Planning Commission approves Clackamas Community College 20-year master plan, with conditions

The Oregon City Planning Commission voted to approve the Clackamas Community College General Development Plan/master plan for a 20-year horizon covering 2024 through 2044, adopting the staff'recommended conditions of approval with revisions to conditions addressing tax-lot coverage and ADA/trail-frontage specifics.

Assistant Planner Jude Tadeus presented the staff report, explaining that the master plan establishes a 20-year development horizon and that the code in effect on the applicant's stated application date (08/01/2024) will govern subsequent reviews of projects covered by the general development plan. The commission heard that the applicant proposed roughly 6,000 square feet of new primary-use floor area in two phases and asked for flexibility to review accessory structures up to 3,000 square feet via a type 1 master-plan amendment process subject to additional conditions.

Why it matters: The approval provides a framework for how future campus projects will be reviewed and the threshold for when more detailed master-plan amendment and site-review processes are required. The plan lays out phased priorities including a Natural Resource Center of Excellence (phase 1) near Beaver Creek and Douglas Loop Road and a later Welcome Center phase (phase 2) in the campus core; it also anticipates pedestrian and trail improvements to complete sections of the Oregon Loop Trail.

Key points from the hearing: - Scope and horizon: The master plan sets a 20-year planning horizon (2024'2044) and locks the municipal code applicable as of the applicant's date (08/01/2024) for future reviews covered by the GDP. - Proposed development and phasing: The applicant described approximately 6,000 square feet of new primary-use floor area in two phases: the Natural Resource Center of Excellence (northeast/Beaver Creek cluster) and the Huachino Welcome Center (western campus core), with athletic-field and pedestrian improvements funded by a voter-approved bond referenced by the applicant. - Accessory-structure threshold and conditions: The applicant requested that accessory structures up to 3,000 square feet be eligible for a type 1 amendment; staff recommended, and the commission adopted, revised conditions requiring that structures between 1,503 and 3,000 square feet demonstrate they will not generate off-site impacts and, when they might, be subject to higher-level review and cumulative impact assessment requirements (transportation/utility analyses). - Natural resource overlay and trails: Portions of the proposed phase 1 work are within the Natural Resource Overlay District and would require natural-resources review when ground disturbance is proposed. The applicant proposed pedestrian improvements to private Douglas Loop Road to support the Oregon Loop Trail. - Enrollment, trip generation and timing: The applicant said enrollment (and thus trip generation) is down roughly a third since 2019 and that hybrid/online learning has reduced campus trip demand; assistant planner Jude Tadeus and applicant representatives said staff would require further transportation and utility analyses if future proposals generate off-site impacts.

Applicant and college comments: Ben Schoenberger of Winterbrook Planning described the GDP as a framework that establishes where future detailed development plans and site-level review would apply. Clackamas Community College President Tim Cook said the college's instructional mix has changed since the pandemic and noted the Natural Resource Center of Excellence will include programs (horticulture, wildland fire training) that require in-person facilities. Cook observed, "Now, today, it's it's closer to about 50% of our students take some sort of online or hybrid courses," reflecting changes in how students use campus facilities.

Revised conditions: Staff recommended changes to conditions 9 and 10 to (1) correct which tax lots are included in the GDP (the applicant clarified recent acquisitions that are not part of this GDP) and (2) provide additional specificity on ADA compliance for trail loop and Beaver Creek frontage improvements. The commission adopted the staff-recommended, revised conditions.

Vote and next steps: A motion to approve the master plan with the recommended and revised conditions carried on a unanimous roll call. Future detailed development plans or requests for adjustments will be subject to the review processes specified in the master plan and municipal code; some proposals will require type 2 or type 3 review, additional utility and transportation analyses, or natural-resource review as applicable.