St. Helens council approves rezoning of 1771 Columbia Blvd., continues police station site work

St. Helens city officials voted May 7 to approve a zone map amendment that changes a portion of 1771 Columbia Boulevard from General Commercial to the Holton Business District, a move staff said removes a longstanding “spot zone” that had fragmented the property’s regulatory status.

The rezoning passed after a combined public forum and legislative land-use hearing that included a staff presentation of site comparisons and cost estimates and public comment critical of the city’s process and affordability of a new police station.

City staff described the rezoning as largely a housekeeping action that corrects inconsistent zoning on the parcel. “The primary reason is the prohibition of ground level residential was removed from our zoning ordinance in 02/2015,” a staff member said during the hearing, adding that cleaning up that mismatch was the planning staff’s principal rationale for a map change that also happens to make a police station feasible on the property.

Consultant Dave Lentz, the project executive with BoJack who led the site review, presented a side-by-side evaluation…