Lake Oswego planning commission recommends adjusted home-occupation rules, calls urban agriculture a conditional use

The Lake Oswego Planning Commission on Nov. 24 voted to forward a recommendation to city council on proposed changes to the city’s home-occupation rules (LU25-0002), but commissioners altered parts of staff’s draft and asked for site-level review of an urban-agriculture use. The preliminary recommendation passed 4–1.

Staff coordinator Michael McNamee walked the commission through the draft text amendment, which would replace a vague ‘‘residential character’’ standard with clearer, objective standards; classify home occupations as types A (no customers on-site), B (customers on-site) and C (short-term rentals); cap hazardous substances at ‘‘consumer quantities’’ consistent with ORS chapter 453; limit marked commercial vehicles parked off-site to one within 300 feet; and create a new urban-agriculture use permitted in R10 and R15 zones on lots larger than one acre. Staff recommended approval and noted the item would return with findings for the commission on Dec. 8 and, tentatively, go to city council on Jan. 20, 2026. McNamee said staff’s proposal was informed by prior work sessions and a survey sent…