Planning director outlines waterfront talks with Romano, reservoir study, PGE parcel and staffing limits
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Summary
The planning director updated the commission on waterfront negotiations with developer Romano, a preferred water-reservoir site, a PGE substation parcel for the industrial park, housing-capacity work, and staffing constraints that make hiring a second planner unlikely this fiscal year.
The planning director presented the commission’s quarterly report, summarizing several ongoing planning priorities and operational constraints.
On waterfront development, staff said the city is in an exclusive-negotiation agreement with developer Romano and has begun preliminary meetings and concept planning. ‘‘We are starting our conversation with, Romano, and that is the developer interested in the extension of downtown,’’ the planning director said; staff expects Romano to advance concept designs and serve as a primary developer under negotiation.
Staff also summarized a water-reservoir siting study: one candidate parcel on the Comstock property between a Bonneville Power easement and a wetland complex rose to the top for suitability. The director told commissioners that many residents who testified in prior hearings were relieved that the possible use would be a reservoir rather than housing.
On infrastructure, staff described a Pacific Gas & Electric (PGE) easement parcel in the St. Helens Industrial Business Park where PGE seeks a new substation to serve the industrial park; state funding and consultant work on transmission planning are involved. The director noted the city has land-use approval for a police-station site and other projects moving forward.
Staff reported the hiring of an additional full-time planner is unlikely this fiscal year because of budget limits, and described current cross-department staffing (a 0.4 FTE community-development administrative-assistant role shared with building and engineering). The director said the housing-capacity update required by the state will proceed; recent apartment projects helped meet multifamily need for now but future analyses could again show multifamily shortfalls.
The director also warned commissioners about an increase in phishing attempts tied to city projects, citing sample emails that demanded fees to continue hearings (one message read, according to staff, "If you pay $2,000, we can continue the meeting for your consideration"). Staff urged reliance on official city portals for packets and continued vigilance and training.
The commission asked clarifying questions about design standards, the proposed reservoir site, and next steps for the waterfront master planning; staff said it would keep the commission involved as project details and advisory committees form.
Next steps: staff will continue negotiations with Romano, advance the reservoir and infrastructure analyses, and report back to the commission as projects move into design and formal review phases.
