The City of Sweet Home is requesting a zoning change in the area east of 18th Avenue and north of Tamarack Street, from residential-industrial transition to medium-density residential.
City Associate Planner Angela Clegg said the change should help make it easier to develop those properties.
Under the current zoning, property in the area has the same requirements as low-density residential zones, with the exception of building size. In low-density residential zones, buildings must be at least 1,000 square feet, but under residential-industrial transition zone rules they need only be 720 square feet.
Other standards in the zone are making the lots difficult to develop, Clegg said. Most of the lots are 5,000 square feet or smaller, less than the required minimum lot size of 8,000 square feet.
“Once you consider the setback requirements, there is rarely enough room for a structure,” Clegg said. That makes it difficult to tear down older homes and rebuild.
Low-density residential zoning requires 20 feet of front setback from the property line, 15 feet in the rear and 5 feet on the sides, with a minimum of 13 feet with both side setbacks combined.
The proposed medium-density residential requires 20 feet in the front, 10 feet in the back and 5 feet on each side, Clegg said. It also allows 5,000-square-foot lots.
The area is designated in the city’s Comprehensive Plan as medium-density residential, Clegg said, which “conforms more to what that neighborhood already is,” high-density and medium-density residential.
Following Oregon law, the city has notified property owners that the decision may affect property values in the area.
The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed change at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 3 at City Hall, 3225 Main St., and the City Council will hold a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 25 at City Hall to consider the zone change.
A copy of the staff report will be available for inspection at the city’s Community and Economic Development Department at City Hall at least seven days prior to the public hearing.
Written comments must be received by 5 p.m. on Jan. 16.
For further information, call the Community and Economic Development Department at (541) 367-8113.