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Sherwood to ask voters to enshrine citizen involvement in land-use decisions
Summary
Council approved placing a charter amendment on the January ballot that would require neighborhood meetings, public hearings and mailed notice within 1,000 feet for type 2 or higher land-use applications, aiming to preserve local participation following state changes to notice requirements.
Sherwood’s City Council voted Oct. 28 to place a charter amendment on the January special-election ballot that would enshrine requirements for citizen involvement in land-use decisions.
The proposed Section 49 would direct the council to adopt ordinances guaranteeing transparency and meaningful public participation in land use processes, including neighborhood meetings and at least one public hearing before the city council or a delegated decision-making body for type 3 or higher applications. The amendment requires mailed notice in advance of neighborhood meetings and hearings to all property owners within 1,000 feet for type 2 or higher applications and preserves the city’s ability to mandate additional notice methods.
Community Development Director Eric Rutledge explained application classifications and notice thresholds, saying, for example, that a type 2 commercial application is roughly 15,000 square feet or less and that the city’s current notice distance is 1,000 feet. He noted that Senate Bill 974 (as discussed at the meeting) would have limited notice to no more than 100 feet in some cases, a change councilors said would substantially reduce the number of affected neighboring properties.
Councilors expressed strong support for the referral, characterizing the state’s limits on notice and hearings as an unacceptable restriction on democracy and urging Sherwood voters to protect local participation. The council moved and unanimously approved Resolution 2025-075 to put the citizen involvement amendment and explanatory statement on the special-election ballot.
What voters will see: If approved in January, the charter would require the council to adopt ordinances ensuring neighborhood meetings, public hearings and 1,000-foot mailed notice for specified application types. The amendment does not itself change ordinance text; it directs the council to adopt implementing ordinances consistent with the charter language.
