Update: In response to comments received, city staff have edited the draft code language and clarified, on the record, that the scope and intent of "Limited Review" is to allow driveway maintenance activities (including the rebuilding of curbs, aprons, and sidewalks) via staff review, but that it was not the intent of the planners for the "Limited Review" procedure to include expansions or anything that would increase capacity or traffic. At the Planning Commission hearing, city staff confirmed that any "a change of use or change of capacity" will require a Type II review.
To: Planning DepartmentCc: STR Outreach
Subject: Driveway Approach Permits
Dear Tualatin Planning Commission,
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on proposed changes to the Tualatin Development Code via Plan Text Amendment 25-0002. I am very concerned about the potential impacts of the "Limited Review" provision for Driveway Approach Permits.
"Driveway approach permits submitted to reconstruct or alter an existing driveway are subject to a Type I Review in accordance with TDC Chapter 32." PTA 25-0002 33.030 (2)(b).
By moving these driveway approach permits from Type II to Type I review, important traffic decisions would be made without public notice and without a public hearing. This would undermine a key goal of the Tualatin Comprehensive Plan 2040: "Conduct the planning process with adequate input and feedback from citizens in each affected neighborhood." (Policy 1.1.3)
Type I decisions "are final at the local level and may only be appealed to Circuit Court" (TDC 32.310) so the consequences of this code change could be serious. With zero public notice, City staff could allow a large industrial employer to open a previously gated entrance and send a thousand cars per day into a neighborhood across from a school. The public might not learn about the driveway approval until after construction had already begun, and the only way that residents could challenge the decision would be to take legal action in Circuit Court. Does the City of Tualatin really want to relinquish local control of traffic patterns and leave these important decisions up to a Circuit Court judge?
In consideration of the potential negative impacts, I would ask the Planning Commission to recommend removal of the "Limited Review" provision from the Planned Text Amendment PTA 25-0002 prior to adoption by the Tualatin City Council.
Thank you for your consideration and attention to this matter.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on proposed changes to the Tualatin Development Code via Plan Text Amendment 25-0002. I am very concerned about the potential impacts of the "Limited Review" provision for Driveway Approach Permits.
"Driveway approach permits submitted to reconstruct or alter an existing driveway are subject to a Type I Review in accordance with TDC Chapter 32." PTA 25-0002 33.030 (2)(b).
By moving these driveway approach permits from Type II to Type I review, important traffic decisions would be made without public notice and without a public hearing. This would undermine a key goal of the Tualatin Comprehensive Plan 2040: "Conduct the planning process with adequate input and feedback from citizens in each affected neighborhood." (Policy 1.1.3)
Type I decisions "are final at the local level and may only be appealed to Circuit Court" (TDC 32.310) so the consequences of this code change could be serious. With zero public notice, City staff could allow a large industrial employer to open a previously gated entrance and send a thousand cars per day into a neighborhood across from a school. The public might not learn about the driveway approval until after construction had already begun, and the only way that residents could challenge the decision would be to take legal action in Circuit Court. Does the City of Tualatin really want to relinquish local control of traffic patterns and leave these important decisions up to a Circuit Court judge?
In consideration of the potential negative impacts, I would ask the Planning Commission to recommend removal of the "Limited Review" provision from the Planned Text Amendment PTA 25-0002 prior to adoption by the Tualatin City Council.
Thank you for your consideration and attention to this matter.