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Council leaves record open on 5th Street/4th Avenue vacation after wetlands, contamination concerns
Summary
Council continued the quasi‑judicial hearing on ordinance 17‑57 (petition to vacate parts of 5th Street and 4th Avenue) and left the written record open through March 3 for additional comments and until March 10 for applicant rebuttal; the council will deliberate and vote on March 17. Neighbors, conservation groups and the applicant presented competing views about wetlands protection and statutory standards.
The West Linn City Council moved to close oral testimony on the petition to vacate portions of 5th Street and 4th Avenue and left the written record open for additional material until March 3 at 12:00 PM, with the applicant permitted a final rebuttal period ending March 10. The council scheduled deliberations and a vote for March 17 at 6:00 PM.
Planning Manager Darren Wise told the council the three right‑of‑way polygons targeted by the petition are largely within the city’s local wetland inventory, the 100‑year floodplain and habitat conservation areas, and that the city has no plan to build roads or run utilities through those portions. "Those three red polygons are the rights of way that are intended or petitioned to be vacated, and they're all running through the wetland," Wise said during the staff presentation. He also said SDG‑2 LLC, the petitioner’s ownership interest, met the ORS consent‑percentage threshold for a vacation.
Applicant counsel Garrett Stevenson and consultant Mercedes Serra described the request as a narrow cleanup of long‑unused platted streets and emphasized that a vacation is not a land‑use approval allowing development. "This petition is strictly about whether the city needs these roads for transportation purposes," Stevenson said, framing the issue as the statutory test under ORS chapter 271.
Neighborhood groups and residents urged delay or denial. Kathy Halicki, president of the Willamette Neighborhood Association, asked the council to grant a continuance so neighborhood members could be briefed and submit informed comments. "This again shows a lack of communication and transparency," Halicki said, asking staff to meet with the neighborhood before the council decides. Conservation and neighborhood speakers, including Jarrett Schumacher of the Friends of Willamette Wetlands and Nicole Jackson, pointed to the wetlands, the waterfront master plan and concerns about an on‑site settling pond and legacy contamination as reasons to pause the process and seek more information.
Applicant counsel said the vacation process is governed by state statute and that concerns about future development should be decided later through the separate land‑use process. Council and city attorneys repeatedly noted the legal distinction: the vacation statute focuses on whether the right‑of‑way is needed for transportation or utilities and whether the public interest would be "prejudiced," not on whether a future development plan might be acceptable under separate codes.
After a brief recess to discuss procedure, the council adopted the mayor’s proposed timeline: written comments and evidence accepted through March 3 at 12:00 PM; applicant rebuttal and responsive evidence allowed through March 10 at 12:00 PM; and deliberation and vote at the March 17 council meeting. The council indicated that the March 17 session would be deliberations only and that no further oral testimony would be taken that night.
The next procedural step for interested parties is to submit written testimony by the March 3 deadline; the applicant and staff have agreed to use the March 10 rebuttal window to respond to any new evidence.
