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Talent planning commission reviews Highway 99/Bear Creek corridor plan and proposed code changes
Summary
Consultants and DLCD staff presented a multi-strategy revisioning plan for the Highway 99/Bear Creek corridor, proposing code and policy amendments to encourage pedestrian-friendly design, housing variety, active uses and Greenway connections; commissioners asked for more time and line-by-line review ahead of a late-May public hearing.
Consultants for a Transportation Growth Management-supported project presented code and policy recommendations to the Talent Planning Commission on April 22 to revise land use and design rules along the Highway 99 corridor through Talent and Phoenix.
Chris Green, the principal contract planner from OTEC, and Kathy Klisek, a Transportation Growth Management (TGM) representative from the Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD), described a two-phase project that began in 2022 and is now advancing code and implementation language. Green said the phase-2 work focuses on implementing a corridor vision through code amendments, design standards and targeted policy changes.
Klisek, the DLCD TGM representative, said the project originated from post-fire rebuilding needs in the corridor and emphasized links between transportation and livability: “The TGM program is very much, kind of the helping hand to make cities’ visions for the future of city centers and livability come to light,” she told the commission.
Project staff summarized five strategies for the corridor: encouraging active uses and maker-type businesses along Highway 99, concentrating community development at key hubs, increasing housing variety within walking distance of the corridor, meeting the corridor with pedestrian-oriented building/site/street design, and improving connections to the Bear Creek Greenway. Draft code changes would reorganize standards (building design, site design, streetscape) and in some zones propose increased height limits and more permissive ground-floor residential in mixed-use areas to meet state “climate-friendly” designation requirements referenced by staff.
Commissioners expressed a need for more time to review a complex matrix of proposed code changes. Commission Chair (present) and Commissioner Riley said the matrix was difficult to compare line-by-line with existing code; they requested an extended review period and the opportunity to submit written, line-indexed questions to staff by an agreed date so consultants could respond in writing. The presentation and packet noted a public hearing on the draft code in late May; speakers referenced May 27–28 dates and the consultant team's availability through early June.
Commissioners also discussed the trade-off between stricter corridor design standards and allowing intermediate or incremental development that could move the corridor toward the vision over time. Commissioner Alex (staff comment) advised that some recommended changes reorganize existing City of Talent code (Title 18) rather than replace all prior work, and said staff would forward clarifying comments to the consultants. Commissioners asked staff to collect questions and circulate consultant responses well before the public hearing so the commission can prepare a recommendation to council.
No final vote was taken; commission members were asked to submit questions by the agreed deadline for staff to consolidate and forward to the consultant team.
