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Planner presents municipal code diagnostic; city seeks housing assistance grant for clear-and-objective updates
Summary
Winterbrook Planning delivered a diagnostic audit of the city's Title 16 development code, identifying over 100 potential updates and recommending a phased program that prioritizes state‑required housing changes.
Winterbrook Planning presented a diagnostic audit of Estacada's Title 16 development code and recommended a phased approach to updating the municipal code. Grace of Winterbrook told the council the audit identified more than 100 potential changes ranging from administrative cleanups to substantive policy changes needing council deliberation.
Grace said the audit organizes updates into four buckets: clear‑and‑objective housing standards required by state law; other updates required by statute (for example, certain childcare and code compliance provisions); policy considerations that merit council deliberation; and administrative and organizational changes to improve usability. She said Phase 1 would focus on statutory and administrative updates and higher‑priority housing items; Phase 2 would include remaining housing and clear‑and‑objective work; later phases would address other policy topics.
Staff also told council they applied for a housing assistance grant from the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) to fund housing‑related code updates. If awarded, the grant would support Phase 1 housing updates, which include the clear‑and‑objective standard changes the state requires.
Grace said recommended updates will be brought forward in smaller, topic‑specific legislative amendments to the Planning Commission and council, rather than a single omnibus rewrite. Council members thanked staff for the diagnostic and said they expect the work to proceed over the coming year as staff and consultants prioritize required and high‑impact updates.
Ending: Staff said specific code changes and legislative drafts will come to the Planning Commission and council in phased packages for review and public hearings, and that grant funding would expedite the housing‑related items.
