Alan Wilson, Estacada senior planner, told the Economic Development Commission on July 15 that Oregon’s state land‑use laws and implementing agencies shape where and how development can occur in the city.

Wilson said Senate Bill 10 (1969) and the expanded Senate Bill 100 (1973) created the statewide framework that led to the Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) and the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD). He described the urban growth boundary (UGB) as “one of the most powerful tools that land use planners have,” drawing a line that separates expected urban development from rural farmland and forest.

Wilson said every Oregon city must maintain a state‑acknowledged comprehensive plan and implementing development code. He explained that Estacada’s comprehensive plan (first adopted around 1980 and revised several times, most recently in the prior year) contains inventories of existing land uses, goals and policy statements, and a comp‑plan map that guides future annexations and zoning. He described the housing needs analysis (HNA) as the analytical tool that projects what housing types and quantities the city should plan for over a roughly 20‑year horizon.

The planner gave examples of recent local approvals to show how the rules are translated into projects. He said Calendong Acres, a subdivision approved in 2023, is a 78‑lot project where 76 lots are “common‑wall dwellings” (individual dwelling units on joined lots) and two are single‑family detached. He also described Wade Creek Commons, a four‑building multifamily project that contains 36 units restricted to households at about 60% of area median income; phase 1 was completed in 2024 and phase 2 is under development. Wilson said a manufactured‑home‑park expansion was approved by rezoning a parcel from R‑1 to R‑2 and that construction is anticipated within about a year.

Commissioners pressed Wilson on UGB history, density definitions and population capacity. Wilson said the city’s initial UGB was set decades ago (the comp plan process in the late 1970s/early 1980s set a large boundary) and that the UGB has been expanded at least once since (he identified 2012 as a recent expansion). He described Estacada’s residential density rules as: low density down to 7,500 square feet per lot (about six lots per acre), medium density down to 5,000 square feet, and multifamily densities that can be measured in units per acre.

Wilson acknowledged the limits of local authority over housing prices: “Housing is a market‑rate commodity,” he said, and the city cannot set market sales prices; city tools instead shape what housing types are allowed and where infrastructure is provided. He also summarized how infrastructure costs are addressed through system development charges (SDCs), fees assessed at development to help fund transportation, stormwater, parks and utility capacity.

The presentation closed with commissioners thanking Wilson for an overview they described as educational for the commission’s economic work. Wilson said he would take additional questions as needed.

More detail: project approvals, comp‑plan chapters and the HNA findings are cited by Wilson as the principal analyses that inform future zoning and code changes.

Looking ahead: commissioners suggested coordinating planning and economic development work (joint sessions between the EDC and the planning commission) to align zoning adjustments and recruitment strategies with the city’s housing and infrastructure objectives.