won't happen. But obviously another 28,000 ft is not going to suffice either for the way libraries have changed as well as um just the general needs of the community. So we as a city and as a community, we really need to start looking at where can this new library go? What should it look like? what um features do we want this library to have? Um, and if none of you have been

to an updated library recently, I really recommend that you go because they're very different than the traditional libraries that you see um or our library that's quite old now. But again, the building is falling apart and the site can't grow the size of building that we need. So, we really need to be moving that location. But there are a lot of um neighborhood concerns, a lot of community concerns that we need to have some very thoughtful um discussions on. We also had a study session on foothills, which we'll be talking about tonight, so I won't go into that. Um we had updates on the pedestrian improvement projects that have been going on, specifically Lake View Boulevard. So if you haven't driven down Lake View, I really recommend you do. It's pretty impressive what they've done. Um, also updates on Meadow Lark Lane and Treetop Lane are some of the bigger areas. Um, there's been some other smaller ones, but those are three of the key improvement areas that were done. Uh, we had updates to the storm water manual as well and an economic development strategy update. And we also discussed um home occupancy, which we're going to be continuing that discussion at our next meeting. And you guys are very aware of that. So, any questions or anything I can answer for you or anything else, any other topics if you ever want to, you know, me to present on, just let me know.

Thank you so much for coming. I uh questions about the library. Um, do they have any potential locations of where the new library might go? And then would that require like a bond measure to fund it? Is that what

it will require a bond? Um, we obviously want to get through and get the bond for Southshore Fire Station taken care of first. So, you know, we're kind of holding off on exactly what type of bond would be needed. We also have to determine a location before that. Um, we're still having discussions with the school district to see if by chance there would be space available on the um uh the Lake Grove Elementary School site. We that's just an unknown. So, we're going to continue those discussions. It it may or may not work. the school first needs to look after their own needs and then we'll see if there's any land, you know, available and and if it's enough because the last thing I think we want to do is to build another building that's too small.

That was the location that came to mind. And when you speak of modern libraries, I think of the Tiger Library. It's such a nice open building, great floor plan, nice amenities. I mean, something like that in Lake Augo would be amazing.

Yeah, exactly. I mean, a lot more kind of community spaces where people can come together, maker spaces. Um, and I believe it's uh March 14th, the library is going to do um an event around different maker spaces and different what that means and what that could look like. So, I definitely I think that's on a Saturday. If you can head over to the library, check it out, give your feedback, that would be fantastic because again, it's just all about seeing what's what do people want. But maker spaces are really cool and they can take a lot. They can be more formal, they can be informal. I mean, take a lot of different shapes. And we also don't have within the library a good place for when we have authors come to speak. I mean, cramming people between I don't know if any of you have been there, but you're sitting between, you know, the aisles of books and it's we can do better.

Yes, we can. It's intimate. Yeah. Very. That's a nice way of putting it. But here we have like, you know, beautiful city hall. We have beautiful Lorac, you know, even our maintenance center. So cool. If you haven't gone over to the maintenance center, I love it. It's one of my favorite buildings. But and then we have our our comfy cozy library. So, um yeah, there's just a lot that can be done and it's I love looking at what we like to call the library of the future and what that looks like. So, a lot of opportunities there for our community. Thank you very much, counselor Verdict. We look forward to having you as our liaison this year.

Thank you. Moving on to item number four, approval of minutes from January 12th, 2026. Are there any revisions requested to the minutes? All right, hearing no revisions, uh, can I I hear a motion to approve the minutes as written. I'll make a motion to approve the minutes as written. Right. Second.

Thank you very much. Oh, and thank you for the second meeting. Minutes are approved as written for January 12th, 2026. Moving on to item number five, public comment. Christina, do we have anyone signed up for public comment tonight? None tonight.

All right. Uh, next is number six, Commission for Citizen Involvement, general updates. I did not see any attachments for announcements. So, I think we can move past that one tonight. Which brings us to item number seven, our work session for the Foothills District plan update. And Eric, you'll be leading us in that. Or I'm sorry, Mr. Olsen.

Thank you. Thank you. There we go. Uh, thank you, Chair Nhach. Um, and I guess before I get into the work session, I just wanted to pause. Um, I just wanted to I don't think we have an official agenda item for this, but just wanted to note that we have a new um sort of contracting attorney with us tonight um that will be working with um the planning commission and the planning department um for the next year at minimum. So, I just wanted to take a brief moment to introduce Subani Miller.

Thank you. And I think I said hi to almost everybody individually, but I'm Sivani Miller. I'm with Miller Nash. Um I've been working with public entities and doing land use um since my first year practice, which was in 2017. And I am very happy to be here. I will be I think mostly in the background, but I will be here for hearings and anything else um that you or staff feel that I should attend. So thank you.

Yeah. So, I we really appreciate Suani being here tonight. Um, you know, we aren't going to have the most hearing heavy year. You know, we have a lot of multi-year projects that we're kind of beginning this year or kind of underway this year, but to the extent that we're going to be leaning on, um, legal support, Subani will be that legal support for the commission. Um, so with that being said, um, I'll move into the work session. Uh, I should note we had originally intended to have, um, our consultants, um, with first 40 ft be here in person tonight, but, um, they've been stricken with the flu. that's kind of going around I think um a lot of different places including their firm. So we have uh Jason Graph joining us virtually here tonight um via Zoom. Um Jason, do you want to go ahead and just briefly introduce yourself? I think he's been here at a previous commission meeting, but yeah,

I have. Yeah, thanks Eric for having me here and letting me be virtual. I think you would all benefit tremendously from me being at home and not in your presence. But, um, I'm glad to be here and support Eric this evening. I think we had a great great conversation with council. Um, and so I think this update is is timely and we're excited to get in front of you all tonight. So, thank you.

Yeah, thanks Jason. So, I'll be taking um, you know, a lot of the lead with the presentation tonight, but um, you know, just if only just to save Jason's voice and um, you know, hopefully save some strain there. But, uh, you know, I just wanted to let you know that he's here and I will be pausing every once in a while to see if he has anything to add to the discussion. Um, but with that, I can begin my presentation. All right. So, as we've kind of mentioned before, we're really talking about opportunities and constraints tonight. Um, we talked about this also with city council at their recent meeting on January 6th. Um there's a lot to go over but ultimately um you know a lot of that is quite technical. You might have noticed there were a number of different attachments some of them quite technical along with um this meeting packet. So, I'm going to do my best to provide a quite high level overview and also um provide you with a bit of a high level overview of what we heard from city council in terms of direction on some of the um sort of implications of the opportunities and constraints that we did identify for this phase of the work. And um then we'll hopefully talk about if you have any questions and um if you have any sort of differing opinions or um directions sort of based on what we heard from them. So, we'll get to it. Of course, good evening. Um, we're going to talk a little bit about what we we've done to date. Again, opportunities and constraints in the Foothills District based on some pretty intensive technical work over the last several months from the consultant team and our community advisory committee and um lots of lots of folks we've engaged with and um have a discussion with you about how that information should inform um the development of our conceptual plan alternatives. So, um, and again, I should point out, um, we have, uh, actually a member of our CAC here on the commission tonight and chair NHK. So, it's great to have

you on the CAC, the community advisory committee for the project as well. And we also have the chair of the community advisory committee here with us in the audience tonight, Randy Arthur. So, I appreciate you being here, Randy. Good to see you. Um so just to provide some context for for folks and again this might be a little bit of um review from our August work session. Um but the original uh plan that was adopted for this area um when we talk about foothills we're talking about roughly the area um between uh State Street and the Wamut and between Triion Creek and uh roughly uh the uh sort of Whole Foods development over there on State Street. So roughly in that area. Um, you know, we had originally done some planning for that effort back in 2010 or so and it resulted in the adoption of the foothills framework plan, the original version in 2012. Um, so, you know, obviously a lot has changed since then. So, we want to take a look um at what has changed in the district, but also kind of lean uh quite a bit on what was done at that time cuz, you know, when you look at things like geotechnical analysis, those things are um those things don't change within uh 14 years. So there's there's some things that we can continue to lean on. Uh, of course, one of the things that's prompting this work is the proposed relocation of the wastewater treatment facility. Uh, that currently it's called the Trion Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. Um, and it is proposed to be relocated to a site um, just to the west of where it's currently located. And we'll see that on some maps um, here in the next few slides. So that um as you know we've discussed previously that does introduce um constraints and opportunities in and of itself. Um of course this is an area close to the Wamtt River so it does present some access and flood plane challenges um particularly with respect to access. Um you know there is only one

current entrance to the district today um for vehicles. Um, so that's something that we are hoping to address and really trying to look for where it would make sense for a second access point um for the district to really promote um safety sort of particularly due to those um flood plane constraints. You know, I think that's something that we've um affirmed as being a high priority for this project. And of course um you know there's this constant question of how are we going to pay for this work? So um ultimately this will be um you know we are going to do this plan um and make some recommendations for what would be included in terms of um not just you know the land uses but also the street um layout configurations and a number of projects that could be undertaken in the area infrastructure projects that would be included in an urban renewal plan. So the idea would be to um finance those through TIFF or tax increment financing um funding um through an urban renewal plan. And generally speaking, the idea would be to um you know, sort of when the current urban renewal area in this part of the city, the East End redevelopment area, um expires, which should take place roughly at the end of 2027, early 2028. Um we um are planning to sort of you know draw lines for a new urban renewal area in foothills and hopefully incorporate some of the properties that we still do um anticipate uh developing in this part of the city sort of in the downtown area as well. So we don't necessarily see the urban renewal area as being just confined to foothills. And you know in a lot of ways due to that access consideration you know it's important not to look at just the district itself but think about how it connects to things adjacent um to you know the the foothills district specifically. Um the connections across State Street are are going to be a challenge for this project. So we'll talk a little bit more

about that in terms of the process and engagement we've done to date. Of course, um you saw in the meeting packet, existing conditions and technical analysis. A lot of work um that we completed um there that um we've uh distributed for a little while now. Um it's been made available for almost a month, but we're still kind of unveiling it um publicly. It is available in a story map as well um on our website. So that's supposed to be a little bit more friendly for public consumption, a little bit easier of a way for uh members of the general public to work their way through the content. Although it is still a lot of content, so it does get a little bit technical and there's a lot of information there. Um, of course, you know, those that technical work informed the assessment of opportunities and constraints. Um, again, kind of interrelated with that um existing conditions piece. Um but of course the you know engagement piece is really a big part of this work as well. Um we did have a study session here with the planning commission talking about just that what our public engagement strategy um was proposed to be back in August. And so um moving you know into January we've done quite a bit of work since then. Uh we've held three meetings in a site tour. So roughly four meetings of the community advisory committee. Um so really diving into quite a bit of content there and getting into um you know discussion of um vision and goals which we're hoping to transition to shortly with the planning commission as well. Um and we've also held one meeting of our technical advisory committee. Um, so that's, you know, more of a a group of, uh, folks from partner agencies and other city staff that are working in departments that are going to be, um, impacted by this work or, you know, um, they're going to have opportunities as a result of this work, you might say. Um so you know we have folks um from you know agencies like ODOT metro um the

lake as we go trolley consortium um agencies of that nature as well as property owners in the districts on the TAC. Um so we are we've done one meeting so far really just an intro meeting and hoping to uh meet again with them in the next month or so. Um we've also conducted interviews with developers about four different developer interviews thus far. Um we did two focus groups um with sort of a select group of um Lake Asiggo residents kind of mediated focus groups um with a firm called THM that does that type of work um polling and research as well as nine meetings of more targeted stakeholder outreach. with different um groups um you know advocacy groups and community groups um within the area that can help us connect to populations that we might not typically reach out to and connect to with this type of planning work. So trying to really spread out and branch out a little bit further than we do for some of these planning initiatives. Um, we've also talked with city council a number of times about this. Most recently on the 6th of January, their first study session of the year um on opportunities and constraints. A lot of that information will um summarize with you all today. So, what we've heard so far through that um initial sort of round of engagement, you know, there is a strong interest in improving access and connectivity in the foothills area. And that's, you know, really consistent with, I think, that really clear need for for that when you look at just the site conditions. Um, we've heard that there's a desire for meaningful riverfront public space and trails. So, um, really wanting to activate that waterfront and connect a lot of the different trail networks that exist within Lake Asiggo, and there are a lot of opportunities for that within this district. Um, there's a lot of support for mixeduse redevelopment. So, um really we've been looking at redevelopment in an area that's currently zoned industrial within this

area and folks um have expressed support for introducing a mix of residential and um essentially ground floor commercial or limited commercial within that area. So, not necessarily, you know, a requirement for ground flooror commercial, but there is definitely some interest in introducing commercial in that area. Um retail, restaurants, shopping, things of that nature. Um, there's been concerns about limits on public access. You know, I think there's a sense that, you know, if we develop a lot of high-end residential along the waterfront that it might be sort of privatized or at least feel privatized. So, folks want to make sure that that doesn't happen, that it still is all publicly accessible and that the the neighborhood kind of feels that way as well. Um we've heard a lot of concerns also about traffic in the area which um again because it's a little bit hard to access some of the backups that can um occur on State Street uh near the entrance on um on Foothills there on Foothills Road. Um you know that obviously can be difficult. Obviously um there's there are some big events as well in that area including um concerts in the park over the summer. Uh, a lot of folks have um experienced some congestion down there for those events and obviously that's kind of the height of of when that occurs, but we have heard that from folks. Flooding um, you know, is definitely a concern down in this area. We um have mapped out and looked at what the extent of the 1996 flood is in that area and are thinking about ways to manage the flood plane to avoid that um from being um sort of a threat for development in that area. Um we've heard concerns about environmental impacts um particularly um with the confluence of Triion Creek and the Wamut. There's really um some interesting ecological uh uh ecological sites I suppose. Um the Triion Creek itself has been seen um or has been identified rather as a really

important habitat for salmon and moray eels. Um so or I'm sorry, lampray eel, I'm sorry. Um so uh you know it's interesting to me. I did not know that actually we see um salmon that are actually swimming up Triion Creek and and going up there to um you know to to lay their eggs and do their thing. Um so it's kind of um something that I didn't realize you know they're actually going through the existing culvert making it all the way through that and folks have actually seen salmon on the other side of that up on Triion Creek. So, um, really kind of a cool, um, climate in terms of the actual water on Triion Creek that we've heard, um, makes that really valuable for salmon habitat. Um, and of course, we've heard a lot of, um, concerns again about the money, so the cost of all the infrastructure that it will take to overcome these obstacles, particularly with the access, topography, and flood plane. Um, a lot of what we heard has also, um, talked about the importance of really connecting this area, the foothills area to downtown. um it's really not necessarily visible or you know something that folks keep in mind when they're in the downtown part of Lake Asiggo. And um I think there's a desire for sort of visual connectivity as well as you know not just vehicular access but pedestrian and bike access as well and making that more seamless between downtown and the foothills area. So, as I touched upon just a second ago, we have embedded a lot of this information into um what we're calling a story map. It's something that we're going to continue to update throughout the course of the project um with information as we get it. Um we got a huge chunk of information with this existing conditions work. So, that's what's on there currently. There are a number of opportunities for folks in the public to go and answer questions and provide their input. So, we're still not necessarily to the design phase, but we really wanted to provide that opportunity for folks to let us know

what they think and let us know how they experience and interact with this part of the city. So, um we're starting to get that input from folks already and through the story map and that will stay available for quite some time um throughout the through the end of February at least. So let's talk a little bit about the existing conditions that we did find in this area um and kind of what's shaping the uh district in terms of physical and environmental constraints. So there is, you know, if you've been to the area, you've noticed really steep topography. Um, you know, it is um between the downtown area and the Wamtt River, there is a considerable downslope and some of those slopes are what we would identify as steep slopes um in our mapping system or slopes over 25%. So you can see those in red on the map and a lot of those are um associated with a riparian area, but not all of them. And in general, it is um a challenging place to get your head around when it comes to the topographical uh layout. Um so that's something that we'll have to keep in mind through all phases of the project. Um of course, Triion Creek is the upper boundary of this area and you can see that um there are um you know, sensitive lands that are delineated along that creek in in the sort of green dashed area um that you can see along Triion Creek. Uh, you know, that's another opportunity also to think about um trail connectivity. You know, there's currently no bridge across Triion Creek. The trail through Foothills Park does kind of come to a terminus at that north point, but there have been some discussions about um improving connectivity to the north. There's a park to the north called Triion Cove Park um that could be expanded or improved upon. Um, so that's been in the talks of some of the parks planning and that's something that folks have been talking about of course with Foothills as well. Um, when it comes to the street connectivity, it's worth pointing out

though that, you know, there's a large creek there. It is, you know, there's significant topography that gets down to the creek. Of course, if we want to build build streets there, a bridge would be required. So that is a a real constraint. Um and you know we want to make sure to abide by the city's sensitive land regulations and delineate those with this work. So we'll get a better understanding of exactly where that um barrier exists with this and flood plane of course is a really big consideration. Um you can see in the light blue line there the 1996 flood inundation area. Um if you see that um in in the correct way, you can see that things um that were left out of the flood inundation include the existing wastewater treatment facility or at least the portions of it that were designed to be um you know left out of a flood event as well as the adjacent Asiggo Point village condominiums. So you know it is possible to introduce some fill in this area and result in outcomes that would avoid flood damage for properties in this area. But you know obviously it's not going to in its current state a lot of um work would be required and there will be some challenges in terms of the phasing of that work. So you know if all of these properties don't all develop at once um it will be a challenge to figure out how to successfully accomplish that. Um so that's going to be something that will continue to be a challenge for this project. Um you can see the wetlands of course that um could accomp accompany both Triion Creek and areas near Triion Cove. Um as well as resource lands that can constrain sort of where you can develop in this area. Um we'll be looking um as I mentioned before the relocation of that wastewater treatment facility which you can see in the sort of upper right corner of the district um right sort of at the corner of the confluence of the Wamut and Trian Cove that is proposed to

be relocated to um not sure I think I might be able to point with this. So proposed to be relocated to this area here within that white polygon and that will be um the new site roughly. So what that does though is it opens up some development land on the former site. Um so it's really going to be um you know an opportunity for the city to think about how that is deconstructed, how um you know that that interfaces with the edges of Triang Cove and Try Creek to the north, Wamit to the um east as well as you know all the other sort of development that we are hoping will occur in this area. Um but um you know there is some opportunity at least when it comes to balancing cut and fill um to think about how that works with some of the land there and we'll talk a little bit more about that. Um but for this slide um I also want to point out that the rail corridor um that goes through the district. It kind of for most of the district is parallel to State Street. Um but as you see it's in that um sort of thick white line that comes down along State Street here and curves up and goes over um the Wamut not too far to the north. And um of course we know where that crossing is on State Street. I think you know some of us might have gotten stuck at that crossing as well. So that's another constraint in terms of traffic. Um but that can also make it difficult to um provide new access. So there's really um you know a lot of different challenges that that could present. There's a limited number of areas where the rail is actually at grade and would not require like a tunnel or a bridge or or some type of large infrastructure project to get over or under the rail and into the district. Um and I've talked a little bit about the flooding, but you know we we aren't just looking at the 1996 levels. You know, I think we are going to look at

some more um severe events, but that is obviously really critical to any successful development in this area is making sure to stay out of the flood plane um making it as resilient as possible. In terms of infrastructure and access, I pointed out a bit of this, but um there is just one current access to the district down um to sort of the south of the district. And you know there's it's not super intuitive how you would um enter from this area and get up to the sort of focus area and the industrial part of this area uh of foothills. Um a lot of it is used to enter the apartments thego point condos and apartments are located down in this area roughly. So um much of that intersection is used for this access. Um so that will be you know an important access point. We're not, you know, proposing to do anything to to limit that. Um, you know, I think there is we have heard some concerns that it does feel a bit private that particular entrance. It feels like you are entering sort of the private uh apartment and condominium development. So, there's potentially some work to make that feel a little bit more welcoming. Um, however, you know, we're looking at other access points to the north as being also important um, you know, alternatives to that one access point. Uh right now, you know, we um are looking primarily at this public storage access point, which there currently is a crossing for this particular property. There's a public storage site here along State Street. I think it's 800 North State Street. And um it does not connect with the rest of the district currently. Um so this would have to be you know a long-term plan where the city um you know we could utilize the existing sort of atgrade crossing for um greater access to the district and and have you know a trail or a road um down to the rest of the foothills area come down

through that existing property. Of course the current use could not stay on that property. So that presents a complication. Um, so, you know, that's what we see as the um the best option or the least worst option, I guess, um, you could say. Um, there's some other options that we're looking at as well, though. Um, that could occur to the north, and I'll talk a little bit about that in a future slide. Um, but they would involve tunneling or bridging likely um, due to the elevation of the rail at those different points. as well as if if we were to cross um at the intersection of Turwilliger and State Street um you'd also need to have a bridge over Triang Cove. So that would also present some environmental challenges as well as it it would be quite costly you could imagine. Um so you know obviously it's the lack of access is not just an issue for um enjoyment of the district from you know the a normal resident of the city but also for emergency access for residents in the actual area being able to um avoid a potential hazardous event or you know anything that they need to um you know escape for emergency reasons. So, I think, you know, there are a lot of concerns that would lead us to really push for that second access point. Um, and as I pointed out a little bit, the timing is going to be something we have to think about quite a bit here in the phasing of of what this all looks like. We have current industrial uses in the area. A number of those um are likely interested in redeveloping at some point in the future. A number of those we haven't really heard much interest in redeveloping in the near future. Of course, things change once you get a zoning designation down on paper and have a tangible plan and once you hear commitment from city council, etc. Um, but in particular, you know, for instance, this public storage site, um, you know, we have no sense that um, the owner necessarily is wanting to to sell

that property. I think it's a very um, lucrative business actually. So there are a number of challenges that are you know that again we have with um you know thinking about what that could look like from that particular property. Um and you know there are other businesses down in this area. There's an existing um concrete plant um where they uh make concrete. Um and it is currently operating. Um I think you know there's potentially you know a desire to um redevelop that property but it is viable currently. Um, as you may imagine, um, some of these industrial uses will likely require some remediation, particularly something like concrete or, um, even the wastewater treatment, um, facility infrastructure up here. There will be, um, some really important work to figure out kind of what's in the soil and how much work it'll take to make it development ready. Um, that's going to be true of this entire area. Um so again the timing of that is really difficult to uh sort of think about how that how that would exactly work but we do know that the wastewater treatment uh relocation is probably going to be the first thing that we see in this area. So um that phasing at least you know it is a challenge but it will be something that we consider as we show this um in the future in terms of the different design alternatives and what those could look like over time. And as I mentioned before, there are trail networks in the area, but they are complete or I'm sorry, incomplete. Um, they are becoming more and more complete though. Actually, the Foothills Park connection down to George Rogers Park actually is going through land use currently and should be um complete fairly soon um with within the year I believe or or something close to that. So, um it presents a huge opportunity then to think about what other connections we could make particularly when you have something like the Triang Creek State Park that really um comes and um you know a huge uh important

trail within that state park comes down to State Street and just kind of ends kind of comes to a terminus and there really isn't many places there aren't many places for um pedestrians or bicyclists to go at that point. So, we're thinking about um what that could look like and how that could connect to the district, too. As I mentioned, we did talk to some developers or the consultants rather conducted some developer interviews. So, in terms of the market for redevelopment in foothills and what's kind of shaping that today, um we did hear some developer interests, but um you know, there were some sensitivities to things like access, which I've talked about, flood plane and the cost of infrastructure. So, um, you know, I think there's a tendency for when we talk about this as a city to say, well, we can get the developer to help pay for that particular piece of infrastructure, but then, you know, they have that as, of course, a concern. They would like it to be as ready as possible when they get there. Um, and, you know, I think the development community is uh is understanding um that they will need to have the sufficient level of density to make their project sort of pencil out. Um, you'll need to work on placemaking and amenities in that area. There is a beautiful park. Few foothills park is is really what we call a gem of the city, but it is kind of a little bit hidden back there behind um you know some industrial areas. You know, it's I'm not going to um say that it's the you know most um blighted area ever. you know, it's it's a there there's definitely uh some viable businesses down there, but it's not the um you know, exact context I think that residential uh developers would would uh prefer in terms of placemaking and amenities. um particularly the um pedestrian amenities could use a lot of work and um again that phase um the the concern about phasing and what that's going to look like and you know are we going to be developing you know if we develop first are we just going to be you know developing um next to industrial

buildings for a few years and you know I think that's a concern that developers have as well so yeah in terms of the limits on redevelopment potential that single access point really constrains circulation and safety and the rail corridor um makes it so that those multimodal connections are are difficult. Um it's difficult to get you know anything over there, vehicles, bicycles or pedestrians. Um and in particular the wastewater treatment facility um where it's proposed to be located is actually located in the area where um the 2012 plan had previously envisioned um a main road um access road going through. So, we're going to have to revisit obviously that configuration from the 2012 plan. Um, the flood plane regulations currently um as they're presented um do limit the buildable area. You do have to balance, cut, and fill. Um, and if you're kind of located in a lowering area, that can be really difficult to do. Um, and there's a lot of folks that are concerned that this will redevelop in a way that's isolated from the rest of the city. And um I think we heard that a lot about the the park in particular that folks enjoy the park, but it does feel a bit isolated. Of course, there are some really thriving large residential communities in that area. So I I don't want to give you the feeling that the entire place is isolated, but um particularly at night and in these industrial areas, it can have that isolated feeling. So yeah, please

is there a distinction between access like pedestrian access versus vehicle access that's being made or we just looking at access as like both one one point being both?

I am talking about it relatively broadly right now. I think um when we talk about access points um with respect to this map we're talking about vehicular access primarily. uh when we think about pedestrian or bicycle access, there are more opportunities that could um be presented because there's fewer sort of infrastructure needs there. You don't have to have um quite as large of an area or, you know, I think you can also do a little bit more in terms of the design of of what the the um pathways can do as opposed to a road. Um, so you you might recall with the 2012 plan, there was kind of this grand um they keep on referring to it as a Spanish steps like transition between the downtown area and foothills where um I think it was close to B Avenue. Um it was going to sort of step down and transition um from downtown into this new area. There was also a street car envisioned so it was coming down to kind of a street car plaza. Um at that point um the location of the wastewater treatment facility um does make it difficult to use that same exact kind of pedestrian entrance. It could be easily kind of modified I think though um to do something similar but um yeah there there are more opportunities for pedestrian um trail or you know bicycle access than for vehicular access. But they're all concerns.

Okay. And those pedest pedestrian ones are being explored as well. We're just looking at the vehic ve vehicular ones right now.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. And you know there's um also that sort of trail access piece as I was referring to. You know there are a number of trails to the south of the area as well. So we're primarily looking at that um between downtown and um foothills along State Street those sort of crossing state street pedestrian connections. Um, so yeah, we've heard, you know, really that that secondary access, I think again really talking about vehicular access there would be necessary to unlock redevelopment and public access to the park and the waterfront. Um, you know, I think we would want to think about cut and fill on the wastewater treatment facility site as well. So um what will that look like in the context of cut and fill around it and how will that integrate um you know if we continue to strengthen the entire district as a riverfront destination um we've seen that um as being amendable to long-term redevelopment potential. Um also again the waterfront and trail connections and that mix of uses um potentially not just residential and commercial but also employment and public uses. So there's existing park and the wastewater treatment facility. Those are public uses to an extent. Um but the idea of employment uses is is something that also could be introduced down there. There are some offices currently in the area um down near the foundry building um down sort of in this area. Um so there are some offices currently that are being utilized in the district. So really, you know, we're talking about analysis and um, you know, really wanting to not just talk about what we found, but take that information and say, you know, so what how does this impact what we think we should um see down in the foothills area? How do we transition to a visioning discussion based on this information? So we are beginning that conversation and um intend to continue that conversation

with you as well um starting tonight but also we intend to continue with a uh another study or work session rather with you in early March on March 9th. Um so that will be the sort of more vision and goals focused work session at the planning commission. Um so you know we're continuing that sort of targeted engagement. Um, I didn't get into too much detail on that, but we're meeting with a number of different stakeholder groups and are continuing to to do that. Um, as well as the broader community. Um, we will be holding an open house in um, February on February 26th at the adult community center. And we'll be sharing all that information with all of you. Um, really trying to build on what we found in this um, existing conditions phase and align that with what we heard from city council. Um, so ultimately we're going to use that to develop this vision statement and guiding principles that will be informed by not just council, not just the commission, not just the community, but but everyone. So yeah, well, we we already did a site trip. Um, but you know, we did that in November. We were lucky um that it was actually a decent day. It wasn't too foggy. It wasn't raining. um wasn't really cold, but when the weather um starts to get better, there'll be a lot more opportunities for that. Um so yeah, uh you know, once we have that vision statement, we'll move into the sort of conceptual plan alternatives. We'll have um both conceptual and schematic plan alternatives that will test different sort of access and circulation schemes, different types of land uses and different densities um as well as different um approaches to open space and the waterfront. Um and again that phasing question will be really important here and when the city can pay for the infrastructure when that gets in um and how does that time up with development that we could expect to happen in the area. So um you know I'm talking tonight a

little bit just a a a wrap-up about what we heard from council. Um so this is um kind of what we used at council and I'm going to go through use those slides and then you'll see what we heard from council. So that's kind of why we're doing it in this way. So, um just an FYI, we we know you're not council. So, um anyway, we we we went to council and we asked them for a bit of direction about um you know, what um what these opportunities, constraints mean in terms of alternatives that could be developed, um trade-offs that could be explored for the project and outcomes they want to see emphasized. Um and then we are going to, you know, take that and return to city council at at our next meeting and and talk a little bit more about that. And obviously that's going to be reflected in the alternatives as well. Um so we talked about access and connectivity, flood plane and environmental strategy, land use and intensity, public realm and amenities as well as implementation and phasing. Terms of access and connectivity um we asked some questions about you know how should we approach that in the area and I won't talk too specifically about the questions but we did get really firm direction. Um, you know, I think some of these questions you might notice are, you know, how should access and connectivity be prioritized to support redevelopment, safety, and integration with downtown? It's kind of um, you know, it it should be prioritized. You know, I think there's some some obvious answers here, and we got some um, good sort of confirmation from council that they shared um, you know, the the belief that these are priorities as well. Um so we got direction that sort of confirmed that that second uh entrance from the north is really important to the vitality of this area. Um you know we got a lot of interest actually in uh exploring access from Turwilliger Boulevard which again might be a lot more of expensive of an option but is something that would really um make a lot of sense considering where it's

located where this district is located. Um particularly considering that in this area if you look on the slide north of Triion Creek in Triion Cove um you know the city has some parkland and metro has been assembling some properties as well in that area. So um you know there's you know there could be property as well to facilitate that. Um so it is an opportunity that we want to keep on the table and at least keep talking about it but there are some clear challenges there. Um and they also confirmed that it's really important to ensure that um folks are able to walk, bike, and drive to this area. Um and that it's not difficult to find. I I don't know if anybody's actually um gone to the Triion Cove area up there um sort of near the Turwilliger Boulevard intersection of State Street, but um there's a road called Stamford Road that if you take a a ride, if you're going north, you can take a ride on and it is the tightest hairpin turn you've maybe ever done. It's just like we um on our on our bus tour of the area, we caused a mini sort of traffic jam along State Street just trying to sort of maneuver that turn and then you go sort of really um you dive deep down um you you go sort of down some uh significant topography so you can go under a bridge under the railway. The bridge is made of wood and it's quite old. Um it's a it's quite a structure actually but it's not necessarily something that you would think of like a modern infrastructure project being the end result including this this rail bridge and es especially with the Arabin turn you know there's a lot of work that needs to be done um in that area um to facilitate access just more broadly. So um you know I think uh a lot of a lot of work can be done um both in the district itself as well as um areas that connect to it. in terms of the flood plane and in the

environmental strategy. Um we talked a little bit about cut and fill in this area. Um talked a little bit about what the approach should be. You know essentially what we're doing is to um prop propose that we add some fill to the area where we would like to see um development sites created. Of course, um the wastewater treatment plant site um will involve some fill, but it's located sort of as the topography starts to transition up. So, they're able to balance that cut and fill on their site um without looking at this district-wide approach. Um but I think um you know what we're going to propose will be that district-wide approach. So, we're going to try to look at that on a larger scale um so that each individual property within the industrial area doesn't have to figure out how to do that within their own property boundaries. Um you know, and I think that's one thing that could be assisted um by the expansion of Foothills Park to the north. Um there could be some opportunities to sort of cut um some of the existing elevated areas of the Triion Creek wastewater treatment plant. um when you cut that, you create the ability to fill elsewhere in that district. And so we need to look in a little bit more depth at at what we could unlock. But the idea would be to balance out um fill you know within the areas where we want to see development with cut um closer to the water and to create areas where flooding can inundate safely um while you know raising the areas where we want it to not inundate. So we heard from council that they they want to do that. Um they they would like to balance cut and fill um and look at that sort of district scale. Um they also confirmed that watershed and repairing protection is a priority which is something that can really be bolstered with this type of approach and with creating sort of more areas for water to safely um kind of spill over um in the event of a flood. you can um

create some really healthy um riparian areas as well or if not create then um you know enhance the existing ones and you know I think one other thing that I haven't talked about too much yet um but it would be um another opportunity to think about the culvert project associated with Triion Creek um so I think um you know might want to look at a map from a previous slide here um but if You see Triion Creek here kind of goes up this uh vegetated riparian corridor. Um currently there is a culvert um and for a while there was a slated project um it was going to be for a while led by the city of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services because the existing wastewater treatment plant is a city of Portland facility. The new wastewater treatment plant is going to be a city of Lake Asiggo facility. um it will be operated by the city of Lake Asiggo and because of that the city of Portland bureau of environmental services is no longer really involved with the project um and it's not because of that but because of changes at the federal level um essentially there was a proposed covert replacement project here that would have been conducted in concert with the Army Corps of Engineers that has not really um advanced. So it was recommended for funding a few times but hasn't received any funding. So, this is all to say that this very important salmon corridor, this very important sort of wildlife um corridor connecting the um sort of uh mouth of Triion Creek to the rest of the watershed um is in need of a champion more or less. You know, it's something that is kind of up in the air. Nobody really is championing that project and moving it forward. So, um, you know, there is some interest from city council to think about re-engaging with that project and thinking about what that

could look like. It doesn't necessarily have to be a culvert, but some way to allow for um wildlife, you know, particularly against salmon and eels to travel um upstream through that area. As well as, you know, potentially thinking about that being a pedestrian or bicycle connection as well. if it was designed as like a bridge or something of that nature, there really could be some interesting opportunities there. Um, you know, uh, there's a lot of different ways that that could look. So, it doesn't have to be a culvert, but essentially that sort of fish passage project, um, and potentially a human passage project, I suppose, as well is something that, um, we did hear some interest in. We did talk a little bit about what type of uses and what intensity of uses should be in this area. Um we talked about housing, what other types of uses and the extent to which parks and open space should be a part of the identity of this area. I don't think it was really surprised to hear that we should you know obviously u maintain parks as being central to the identity while introducing housing is a really key consideration. Um you know again that waterfront uh component really um was emphasized as being important to the identity of the area. The um you know the mix of uses I think was envisioned to be a way to activate that uh waterfront itself. So that's kind of um you know kind of what the land use kind of interface was envisioned to be in that conversation. And um yeah, I think we got some differing opinions on like the scale of development that would be appropriate there. There's some um there's some initial appetite maybe for more density in that area, but um not just extremely dense development for it to be balanced out and for it to also feel very park-like and green. So um a balance is what we're hearing essentially. So, I

think it'll be really important for us to illustrate that with some massings and illustrations in the future so that folks can see what does it look like? What does it look like from downtown if you're looking straight down avenue um towards the foothills district? Um what does the the district itself look like? Can you see the Wamtt? Can you see Mount Hood on a clear day? You know, I think there's a lot of really amazing potential viewsheds that um we can consider with this particular location. Um, and you know, we wouldn't want buildings to kind of get in the way of that necessarily. So, um, you might notice that there are some buildings that kind of block that currently depending on where you're located. So, I think that's something we're hoping to improve and learn from. And again, this question about the public realm and what role they should play. Um, again, this is, um, a great park for the city and that, you know, I think we want to really leverage that investment that we've already made in the area and and expand upon that. Um, really want to, um, orient development in the area to that park and continue to extend this the tree canopy in that park and elsewhere. I think even in the apartments and condominiums, there's a really strong tree canopy that folks want to see extended through the district. Implementation and phasing is a little bit of a more open-ended question, but we did get some uh direction from council really to um focus on more catalytic initial projects that might stimulate future development. Um talk a lot with property owners on um you know, redevelopment opportunities to get a sense of what could happen when. Um but also, you know, a lot of this again to be determined in terms of the tiff and financing mechanisms. um we, you know, are going to be making a lot more progress on those pieces once we know a little bit more about what the vision is for this area and we've sort of nailed down an alternative, but um it's it's really difficult to get into these conversations without folks acting asking how it's going to be paid for. So

um you know, we don't want to get too far along and start promising things and then realize that there's no way we can actually afford them. So that's going to be front of mind the whole time. And luckily we do have Eco Northwest as a subconultant for our consultant team with first 40 ft. Um that is going to help us u make sure that we can keep things reasonable and keep cost in mind. I have been droning on here and I haven't gone to Jason um for any input in quite a while. Jason, do you have anything that you want to add for what I've gone through so far?

No, I think you've done a good job. It's a lot to to uh to work through and I think yeah, we're open to planning commission comments and just sort of addressing things that you all have top of mind. So, I'm happy to take a break and let let others with uh some questions to to reach out.

Absolutely. I I think this is very close to the end of the presentation, but um Christina, if you want to put the presentation back up really quick. Thanks for juggling. Just want to confirm Yes, that is more or less our last slide. So, just before we get into discussion, I would just mention uh next steps. Um we're going to continue to try to think about guidance from you, guidance from the commission as well as from um you know, the community, the CAC, the TAC, and and all the folks that we're engaging with um to develop that vision in the coming month or two. Um then we'll again talk about those alternatives and come back to city council on March 3rd and we're planning to come back to the commission on March 9th. um to talk about what we heard and refine the vision in particular at that particular meeting. So with that um like to open it up to discussion and um hear questions or any sort of guidance or direction you might have about the information we covered. Thanks. Uh fantastic presentation as always. Um, what stood out to me was you opened the presentation and you ended it with urban renewal and tiff and what an opportunity like what a timing opportunity gift that the East End redevelopment district is is winding down and and sort of phasing out right as this is ramping up because certainly um there'll be a noticeable bump in revenue for schools and services as that district closes. Um, and h myself having worked on many uh projects in the metro area in TIFF and URA like probably one of the higher performing like in the whole metro region. Millennium Park Plaza, the village here, all of these things. Um, just what an opportunity to uh and I know it's been suggested before, but the city hosts like an end of the URA party like to show the public like look at all these things that were

accomplished. Look what happened. It's been 40 years since the plan uh was passed and these were all the community benefits that I mean Tiffany are so um maybe not misunderstood but yeah just not understood at all if you were to ask folks well how how did we get uh all these amenities that are kind of taken for granted now and using that in foothills of like and this is the mechanism you know this is why this should be a seamless ending one URA opening up at the other this is the benefits. Um so what just just a comment like what an opportunity of the timing of having uh the east one come down right as the foothill stuff is starting to ramp up.

Yeah. Yeah. I I agree. It's a really great opportunity. We um you know of course there are still some developments in the east end redevelopment area that haven't come online yet that wouldn't you know necessarily be um contributing to the tiff district yet. So, we're hoping to try to capture that in what we're doing in the foothills area. Um, so, you know, something like North Anchor, which we've talked about for a while, but we haven't really seen break ground yet, will be um interesting to try to um time this particularly with with that development to try to figure out if we can get that in our URA potentially. So, hopefully that works out.

Thank you, Commissioner Guinea. Any further comments or questions for planning manager Olsen? I have a question. Can you give some examples of some of the business groups that you have been a part of these focus groups? I' I've looked for these like I went through all of the the attachments and I didn't see uh reference to either business or economic development. Maybe they're hidden in some of those groups.

Yeah. Um apologies if that wasn't immediately noticeable. We do have um several business representatives on the CAC. Um and we've been talking with representatives from the chamber as well, but um we have Lisa Shaw Ryan who's a local business owner, restaurant owner um in the downtown area that's on the CAC. Um we have Keelio O'Brien who's owns um the Lakeshore Inn over there on State Street actually in those properties, but he's a local business owner as well that's on the CAC. Um we have um Ken Sandlast is also a member of RCAC from the Chamber of Commerce as well. Been talking a lot with the Chamber of Commerce but I think in particular you know we need to um you know we have a lot of stakeholder engagement specific to businesses that needs to occur specific to businesses in the district that needs to occur still. Um we are planning to do um some sort of focus groups with those folks in in that particular area. Um but yeah, you know, I think uh we have incorporated a number of those folks into the CAC. We have been talking to folks sort of in our expanded um engagement work um that that touch on, you know, business ownership and and those issues, but primarily we're engaging with the chamber and and folks that um are on the CAC so far.

Okay. I just they're not on any of the lists like the the name the the Chamber of Commerce is not listed. Okay. Well, I apologize if that wasn't clear. Yeah, we there's so much to share here. So, I you know, I try not to share every single little thing in terms of um you know, the the makeup of the CAC, but you know, I can I'd be happy to share a little bit more about that in the future. And um you know, like I said, we are planning more focus groups, particularly focused towards that population um and property owners in the area as well. So we have a lot more, you know, sort of targeted outreach that we're planning for that population, too. You know, we we did work with businesses obviously for the site tour as well and reached out to them and and talked to them a bit. Um, you know, we reached out to folks as in terms of putting the CAC together. Um, but yeah, we we have more to do on that front for sure.

Good. Thank you. There's also a mention of a fairy. Can I thought that was really interesting. Can you

Yeah, I guess I kind of brushed over that. So yeah, you know, I guess that's another um potential sort of uh way to open up access to this area um would be from the waterfront. You know, that's there is a opportunity for folks to potentially um come to Lake Asiggo by ferry. So there's this kind of um still budding and not fully formed um effort um called Frog Fairy where there's folks with a lot of experience in the ferry business um from the Puet Sound area and um King County primarily um that have started to put together this organization. They have they know what they're doing. They've they've thought a lot about this where um the different sort of uh stations would be on their ferry routes. It would go from essentially Oregon City to Vancouver. Um, and there'd be stops in I think St. John's, which is great for me because that's where I live. But there would be downtown a number of stops as well as um, you know, Lake Asiggo Foothills um, park was considered a potential stop right now. I think they're looking to um, you know, add accessible ADA accessible stops if possible, but it's all still pretty theoretical. Um, I think they're still trying to do sort of like test runs and and sort of, you know, get people out on a a theoretical boat that could run the ferry route and see what it kind of feels like for folks out there. Um, but yeah, they're they're making some progress and I think we'd like to capitalize on that to the extent that it's possible. Um, Jason knows a lot more specifically here, so he's he's got a lot more of the frog fairy details for you.

I think he covered it pretty well, but yeah. Um I I covered the broad strokes at least, but you know there's um you know even they've thought about the timing of like what the sort of services could look like and and how commuters could theoretically get from you know some place like Vancouver to downtown Portland on a commute. Um, so you know, it's they they're laying the the um groundwork for something that could be really cool. And it's um really interesting to think about what that could mean for folks to arrive in Lake Asiggo on the dock there in Foothills Park and come up and experience Lake Asiggo um in that way and sort of connect downtown from from Foothills. So that's that's really um it could be a really interesting way for the the district to be unlocked. Thank you. That is exciting.

Yeah, Jason, please feel free to add anything I'm missing. Apologies.

Yeah, if there's any specific questions about that, I think I mean, you covered it pretty well. They've um you know, they've they've done the route timing. They've studied the vehicle. They've looked at all of the potential landings and and ways to access a variety of different points. So, Foothills Park ranks pretty high in terms of the boat dock that exists there today and the accessibility from that dock up into the park. You know, things that would need to be considered is what is the application in terms of payment. And so, there's some little bit of infrastructure that would need to go in place and of course with invigoration of the district and improving access from the park into downtown like Lake like Lake like Lake like Lake like Lake like Lake like Lake like Lake like Lake like Lake like Lake Asiggo that would be a benefit as well. But I think they're they're doing the due diligence to understand the capacity for it and the timing and you know the initial funding to kickstart the number of of um vehicles that they would need to start the program. So it's it's really interesting and it is a it's a qualified group of folks from the financing side to the operations side um and to the funding and organizations. So, um, it's this is a great time to continue that conversation and and keep Foothills as a part of that discussion. And, you know, this is this is a long-term project, but this is these are some of kind of the fun things that we get to we get to add into the mix.

Yeah. So kiosks and things like that might be necessary, but um I think we've identified with some fairly minimal improvements, it could be an accessible boat launch, I believe. So um yeah, it's a great opportunity. Thank you, Commissioner Marino. I have one uh one question. Um one thing that we hear about uh fairly frequently on the planning commission is a focus on affordable housing. has that been um kind of a a a topic of discussion for this area and how could we integrate expansion of affordable housing within the Foothills District?

Thanks for that question, uh Commissioner Bruce. Um I trying to cover all the things tonight and I missed these things. Um actually affordable housing is something that we are obligated through our housing production strategy to incorporate into the urban renewal plan in some capacity in Foothills. So, um, you know, we have committed to that. It could look a lot there's a lot of different ways it could, you know, manifest within either Foothills or, you know, potentially utilizing financing for Foothills um somewhere else. I'm not I'm not sure what that would look like, but um, you know, there's obviously land in that area. So, it is a possibility. We've talked a bit about, you know, again, the sort of um concern that the waterfront would be privatized if there was too much sort of high-end private development there, too. So, we have heard some support for um affordable housing more in the the realm of like workforce housing and housing that's affordable for for folks that that work here in particular. Um and it would be, you know, accessible to a lot of the different businesses downtown at least. Um so yeah, I think there are a number of different opportunities there. Um the uh resoning itself is actually a part of our housing production strategy. So the introduction of more units in that area is is something that we're going to hopefully be able to utilize for um our overall production in in the city. But, you know, I think in particular, we're going to be asked to, and we'll talk about this actually at our next um work session here at the planning commission, but we're going to be asked to deliver more units at specific income bracket ranges in the future by the state. So, um there are some opportunities to do that there. We have um somebody with a lot of knowledge about affordable housing on the CAC who's also on the planning commission. And we also have um another uh individual from North um Trell Anderson who um yeah I didn't know

if he used to be with Northwest Housing Alternatives or anyway um Trell with Northwest Housing Alternatives is also extremely knowledgeable about affordable housing and the different resources that are available that could come to play. Um so that's something that we've been thinking about this whole time but um didn't come into play I guess in terms of existing conditions on the site. Thank you. You're welcome. I just have one question. Is the wastewater treatment facility the driving force and all this other planning is is it crucial or not?

That's a good question. You know, I think um it's it is a driving force and it's not the only force. So, I think um it it's, you know, I think it's been stalled for a while and folks, you know, a lot of different folks um have wanted to see that conversation picked back up and for, you know, folks to get the ball rolling again. Um but, you know, the wastewater treatment relocation, you know, made it so that you couldn't just kind of pick up the old plan and just kind of put it back down on paper and and and run with it. Um so you know I think it did force us to have to do this planning effort in that we had to look at different configurations look at you know um different ways to access the district in particular different road configurations and um you know I think uh it's driving it to the extent that we now have this former wastewater treatment facility site that is is quite large. It's actually opening up more land than we could have utilized for redevelopment with the previous plan. Um, so there's more potential there now, um, with it's going to be on a smaller site, the new voice order treatment facility. So, um, yeah, I think it's a a big part of what we're doing, but it's it's not the only reason. Yeah.

Thank you. You're welcome. I I just have a comment. Thanks, Eric. Uh, and it's a continuation of the question I had from from earlier. And it's really like this is great like laying out the opportunities and I think it logically flows and like gives us a a real understanding of of the the opportunities and constraints that we're facing. Um, and I would say understanding city council's uh direction to explore like a second access point like a broad let's call it vehicular access point. Mhm.

Um, but I would I would not personally I would not want to lose sight of other pedestrian access points because the to me the walkability from downtown to this is is huge. Like from my perspective and to make that as seamless as possible, I feel like that needs to be really really focused. And that would be my only other comment because it's not that it's not in this one.

Yeah. Yeah. I think that's I think that's um I think we've heard that and I think if we're not presenting that as something we've heard then we can be a little bit more deliberate about that. But um yeah, that's very much consistent with what we're hoping to do here. And I think even with some of the vehicular access, we're thinking about ways that pedestrians could move through there through Triang Creek. But yeah, I think the downtown connections are going to be the most critical to success. And I think, you know, from what we've heard from the business community to your comments, um, Commissioner Marino, I know that's a huge, um, item of interest for folks to be able to come spend money in downtown and then just kind of stroll down to this beautiful park that we have on the waterfront there. And, um, you know, it could be a lot more seamlessly integrated than it is now.

I mean, you hear it when you're walking around the village or outside of Salt and Straw where people are like, well, I know where the lake is, but like, where's the river? Oh, it's somewhere over there. are like, "Yeah, we know it's close by, but we can't see it or we don't have a connection to it or Yeah. Mhm. What's the closest fire department to the Foothills District? I think it's the downtown fire department. So, it's right uh about Yeah. Yeah. On on B. Right. Right. Right over about third and B. Yeah. Third and B. I'm pointing, but that's where I'm pointing at. Um, and that would still that would remain the closest even after all of this development.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It would it would still be within approximate sort of location to that area to be able to serve it. Yeah.

But um to that point, we are still working with um we do have our fire marshal on the technical advisory committee and we're going to be working with him to make sure that we're not yeah getting into any bad situations in terms of fire access and making sure that everything is um you know able to be served. Commissioners, any further comments? Seeing none. All right. Thank you, Planning Manager Olsen, for the presentation and for all of the work on this. We're excited to help this vision come to life. Thank you.

Um, moving on to item eight, other business. I kind of handled the other business earlier because I didn't want to have um Subani wait, but obviously we have a new um contracting council with us and I think that's about it. Right. Thank you. Uh item nine is schedule review.

So our schedule um for February um our first meeting in February is canceled. So that meeting on the 9th has been cancelled. Um city council is going to do their goal setting in later in February. So, we'll have to postpone our um goal setting or work plan uh meeting here at the planning commission for uh until March. So, you can see that's currently slated for March 23rd. Um but we might be able to to do it a little bit earlier. That might change. Um we also are going to um on the 23rd have an update on our housing needs and production work. really that will be specifically an update on the revised Oregon housing needs analysis sort of statewide framework um that has been adopted now by um the land conservation and development commission at the state and that will really drastically change some of those targets that we adopted through the housing needs analysis and and make them go up and I think make them match what we thought they were to begin with when we originally adopted it back in 2023. Um but I yeah I think we should talk a little bit about that. So I will give you an update on that on the 23rd of February and um we'll come back and talk a little bit more about Foothills on March 9th. As I said kind of moving into vision and guiding principles and then on the 23rd at least tenatively we're um hoping to have our second and maybe maybe it'll be our third discussion on um sort of goal setting based on council's 2026 goals. Thank you very much. Uh with that the planning commission meeting is adjourned.