La Center planning commission approves rezoning for public works operations center

The La Center Planning Commission on July 8 voted to recommend rezoning two city‑owned parcels that contain the Public Works operations facility from Parks and Open Space to Urban Public to allow demolition of an older building and construction of a new five‑bay shop, covered parking and stormwater improvements.

City planning staff said the change corrects a prior coding error that left an existing government operations facility in a parks designation. Brian Cast, the staff presenter, described the application as a Type 4 zone change that will be followed by a Type 3 site‑plan and critical‑areas review before the hearings examiner and then by a council public hearing and final council decision.

Why it matters: the change will align the property’s official zoning with its longstanding government use and allow the city to combine the two parcels into a single lot for the project. The application also proposes a reduction in the regulated buffer for a non‑fish‑bearing seasonal creek adjacent to the site and…