City advances Vision 43 planning: council removes one focus area, sets policy questions for mixed‑use code

West Linn staff presented a mid‑project update on Vision 43 — the Highway 43 corridor planning effort — at the May 5 council work session and asked council to confirm focus‑area boundaries and initial policy choices to guide a draft mixed‑use code.

Staff opened with a recommendation to remove “Focus Area 2,” a small parcel around West Linn Lutheran Church that had been placed in the Vision 43 study early in the process to allow a potential pathway for affordable housing. Staff and the consultant told council that subsequent changes to state law and other code paths now provide an avenue for religious properties to pursue housing without a targeted rezoning, and that removing the small focus area would simplify the project map. Councilors on the…