Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Local Governance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sherwood council advances plan to enshrine public-participation procedures in city charter and seeks special-resolution timeline
Summary
City legal staff presented draft charter amendments aimed at preserving local public-participation procedures (neighborhood meetings, public hearings, mailed notice within 1,000 feet) and asserting city authority over annexations; staff proposed bringing a resolution next week to find an emergency and refer the amendments for an expedited election under state statute.
City attorneys and counsel presented draft charter amendments at the Oct. 21 Sherwood work session intended to protect the city's procedural home-rule authority and preserve public participation in land-use decisions.
Carrie (counsel) briefed the council on the concept of home rule and why the city is proposing to enshrine certain procedures in the charter. "Home rule provides that cities get to determine their political organization and the procedures under which they operate," Carrie said, framing the proposed amendments as formalizing existing citizen-involvement procedures to resist state preemption.
The draft language read to council would require neighborhood meetings and at least one public hearing before the city council or delegated decision-making body for type-2 and higher land-use applications, and would require mailed notice in advance to owners and occupants within 1,000 feet of the subject property for those applications. Counsel said the wording is deliberately tied to procedures the city already follows and is intended to withstand possible state statutory changes.
Annexation language: Counsel also proposed charter language declaring the city's exclusive authority to initiate, approve, or deny annexation requests (subject to procedures and standards that the council adopts by ordinance). Counsel acknowledged this is an untested legal area but said the proposed language would give the city additional tools to defend its home-rule authority.
Timeline and next steps: Counsel reviewed statutory timing for elections in Oregon and cited ORS 2 21.230 as authorizing an emergency election if the council finds a qualifying emergency. Counsel asked the council for direction to bring a resolution and staff report at a special meeting next week to refer the measure to the county for placement on a ballot; council members asked clarifying questions about voter-approval language for annexations and asked staff to consider whether language should be additive rather than substitutive to existing charter text. Staff agreed to return with a resolution and more refined draft language.
No final action: Council did not adopt charter language at the work session; staff were asked to prepare a resolution finding an emergency and to present a staff report and timeline for referral to the elections authority.
