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Dunes City planning commission continues public hearing on wide-ranging development code rewrite after residents raise legal and environmental concerns
Summary
The planning commission opened a Type 4 public hearing on a proposed rewrite of Chapter 155 and heard hours of testimony on legal consistency, tree and wetland protections, and dock rules; commissioners continued deliberations to March 6 to allow staff and counsel review.
The Dunes City Planning Commission opened a Type 4 legislative public hearing Feb. 26 on a comprehensive rewrite of Chapter 155 of the city development code and heard more than an hour of public testimony raising legal, environmental and waterfront concerns. Henry Hurley, the associate planner from Lane Council of Governments, urged commissioners to evaluate the draft against Oregon statewide planning goals and then forward a recommendation to the city council for final action.
"The amendments have to be consistent with the Oregon statewide planning goals," Henry Hurley said in his staff presentation, explaining the commission’s role is to make a recommendation for an ordinance to the council. Multiple residents objected to specific changes and to the size and wording of the draft: Juliana Johnson pointed to numerous typographical and consistency errors, attorneys and residents raised legal and water-law questions, and property owners pressed the commission on new dock and frontage rules.
Attorney Kim O'Day, appearing for resident Alex Secoff, told commissioners she had identified provisions she believes could raise legal issues and recommended a formal review by the city or county attorney before the commission advances a recommendation. "The interpretation that's been put in the code doesn't say exactly what the statute says," O'Day said, and she warned that several draft sections "defer compliance to the city engineer without a lick of criteria." Residents including Jeanie and Geneva Jackson warned that deletions in the draft remove environmental protections and could increase erosion and habitat loss.
Commissioners balanced the public concerns with staff recommendations and a desire to move the code update forward after more than a decade of work. The commission voted to continue deliberations and reconvene at 4:00 p.m. on March 6 so staff can respond to written and oral comments and, if directed, seek legal review of specified sections before making a formal recommendation to the city council. The commission adjourned at approximately 7:25 p.m.
