The Dalles planners consider one-meeting schedule and contracted hearings officer for land-use cases

The Dalles Planning Commission spent the bulk of its April 3 meeting discussing two linked proposals: reducing the commission’s regular meetings from two months to one, and hiring a contracted hearings officer to hear quasi‑judicial land‑use matters.

Joshua Taylor, a member of the city’s community development department, told the commission that the agency reviewed its meeting history going back to 2013 and found that “55% of these meetings have been canceled,” and proposed holding regular sessions on the first Thursday of each month. Taylor said the hearings officer would be “an impartial third party land use attorney” contracted to hear appeals of administrative decisions and type‑3 (quasi‑judicial) applications such as conditional use permits and variances.

Why it matters: staff and the city attorney said a hearings officer could reduce case processing time under Oregon’s land‑use deadlines and free the Planning Commission to focus on long‑range planning and code work. City staff proposed budgeting $10,000 in the next fiscal year to start the process and said the city would likely use a request‑for‑proposals to select a qualified land‑use attorney. Commissioners and the city attorney discussed tradeoffs including cost, local accountability, and how the appeal path would be structured.

Discussion and differing views centered on three questions: whether a smaller city like The Dalles needs a hearings officer; how the Planning Commission would be kept informed about hearings officer decisions; and whether a hearings officer’s decision should be final for the city or appealed to city council. Several commissioners expressed concern about losing the “local touch” and about public perception if decisions were made by a contracted attorney. Others said a hearings officer could provide consistent, legally grounded decisions and reduce the risk and cost of appeals to the Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA).

City Attorney Jonathan Cara told the commission that a hearings officer can “in theory” lower the city’s long‑term legal costs by producing decisions rooted strictly in code language and thus reducing successful appeals. Cara characterized the proposed $10,000 budget as modest and said implementing the change would require code amendments (Titles 10 and 11 of The Dalles Municipal Code), bylaw updates and an RFP process. He also said implementation by January 1, 2026, was possible but aspirational.

On the appeal route, staff recommended the hearings officer’s decision be appealable to city council. Some commissioners favored this layered approach as a way to retain local review; others, including one commissioner who said they preferred an “all or nothing” approach, recommended making the hearings officer the city’s final decision maker (with LUBA as the next appellate forum). Commissioners who supported keeping council as the appeal body suggested the city could trial the arrangement and revisit it after the contract period.

Taylor said the city would ensure transparency by including summaries of hearings officer decisions in Planning Commission staff updates and by issuing notices about upcoming hearings officer agendas. He also cited Wasco County’s experience, where staff reported that implementing a hearings officer allowed the county to streamline its process and that Wasco County increased application fees about 10% to cover costs without significant pushback from applicants.

No ordinance or code change was adopted at the April 3 meeting. The commission agreed to forward its discussion and the commissioners’ comments to city council; Chair Odie Cornett said staff will present the item to council on April 28. Commissioners did not take a formal vote on the hearings‑officer proposal or on meeting frequency, although several voiced support for recommending that city council retain final appeal authority. Staff described next steps as code amendments, an RFP, community engagement, and budgeting for the FY step that would fund a contract if council approves the change.

The meeting also included routine approval votes for the agenda and the March 6 minutes. Taylor said planning staff are handling several active projects, including building permit review for the Basalt Commons development and multiple subdivisions and site plans that will return to the commission in upcoming meetings.

Ending: Staff will bring the commission’s comments to The Dalles City Council on April 28 for direction on whether to proceed with code amendments and a procurement to contract for a hearings officer and whether that hearings officer’s decisions should be appealable to council or be the city’s final decision.