The Sutherlin Planning Commission voted 4-2 on Aug. 19 to recommend that the City Council approve a comprehensive plan map amendment and a zoning map change to convert a 7.88-acre city-owned parcel off Oak Street from light industrial to high-density residential (R-3 multifamily). The proposal is file number 25s0008; the applicant is Mark Garrett, representing the City of Sutherlin.

City staff recommended approval after concluding the application met statewide planning goals and Sutherlin’s land-use criteria, and noted that the Oregon Department of Transportation concurred with the applicant’s traffic analysis. Staff told the commission the application and notices were filed in accordance with applicable procedures: the application was filed June 25, 2025, deemed complete July 10, 2025, the notice was submitted to the Department of Land Conservation and Development on July 10, and public-notice publications and mailings occurred in late July and early August.

Mark Garrett, the applicant’s representative, said the proposal includes a preliminary development plan prepared by engineer James Norrington and that traffic impacts had been analyzed by traffic engineer Kelly Sando. “Traffic has been addressed,” Garrett said during the hearing, and he asked the commission to forward a favorable recommendation to the City Council.

Several residents opposed the change at the public hearing, citing concerns about geologic stability, drainage and wetlands, traffic, transparency of city planning, and the potential form of housing. A resident who identified her address as 350 West Sixth Avenue said, “If you start building that and my home starts slipping down the hill, who’s gonna pay for that?” Wayne Ellsworth of 355 South Kalapuya told the commission the city lacked up-to-date planning and said Sutherlin risked losing industrial land if the rezoning proceeds.

City staff and the applicant responded that geotechnical and site-specific engineering reviews will be required at the development stage and that the city has entered two locations on the site — the former log pond and the Wigwam Burners area — into the Department of Environmental Quality voluntary cleanup program to determine necessary remediation and capping prior to constructing roadways and other infrastructure. Staff said building locations shown in the preliminary plan are outside the mapped wetland area and that geotechnical work would address slope stability and any required fill removal.

On the question of traffic, staff said a professional traffic analysis had been coordinated with ODOT, which provided a positive response to the traffic impact analysis. Staff also told commissioners that required stormwater detention and drainage measures would be developed as part of engineering for the project.

Commission deliberations included questions about when site-specific geotechnical and wetland delineation would occur, and whether the city’s buildable lands inventory and economic opportunities analyses had been updated; staff said the city’s buildable lands inventory and related analyses had older elements (noting updates in 2014) and that further plan updates were intended but timelines were not yet set. The Fair Housing Council of Oregon had requested review for compliance with statewide Goal 10; staff said the council was provided the staff report and submitted no comments prior to the hearing.

After closing public testimony, the commission moved, seconded and voted to close deliberation and recommend Option 1 — forwarding a recommendation of approval to the City Council. The roll-call vote was: Commissioner Brock, no; Commissioner Williams, yes; Commissioner Mox, yes; Commissioner Waller, no; Commissioner Schaub, yes; Chair Banducci, yes. The motion carried.

The Planning Commission’s recommendation is advisory. The City Council will hold its own public hearing before making a final decision on the comprehensive plan map amendment and the zone change, and future approvals for development will require geotechnical, environmental and engineering review as described in state and local rules.