West Linn planning commission hears residents urge stronger wetland protections, clearer preservation language in Westland Waterfront vision plan

West LinnPlanning Commission members spent most of their Aug. 20 work session on the Westland Waterfront vision plan after several residents and long‑time community leaders urged clearer protections for wetlands, stronger language on preserving industrial and indigenous heritage, and a re‑examination of a medium‑density residential designation shown in the Pond District.

The public speakers included Jim Mattis, who said the vision plan "includes room for the cultural presence of indigenous people who populated the Pacific Northwest for thousands of years," but urged the plan to go further by explicitly prioritizing "preservation, restoration, and repurposing of some of the buildings on the island" known as Moores Island. Resident Nicole Jackson said the public comment process lacked transparency and asked the commission to require the city to publish full comments so the working group sees them, not only condensed summaries. Russ Axelrod, a former mayor, and Terrence Schumaker both pressed the commission to remove or rework the depiction of medium‑density housing shown adjacent to mapped wetlands.

Why it matters: speakers said the Pond District item affects the city

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Note: The transcript contained repeated numeric references to public input (a petition of roughly 3,700 signatures, and survey response counts reported at different points as about 200 and about 533). Those counts are recorded below under clarifying details exactly as they were stated in public testimony and staff materials.

Summary of the record and staff response Darren Weiss, the city planner leading the presentation, described the vision plan as the…