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Council advances first reading of 3-Mile Lane plan and zone map amendment amid traffic and density concerns
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Summary
On first reading, council approved Ordinance 5173 to change a 26.07-acre area in the 3-Mile Lane plan from industrial to commercial and R-4 residential, with conditions; several councilors sought a public hearing and raised transportation and density concerns. The ordinance passed to second reading.
The City Council accepted the first reading of Ordinance 5173, a comprehensive plan and zoning map amendment (CPA 1-25 / ZC 2-25) affecting roughly 26.07 acres in the 3-Mile Lane area that would remove an industrial plan designation and rezone the site to commercial and medium-high density residential (R-4) to enable mixed-use and residential development.
Heather Richards, filling in for planning staff, reviewed the three-part test used to evaluate map amendments under McMinnville municipal code and statewide planning goals and described five conditions of approval recommended by the planning commission, including utilities and transportation checkpoints and a requirement that future development meet the 'great neighborhood' policies in the adopted 3-Mile Lane area plan. Richards said development-stage submittals would trigger more detailed facility analyses and that, per the code, certain housing rezones are exempt from the 'orderly and timing' criterion.
Councilors focused on transportation impacts at the Cumulus/3-Mile Lane/Nehemiah intersection, sanitary sewer capacity and whether the R-4 designation would deliver the density planners intend. Councilor Cunningham asked why R-5 (higher-density residential) was not proposed; Richards said the property owner apparently selected R-4 for flexibility and to avoid triggering additional transportation improvements that an R-5 assumption might require.
Some councilors favored a public hearing; Councilor Gary said he felt the packet provided sufficient information to act without a hearing and moved to accept the first reading. The motion carried on a recorded vote with three in favor and two opposed; the ordinance will return for a second reading on March 24.
Planning staff entered the planning commission minutes into the record and reminded the council that conditions require developers to perform specific analyses at the development stage (stormwater, sanitary sewer, traffic impact analysis) and to address off-site improvements if a future development's TIA shows them to be necessary.
