Which codes do WE want updated or consolidated?

The consultant on code writing for the city is Clarion Associates and Sera Architects.  Their report, was presented  to Council December 11, 2012, a little over a year ago.  We have had council changes and changes to the Comp Plan since then, so this is only a guide as to what was done earlier.  It does, however, give insight to the direction and intent of the code streamlining and update project - which is to require higher density in commercial zones and prohibit low density development.

The plan /project spells out how this might happen and if you have a good imagination, you can foresee what Lake Oswego will look like in the future - that is, nothing like it is today.  Certainly nothing left of our small town character.  Is this what WE want?  I suggest that the Central Planners and politicians who favor this stuff pay for it too.  They sure as heck didn't ask me if I want to buy this plan.

What are you going to do about it?

It's our city after all.

Lake Oswego Code Concepts Report 

Selected Excerpts:

Page 1:

The second effort, led by SERA Architects, is to evaluate current design and development standards regulating mixed-use development for potential barriers to development, and to update these standards to better facilitate mixed-use development. This work is intended to help implement the 2035 Community Vision, which calls for future commercial, mixed use, and high-density housing development to be focused within identified Town Centers, Employment Centers, and Neighborhood Villages. This portion of the project examines each of the commercial zoning districts applied to the 2035 Vision Map in order to determine whether current dimensional standards and other development regulations are inhibiting the provision of new residential mixed use projects within these commercial districts. 

Page 11:
This could have helped neighbors in dealing with the WEB rezoning, however, I don't know that the conditions mentioned couldn't be applied now without any changes.

Where two or more existing zone districts are being consolidated, generally allow any use allowed in either district unless adverse impacts of specific uses are foreseen. If so, try to address those impacts through use-specific standards or operational standards (hours of operation, points of access, etc.) or by requiring conditional use approval rather than prohibiting the use entirely. 

Page 13:
Newer versions of the code rewrite include community gardens in all city zones

New ‘urban agricultural’ uses need to be added to the agriculture section–with standards governing the use themselves, accessory structures, sales of agricultural products, and buffering from adjacent residential uses. 

Page 16:
Those interested in the height of buildings in the downtown core might want to check out the bottom of the chart on page 16 where there is a description of current code dimensions.  

Page 18:
 Minimum Building Dimensions:

While the draft dimensional table provides maximum building heights and lot coverage for each zoning district, an additional option is to establish minimum heights or minimum FARs in some or all of the commercial / mixed use zones. This strategy is intended to support the Comprehensive Plan Economic Vitality policy to maximize use of employment land through optimizing the development of vacant employment land. Setting minimums would discourage “underbuilding” on commercially zoned parcels. There is precedent within the Lake Oswego Community Development Code for establishing minimum development parameters. The Downtown Redevelopment Design District requires a minimum building height of two stories with some exceptions, while the Lake Grove Village Center Overlay requires that buildings fronting Boones Ferry be at least 27 feet high for 50% of the building frontage (along all other streets, buildings must be at least 18 feet tall for 50% of the building frontage). 

Establishing minimum building heights or FARs would help to prevent low-intensity, low-density, single- story / single use buildings. However, there are trade-offs associated with this strategy. It should be noted that many successful mixed use districts do have one-story commercial structures that positively contribute to the look and function of the district, and establishing minimum height / FARs could preclude desirable commercial – only developments (including banks, grocery stores, etc.).