Council Communication

Planning Action 2005-008 - Annexation, Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Map change from Jackson County zoning RR-5 (Rural Residential) to City of Ashland zoning E-1 (Employment) for an approximately 1.6 acre parcel located at 593 Crowson Road. The portion of the parcel adjacent to Crowson Road is proposed in the Residential Overlay (R-Overlay) that allows a residential component and in the Detail Site Review Zone which requires additional building design features.
Meeting Date:	June 7, 2005		Primary Staff Contact:	Maria Harris, 552-2045 harrism@ashland.or.us
Department:	Planning		Secondary Staff Contact:	John McLaughlin, 552-2043, mac@ashland.or.us
Contributing Departments:
Approval:	Gino Grimaldi

Statement: The record was distributed to Council on April 25, 2005 for the May 3, 2005 meeting to provide additional time for review. Additionally, the minutes of the March 8, 2005 Planning are attached to this memo because the minutes were inadvertently not included in the record. The planning action was reviewed by the Planning Commission at a public hearing on March 8, 2005. At the March 8 meeting, the Planning Commission approved the Site Review portion of the application, and recommended approval of the Annexation. Chapter 18.108 requires annexations to be reviewed and approved by the City Council. The public hearing was scheduled for the May 3 and May 17 Council meetings, but was not opened due to more pressing land use agenda items. As a result, the public hearing has been rescheduled for the June 7, 2005 Council meeting. The 120-day limit for land use decisions does not apply to annexation requests, so the Council is not impacted by the time frame.

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Background: Buildable Lands Inventory Councilor Silbiger requested information regarding the available buildable lands inventory of land in the Employment zoning district (E-1) to be included in the packet. The Buildable Lands Inventory identifies approximately 38 acres of lands in the Employment zoning district (E-1) in the City Limits and 91 acres in the UGB in total (including the City Limits). Nearly 29 contiguous acres are available near and including the railroad property between the railroad tracks and Hersey Street. Buildable land is defined as vacant or partially vacant that is not constrained by natural features. Land that is physically vacant, but was excluded from this inventory includes publicly owned land, lands with slopes 35 percent or greater, and land with the 100-year floodplain. The approval criteria for annexations of parcels which will be residentially zoned require that the there is less than a five-year supply of vacant and redevelopable land in the proposed land use classification within the current city limits. In contrast, annexations of lots that will be zoned C-1 or E-1 are required to have a Site Review approval for a permitted or special permitted use. Under current annexation approval criteria, a demonstration of a limited supply of vacant and redevelopable land is not required for commercial and light industrial development annexations. At the March 8 Planning Commission meeting, one of the Commissioners voted against the Site Review application and Annexation based her belief that lots that will be zoned C-1 and E-1 should be required to demonstrate a limited supply of vacant lands. Oregon Statewide Planning Goal 9: Economic Development requires the city to "Provide for at least an adequate supply of sites of suitable sizes, types, locations and service levels for a variety of industrial and commercial uses consistent with plan policies." In turn, the Ashland Comprehensive Plan, Economic Chapter VII, includes a policy that states "The City shall zone and designate with the Plan Map sufficient quantity of lands for commercial and industrial uses to provide for the employment needs of its residents and a portion of rural residents consistent with the population projection for the urban areas." If a specific development (i.e. building(s), parking, landscaping) is designed and approved, the approval criteria for annexation of C-1 and E-1 zoned lands are intended to focus on improvements to public streets and utilities. Annexations of C-1 and E-1 zoned lands are not required to demonstrate a limited supply of lands because the demand for commercial and light industrial land is relatively low. The plan assumes that new economic development will consume approximately one acre of land for every ten new jobs added to Ashland. Over the last three years, an average of 1.3 acres of E-1 land was developed per year. Prohibiting commercial and light industrial development based on vacant lands in the city limits was seen as a disincentive that could potentially hinder job creation in Ashland. Conditions of Approval Should the Council approve the annexation request, Staff recommends adding two conditions to the conditions included in the staff report on page 26 of the record. The conditions require street and utility dedications, easements and improvements to be engineered and completed or bonded for prior to the property being annexed as required by the annexation approval criteria. 4) That full City services, including but not limited to water, sewer and storm water mains and electric service, shall be extended to the southern boundary of the project (i.e. Crowson Road). Engineered plans for all improvements shall be submitted for review and approval of the Ashland Engineering prior to installation. That the engineered plans shall include but are not limited to: 1) the Crowson Road improvements to City of Ashland Street Standards including pavement overlay, pavement extensions, bike lane and curb and gutter, parkrow, street lights and sidewalk, 2) the Benson Way improvements to City of Ashland Street Standards including sidewalk connection between the existing sidewalk north of the site to the proposed development, and planting strip, street lights and sidewalk along the property frontage, and 3) the public utility extensions. That all required street improvements and public utility extensions shall be installed or fully bonded for in accordance with City requirements prior to adoption of a resolution annexing the property. - 5) That the necessary area for street improvements shall be dedicated as public street right-of-way. The right-of-way dedication shall include the area necessary for retaining walls to be installed with the street improvements. That the right-of-way dedication shall be submitted for review and approval of the Ashland Planning and Engineering divisions, and the dedication shall be surveyed and recorded as necessary prior to adoption of a resolution annexing the property.

Council Options: The Council may approve, approve with modifications and conditions, or deny the application. 0

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Staff Recommendation: The motion by the Planning Commission included a recommendation to the City Council for approval of the Annexation request by a seven to one vote. Staff recommends the Council approve the request with the attached conditions as stated in the Staff Report Addendum on page 26 of the record, and the two additional conditions as stated in this memo. The Council may wish to attach other conditions that they deem relevant to the criteria for approval.

Potential Motions: Move to approve the application for Annexation, Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Map change in PA 2005-008 with three attached conditions recommended by the Planning Commission on March 8, 2005. Move to approve the application as submitted. Move to deny the application as submitted.

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Attachments:   Please click on the link below to view the following attachments:    • March 8, 2005 Planning Commission Meeting Minutes

Crowson Annexation Attachments.pdf (520.4KB)

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