The City Planning Commission voted to recommend that the City Council approve zoning file ZC25-2, a request to rezone a 3.5-acre parcel on Oak Street (between 12th and 16th streets) from R-1 to R-2, a change that would allow a developer to build a 72-unit, deed-restricted affordable apartment complex. The commission closed the public hearing and, after deliberation, carried a motion to forward a favorable recommendation to the council.

City planning staff told the commission the request is a combined comprehensive-plan and zoning-map change that must comply with state land-use laws and the city’s comprehensive plan. Planning staff identified Oregon Administrative Rule 660-012-0060 (the Transportation Planning Rule) and Oregon Revised Statute 197 (the state statutes addressing needed housing) as applicable and said the record contains findings recommending approval. "This property is on Oak Street between Twelfth And Sixteenth on the north side of the street," a staff member said during the presentation.

The applicant, represented by property owner Dirk Vanderbilt, said the project is intended as affordable housing and has received state funding approval. Vanderbilt described a partnership with an experienced affordable-housing developer and said the project will be deed restricted to households at about 60 percent of area median income. "Bringing affordable housing, which is a very big need in Madras specifically as well, is a really good thing in the big picture," Vanderbilt said.

Several nearby residents testified in opposition or with concerns during the public-comment portion. Resident Norm McDonald said the development would bring traffic and noise to a long-standing single-family neighborhood: "I just don't believe that that is the best place for this piece of property." Another neighbor, Stephanie Cissna, said she was not opposed to modest multifamily development but called a 72-unit, possibly three-story complex "out of scale" for the neighborhood.

Staff and the applicant addressed several of those concerns. Planning staff said required notice procedures were followed (notice to property owners within 250 feet and publication at least 21 days before the hearing) and that the traffic impact analysis for the project is in the record and was reviewed by the city public-works director and by the Oregon Department of Transportation. Staff told the commission the traffic analysis identified queuing at nearby intersections but that neither the city nor ODOT identified a feasible mitigation for the larger intersection problems; the city and ODOT concluded the rezoning itself would not change the fundamental limitations at the Oak/Highway 97 intersection. The record also includes a letter of support from the Fair Housing Council of Oregon dated 08/01/2025 that staff entered into the record.

Commissioners asked about density caps and design standards. Staff explained that the existing R-1 standard limits multifamily density with a 24-unit cap (and buildings limited to four units each under the city's middle-housing code), while the R-2 zone permits higher density subject to a density maximum tied to the code; the applicant is seeking the R-2 designation so the 72-unit scheme can proceed. Staff also clarified that the later site-plan review (which includes parking, setbacks, building height and architectural standards) will be processed administratively under the city’s clear-and-objective standards for needed housing; the commission’s action was limited to the map/zoning change. Staff said the city code currently requires one parking space per dwelling unit and that the applicant anticipates providing roughly 1.4 spaces per unit on average.

After questions from commissioners and an extended discussion about the balance between neighborhood impacts and the city's need for housing, the commission voted to close the hearing and deliberate. The commission moved to recommend approval of ZC25-2 to the city council; the motion carried. The commission noted that final land-use approval rests with the City Council and that the site-plan review will be handled administratively. Staff announced the City Council hearing on the zone change will be held on August 26, 2025, and invited residents to submit additional written comments or appear at that meeting.

The commission’s recommendation means the project will go to the City Council for final action. If the council approves the rezoning, the applicant will proceed with the administrative site-plan review and the developer’s obligations, which staff said include building adjacent sidewalks and bringing the driveway to city standards.