Planning commission recommends moving 2.6-acre piece from Forest Grove to Cornelius planning area

The Forest Grove Planning Commission voted to recommend that City Council adopt an ordinance amending the city's comprehensive plan map to withdraw about 2.6 acres from Forest Grove's general industrial designation and add that area to the Cornelius planning area.

Senior planner Dan Bridal summarized the proposal as a city-initiated amendment tied to recent updates to the urban planning area agreement. "The staff recommendation is that the planning commission adopt a motion tonight recommending that the city council adopt an ordinance amending the Forest Grove comprehensive plan map," Bridal said, explaining the change would remove a policy conflict and prevent the parcel from being bisected by municipal boundaries.

Bridal told commissioners the 2.6 acres is part of a larger parcel of roughly 17 acres and that moving the plan designation would allow Cornelius to apply its comprehensive-plan designation and corresponding zoning after annexation. He described the amendment as a minor plan amendment under Oregon statewide planning Goal 2 and said the action is consistent with ORS 190.010 on intergovernmental cooperation.

Commissioners probed the impetus for the change and whether annexation and development would follow. Bridal said Cornelius had shown development interest and that, under the prior urban planning area mapping, annexation could have left part of the parcel in each city, complicating development review. On fiscal impact, Bridal said the likely effect is uncertain and that the Forest Grove portion is largely constrained by floodplain, slope and wetland conditions.

A commissioner moved to recommend City Council enact the ordinance; another commissioner seconded. The motion passed on a roll call with affirmative responses from the commissioners present. The commission will forward its recommendation and staff's written report to City Council for its decision.