Wilsonville planning panel to hear Town Center building-height waiver proposal

Wilsonville’s Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Wednesday, Aug. 12, on proposed code amendments involving the Town Center Building Height Waiver, beginning a formal review that could determine whether the changes advance to the City Council.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. The commission will consider whether to recommend the proposed amendments to the council. The matter has not yet been approved, and the Planning Commission had not issued a recommendation as of Aug. 10.

What the hearing could change

The Town Center Building Height Waiver concerns how the city handles requests for buildings that may exceed standard height limits in the area. The proposed amendments could influence how tall future Town Center buildings may be, although the city’s public notice does not identify a proposed maximum height or provide the full text of the changes.

The hearing is part of a broader city review of Town Center zoning provisions. Wilsonville previously established a limited-duration task force to examine provisions related to building-height waivers. The Planning Commission’s role on Aug. 12 is to hear the proposal and decide whether to recommend it to the next decision-making body, rather than take final action on the city’s development rules.

Next step at City Council

The city says a Wilsonville City Council hearing is scheduled for Sept. 10. That hearing is the next identified step if the proposal proceeds from the Planning Commission. The council’s consideration could determine whether the proposed code amendments move forward.

The height-waiver discussion comes as the city separately considers how to support development and address blighted areas in Town Center. On July 21, Wilsonville reported results from a statistically valid resident phone survey conducted in June. A plurality of voters who responded said they were aware of and supportive of using tax-increment financing to address blighted areas in Town Center.

The city’s related materials also reference 121 Vuela homes serving households at 30% to 80% of area median income. That housing information and the survey findings provide broader context for the city’s Town Center discussions, but support for tax-increment financing does not establish support for every proposed building-height change.

Residents seeking to weigh in on the waiver proposal can attend the Planning Commission’s Aug. 12 public hearing. The commission’s recommendation, followed by the council’s scheduled Sept. 10 hearing, will determine the next public step for the amendments.