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Council hears waterfront vision-plan update; adoption targeted for fall with zoning to follow
Summary
Planning Manager Darren Wise told the council the waterfront vision plan—developed with years of public engagement—has broad survey support and is moving to final engagement this summer, with a planning commission public hearing tentatively set for Sept. 17 and a council adoption hearing tentatively Nov. 10; councilors pressed staff on environmental protections for the Pond District and potential settling-pond remediation.
Planning Manager Darren Wise told the West Linn City Council on June 2 that the waterfront vision plan, a multi-year project with engagement dating back to 2016, is entering a final public-engagement phase and could be adopted as a vision resolution before year-end.
Wise detailed the project’s history: initial engagement (2016–2019), pause during COVID, consultant work leading to a draft in January 2024, repeated public events and working-group input, and a December 2024 draft accompanied by an online survey. "We began engagement on the Waterfront Project way back in 2016," Wise said, and he told the council the survey showed "double the, agree versus the disagree in all of the categories," which the team interprets as general community support for the plan’s guiding principles (reinvestment, transportation improvements, river access and historic character).
Staff outlined a tentative schedule: summer engagement and working-group finalization in July, planning commission work sessions in July/August, a planning commission public hearing tentatively scheduled for Sept. 17, council work sessions in October and a possible council hearing on Nov. 10 for adoption of a vision resolution. Wise said implementation — including zoning code updates, design standards and transportation-system amendments — would follow adoption.
Councilors asked detailed questions about the Pond District’s wetlands, floodplain and habitat conservation constraints and about a nearby settling pond some members said may pose environmental or safety concerns if developed. Council members asked whether cleanup is required before housing could be built; Wise said the pond and proposed housing parcels are separate properties and he would contact the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the property owner for records and recommendations.
