Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission discusses modest code amendments for cottage clusters, density and bike parking
Summary
Staff presented a second part of proposed Milwaukie code amendments focused on cottage-cluster standards (orientation to common greens vs. street), clarifying minimum density and lot-consolidation effects, retiring unenforceable maximum-density numbers, and changing bicycle parking requirements for cottage clusters.
Milwaukie planning staff presented a package of "policy-light" code amendments and a set of housekeeping edits intended to clarify development standards for cottage clusters, residential density rules in the R-MD zone and bicycle-parking requirements for small-cluster housing.
Senior planner Ryan Dire summarized housekeeping fixes that clean up cottage-cluster parking and garage/carport language and remove a redundant approval criterion that elevated minor modifications in natural-resource areas. Dire said those clarifications address inconsistencies that arose after the city updated its code to comply with House Bill 2001.
On policy items, staff flagged three main topics: the orientation requirement for cottage clusters, minimum-density calculations and lot consolidations, and numeric maximum-density standards in the R-MD zone. Staff noted an ambiguity in the cottage-cluster standard that requires 50% of cottages to face a shared common green but also allows cottages within 20 feet of a street to orient to the street; staff recommended the 20-foot allowance remain to activate street frontages in rare multi-frontage sites, though commissioners asked whether the permissive "may" should become a stricter "must" in some cases to encourage active streetscapes.
Dire also explained that historic lot consolidations on properties composed of multiple underlying legal lots can unintentionally change how minimum-density tables apply, creating a procedural hurdle; staff proposed clarifications so consolidations for practical redevelopment do not automatically reduce required residential density on paper. On maximum-density rules, staff recommended retiring numeric dwelling-unit-per-acre figures that are now effectively unenforceable post-House Bill 2001, relying instead on dimensional limits and development standards.
On bicycle parking for cottage clusters, staff proposed reducing required long-term bicycle parking from 1.5 to one secure long-term space per unit and changing short-term visitor requirements to two staple racks per cluster. Staff also proposed permitting certain secure, unit-attached, exterior-accessed long-term bicycle enclosures that current multifamily rules would otherwise disallow, noting the need to guard against "gaming" the provision and to clarify access and ownership so spaces remain available to each unit.
Commissioners generally supported the clarifications and asked staff to consider strengthening language in select places (for example whether "may" should be "must" for street orientation) and to refine bicycle-parking triggers for larger clusters. Staff said they would revise the language for subsequent hearings and noted several items were housekeeping and not intended as major policy shifts.
No formal votes were taken on the amendment package during this session; staff indicated the matter will return for future action.
