Yamhill council advances comprehensive-plan and code updates, keeps R‑1 side setback at 7.5 feet

The City of Yamhill City Council on June 11 voted to move forward with legislative amendments to the comprehensive plan and development code, adopting changes recommended by the planning commission with one council revision: the R‑1 side-yard setback will remain 7.5 feet.

The council opened a legislative hearing on LA 2025‑01, a package of code and comprehensive-plan updates produced with two Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) technical assistance grants. Doug Rucks of the Rucks Group, speaking for staff, said the changes update outdated maps and bring Yamhill’s development code into alignment with state laws adopted since the city’s previous code work. “This is a legislative hearing. It's dealing with criteria in chapter 4, Yamhill Municipal Code 10.132060 through 090,” Rucks said during his summary of the staff report.

Rucks and staff emphasized the project is a text amendment only: no land-use map or zone-designation changes were proposed. The proposal addresses multiple statewide planning goals and focuses heavily on housing (noting a State bill referenced in the staff report as “HB 33 95”), updates downtown design and annexation rules, and carries code edits across Titles 10, 11 and 13. Staff entered the full report and exhibits into the hearing record and described a two-step adoption…