Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
The Sweet Home Planning Commission approved a 432-lot tentative subdivision plan Monday, Sept. 12, a precursor to a final plan that would allow Western States Land Reliance Trust (WSLRT) to begin developing Santiam Commons near the river.
The Planning Commission was split 3-2 in favor of approving the plan. Chairman Dick Meyers, Al Culver and Dr. Henry Wolthuis voted to approve the plan. Mike Adams and Rich Rowley voted no. Mike Kinney and Frank Javersak were absent.
The public hearing had been continued at the commission’s August meeting.
The commission had to decide two issues. First, the tentative plan was different from the Santiam Master Plan approved last year, and the commission had to decide whether the changes were substantial enough to require a “master plan amendment.” Second, presuming the plan did not need to go through the master plan amendment process, the commission had to decide whether to approve the tentative plan.
In the end, the commission approved the plan with conditions that left turn lanes be added at Clark Mill Road and at the proposed Walnut Street, which would access the subdivision, and at Clark Mill Road and Highway 20. The project is located west of Clark Mill straddling old Willamette Industries and Morse Brothers property.
The commission also requires the final plan to include utility easement locations, path types and locations, path easement locations, on-street parking areas and private street connectivity, all features that are required but were not included in the tentative plan, according to Community Development Director Carol Lewis. Also, it will require a sketch showing a tentative layout for streets and utilities in unsubdivided portions, including existing and future improvements.
The final conditions required WSLRT Managing Trustee Dan Desler to work with Santiam River Partners to address concerns about changes to a “wildlife corridor” that connects from WSLRT land to Santiam Partners land.
The final plan also will require a public hearing upon completion.
In total, the Santiam Master Plan covers 750 acres along the north side of Sweet Home and the south shore of the South Santiam River. It has approval for up to 1,575 units. WSLRT is developing property to the west of Clark Mill Road. Santiam Partners is developing to the east. The master plan includes a commercial area, hotels and a variety of other proposed attractions.
WSLRT has authorization for 942 units, according to the city’s information, and Santiam Partners has authorization for 633 units. Commissioners assured Cummins that those numbers would not be able to shift back and forth without a master plan amendment.
Desler’s former partner Troy Cummins, managing partner in Santiam Partners, wanted assurance from the Planning Commission that WSLRT or a future landowner could not shift units from Santiam’s part of the master plan to WSLRT’s, reducing the number of units the master plan allows Santiam Partners to build.
He also told the commission that the change in the wildlife corridor was a significant change from the master plan.
At issue during the hearing was whether the changes from the master plan within the newer tentative plan constituted a major change requiring an amendment process, which requires a larger notification area.
Adams and Rowley believed that it did and were concerned with the movement of units from one portion of the master plan to the proposed subdivision, which was about doubled in size from the master plan. Meyers believed the character of the project had been changed from the master plan, which promised clustered housing along the private streets of the community.
Desler disagreed with Meyers’ assertion that the tentative plan showed a regular subdivision and insisted that the houses could still be constructed in clusters.
“The final location of all streams, ponds, trails, utilities, roads and densities for each parcel will be determined at the time of tentative plans,” Desler told the commission. He argued that increasing the number of houses in one area and decreasing the number of houses in another part of the master plan did not constitute a major change “as long as it does not negatively impact neighbors.”
In a master plan, “it’s impossible to deal with the site-specific issues that we’ve been dealing with,” Desler said. Those have driven the changes in density. They include things like enlarging the buffer area around a bald eagle nest and state and federal permit requirements. While not a driving factor in this hearing, a possible amphitheater project would force units to be shifted around in the development.
Desler told the commission that the planned wildlife corridor remained and would still connect to Santiam’s.
Adams said he had a hard time getting around the densities set in the different planning areas within the master plan.
The master plan was put together based on the developers’ best knowledge at the time, Culver said. Even in the 1970s, with fewer government agencies, developers still had to change things around. Now they must contend with multiple layers of bureacracy, and changes will occur.
If every time Desler needs to change something in the future it required a master plan amendment, Culver said, then the city is just adding to the layers of bureacracy.
“I don’t see a problem with altering of densities within a reasonable amount,” Rowley said. “One hundred percent is beyond that.”
The two owners have definite lack of communication, Rowley said. One has a major concern about what the other is doing in relation to the master plan.
Many changes were made, but the information has been well massaged and considered, Wolthuis said. He was not in favor of a new master plan.
“I have philosophical differences,” Meyers said. He described how the character of the project was different from the master plan.
“We’ve gone from a very idealistic concept to a subdivision,” Meyers said. “It’s got streets, and it’s got houses.”
That bothered him more than anything else, Meyers said.
“I think this is good for the community, and because it is coming back for a final public hearing and final plan review, I think I’ll pass on a master plan amendment.”
He asked how turning this plan down and requiring an amendment, when the applicant would simply return with the same information, would gain the city anything.
“I think we can gain the resolution we need on the final plat,” Meyers said.
The public should have the opportunity to look at the change, Rowley said, and he pointed out that the notification area for the subdivision plan was smaller than it would have been for a master plan amendment.
“I’m pleased that they approved it, especially in light of the substantial cost of an amendment,” Desler said. “Western States Land Reliance Trust has acted in good faith” throughout the process.