Planning commission affirms staff interpretation allowing recreational trails in low-density residential areas

The Lebanon Planning Commission voted to affirm staff's written code interpretation CI-24-01, concluding that recreational trails identified in the city's Trails Master Plan can be classified as "city parks" or park/open-space uses and therefore may be allowed in the low-density residential zone through the review types tied to parks.

The decision, reached after a public hearing and deliberation, was made by a 5-1 roll call and directs no immediate code change; commissioners and staff said a formal development-code amendment is likely appropriate as a next step to remove ambiguity.

Staff presented the application as a code interpretation request asking whether recreational trails shown in the adopted Trails Master Plan are permitted in the city's RL (low-density residential) zone. Kelly (city staff) told commissioners the Trails Master Plan, adopted in the late 2000s, explicitly shows proposed trail alignments that cross multiple zones and that the development code's definition of "city parks" includes "public trails maintained by the city for public use," so "recreational trails can be considered as parks and open space and recreational uses in our opinion." The staff report cited section 16.02.010(E) (consistency with plans) and the code's…