Oregon City commissioners direct staff to refine parks SDC methodology; debate whether to include recreation center cost

Oregon City commissioners on July 16 discussed revisions to the city’s parks system development charges (SDCs), including a proposal to tier multifamily fees by number of bedrooms and whether to include $9.1 million for a proposed Recreation and Aquatic Center (RAC) in the SDC capital plan. Staff will rewrite the draft methodology and return to the commission at its Aug. 20 meeting for formal consideration.

The changes under consideration would (1) move from a single multifamily rate to a bedroom-based tiering system for units of more than five units, and (2) alter how much of the recreation and aquatic center cost is funded by SDCs. Parks staff said the draft methodology currently allocates $9,100,000 toward the RAC; staff presented two alternatives for commissioners to consider: reducing that allocation to $5,000,000 or removing the RAC allocation from the SDCs…