NEWBERG, Ore. — At the Nov. 2 Newberg City Council meeting, City of Newberg Project Manager Jeremiah Cromie presented the city’s annual development code changes, including five updates required by state land use law. The presentation is the first step toward approval; a public hearing and first reading are set for Nov. 16.
According to Cromie, the package includes 26 code amendments: 15 corrections, clarifications, streamlining changes, or other edits to existing code; six minor policy updates; and five updates required by state law.
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According to the staff report, the minor policy changes include loosening the limit of one freestanding sign per frontage of property in certain land use zones. The proposal would allow all zones one major freestanding sign plus one additional sign for each full 600 feet of street frontage, giving larger properties with multiple driveways necessary wayfinding signs.
Another proposal would exempt some changes of property use from design review, which currently applies to all of them, if the change does not substantially alter the site or exterior of a building and does not require additional parking. A proposed adjustment to variance expiration dates would keep all permit expirations for a single land use application on the same deadline, minimizing confusion for planning staff and applicants.
Cromie also presented less restrictive off-street parking requirements for remodels of existing dwellings and minimum standards for new development adjacent to existing private streets, including meeting pavement width and fire code standards.
“Throughout the year, staff identifies issues through application of the code and customer input,” Cromie said.
Of the five state-mandated changes, one requires the city to notify tribes of land use decisions that involve ground disturbance and require public notice, effective Jan. 1, 2027. Mayor Bill Rosacker asked which tribes the city must notify. Cromie said the Legislative Commission on Indian Services has not yet provided its list for Newberg, which is due by the end of the year.
Under ORS 197A.400, as amended by House Bill 4037, Oregon law now limits the notification radius to 100 feet for residential developments of fewer than 20 units and restricts appeals of certain housing decisions to the applicant only. Previously, city code required notice to property owners within 500 feet regardless of development size. The changes took effect July 1.
Other state-mandated changes include allowing single-room occupancies in residential zones, barring the city from applying more restrictive requirements to manufactured homes than to single-family homes, reducing the minimum acreage for a new mobile home park from 5 acres to 1 acre, and limiting what the city can require to approve middle housing land divisions.
Councilor Elise Yarnell Hollamon asked Community Development Director Scot Siegel and City Manager Will Worthey about options for lobbying the state against the ORS 197A.400 amendments in House Bill 4037. Worthey said the law was intended for larger cities with long planning processes, not smaller cities like Newberg with faster land use processing times.
“Obviously I think everybody in this room feels like this was not aimed at cities like us and it’s a one-size-fits-all and it’s not good for us,” Worthey said.
Yarnell Hollamon made a motion to include council discussion of potential lobbying on a future agenda, which Councilor Mike McBride seconded. The discussion will most likely be on the Dec. 7 council agenda, according to Worthey.
Also at the council meeting
October City Manager Report
Worthey presented the monthly City Manager Report, which said the city’s housing needs analysis is underway and the Newberg-Dundee Police Department Foundation Gala raised more than $32,000. For public works, October included replacing an 18-inch valve at Vermillion and Edwards streets and beginning tree trimming along Morton and Main streets.
Council Approves Lowering Flags for Tyler Sturdevant
During the public comment period, residents and Yamhill County Commissioner David “Bubba” King asked the council to lower flags to half-staff on Nov. 4 for Tyler Sturdevant, who died in a helicopter crash Oct. 29. McBride made a motion to lower the flags on the day a procession carrying Sturdevant would drive through downtown Newberg, which Councilor Robyn Wheatley seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
