Independence holds public hearing to rezone 19.39 acres on Montgomery Road to high-density residential

The City of Independence on May 27 opened a public hearing on LA2025-02, a proposal to rezone four parcels totaling 19.39 acres along Montgomery Road from medium-density residential to high-density residential.

City Planner Fred Evaner told the council the change would bring an existing large apartment complex into a zoning category consistent with its density and would create additional high-density land the city’s housing needs analysis identified as necessary. “My recommendation is approval,” Evaner said. He noted the planning commission unanimously recommended approval.

Evaner described one affected property, Legacy Oaks Apartments, as including 18 buildings and roughly 196 units; he said the development is currently a nonconforming use in the medium-density zone. He also said the property owner received a state grant for sewer and wastewater work and that upzoning could help maximize that investment. Evaner told the council he reviewed the proposal against the City of Independence development code, the city’s comprehensive plan and Oregon statewide planning goals; he specifically cited Goal 5 (natural resources, scenic and historic areas, and open spaces) and Goal 12 (transportation planning rule) in his staff report.

Evaner said the Goal 5 considerations include an on-site floodplain and that most development is proposed outside the floodplain with mitigation planned “in accordance with the FEMA pre-implementation compliance measures.” For transportation, he said trip-generation rates from the Institute of Transportation Engineers show higher-density residential can produce fewer trips per unit than lower-density uses, and his analysis (in attachment F) concluded the rezoning would not create a transportation deficiency under the city’s criteria.

Staff recorded one written comment in support and there were no speakers at the public hearing. The hearing was held as a Type IV legislative procedure; Evaner said the change would add about four acres of high-density land toward the 10–15 acres the housing needs analysis recommended for upzoning. The transcript does not record a final council vote on LA2025-02 during the May 27 meeting.

Council members asked whether the site could be targeted specifically for senior housing; Evaner and other councilors discussed that affordable developments typically serve a range of ages and that the city could raise the topic with developers and nonprofit partners when project proposals are submitted.

The record for LA2025-02 remains the official basis for any future council action; staff materials and the planning commission record are part of the application packet.