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Woodburn Planning Commission January 29, 2026 1 Woodburn Planning Commission Meeting Minutes January 29, 2025 Convened: The Planning Commission met at 6:30 p.m. in person at the City of Woodburn’s City Council Chambers. Roll Call: Chair Ellsworth Present Vice-Chair Hernandez-Mejia Present Commissioner Bartel Present (Online) Commissioner Berlin Present (Late, arrived at 6:50 p.m.) Commissioner Bravo Present Commissioner May Present Commissioner Lassen Present Staff Present: Chris Kerr, Community Development Director Chris Killmer, Assistant City Attorney Dan Handel, Senior Planner Introduction: Chair Ellsworth opened the meeting at 6:30 p.m. and asked Staff to begin roll-call. Chair Ellsworth led everyone through the Pledge of Allegiance. Minutes: Chair Ellsworth presented the minutes of December 11, 2025. She asked if anyone had any corrections, additions, or modifications to the minutes, and there were none. Chair Ellsworth entertained a motion, and Commissioner Bartel motioned to approve December 11, 2025 minutes as written. Vice- Chair Hernandez-Mejia seconded the motion. Chair Ellsworth called for a vote; all Commissioners voted unanimously in favor. Therefore, December 11, 2025 minutes were approved. Business from the Audience: None. Communications from Staff: Community Development Director Chris Kerr stated that it’s time to elect the Chair and Vice-Chair positions for the Planning Commission. He opened the floor for nominations and Chair Ellsworth nominated Vice-Chair Hernandez-Mejia to retain her position as the Planning Commission’s Vice-Chair. Vice-Chair Hernandez-Mejia nominated Chair Ellsworth to retain her position as Planning Commission’s Chair. Chair Ellsworth made the motion for her and Vice-Chair Hernandez-Mejia to retain their positions as Chair and Vice-Chair. The whole Planning Commission voted unanimously in favor; therefore, Chair Ellsworth and Vice-Chair Hernandez-Mejia retained their positions within the Planning Commission as Chair and Vice-Chair. Public Hearing: Chair Ellsworth stated there was one quasi-judicial item on the agenda. Quasi-Judicial Item: DR 25-08, SA 25-04, & VAR 25-02 Chair Ellsworth opened the public hearing for DR 25-08, SA 25-04, & VAR 25-02 “Woodburn Construction Company Warehouse/Office Building,” located at 669 Ray J Glatt Cir. and gave a brief description about the project. ---PAGE BREAK--- Woodburn Planning Commission January 29, 2026 2 Chair Ellsworth asked the Planning Commissioners if anyone had any ex-parte contacts with the applicant or other individuals, or if anyone had made any site visits. Vice-Chair Hernandez-Mejia stated that she is a little bit familiar with the area, as she drives on both sides of Boones Ferry and Meridian. Commissioner May stated that he goes to the Woodburn Vision Source, which is neighboring the proposed property, but he assured the Planning Commission that it won’t affect the impact of his decision. Commissioner Bravo stated that his insurance office is in Glatt Circle where the proposed project is, but he assured the Planning Commission that it won’t affect the impact of his decision. Chair Ellsworth stated that she hasn’t visited the site in relation to the project, but had visited Glatt Circle for other business, but she assured the Planning Commission that it won’t affect the impact of her decision. Chair Ellsworth then asked if anyone on the Planning Commission had any conflict or bias that would impact a decision, and there were none. She asked if there were any challenges to any member of the Planning Commission from both those online and in attendance, and there were none. Chair Ellsworth asked for the hearing statement to be read, and Assistant City Attorney Chris Killmer read the statement. After the statement, Chair Ellsworth asked for the staff report. Senior Planner Dan Handel presented the staff report for DR 25-08, SA 25-04, & VAR 25-02 “Woodburn Construction Company Warehouse/Office Building,” located on 669 Ray J Glatt Cir. He entered the staff report and its attachments into the record. During this time, Commissioner Berlin arrived at the Planning Commission Meeting around 6:50 p.m. After his presentation, Senior Planner Handel asked if the Planning Commission had any comments or questions about the land-use application. Commissioner May had a question about the variance request to change the pedestrian walkway from eight feet to five feet. He asked if the other businesses around that circle area also have eight-foot walkways or are they more of a five-foot walkways and Senoir Planner Handel answered that the eight-foot requirement is relatively new. He added that it is likely most walkways in that area are between four to five feet, with five feet being the ADA minimum. Director Kerr noted for the record that Commissioner Berlin entered the meeting around 6:50 p.m. Chair Ellsworth then asked Commissioner Berlin if she had any declarations to declare, such as ex-parte contacts with the applicant or other individuals, any site visits, and any conflict or bias that would impact a decision. Commissioner Berlin stated that she visits two businesses in the area, which are the dentist and one other business. Chair Ellsworth asked if Commissioner Berlin can make a fair and impartial judgement for the decision and Commissioner Berlin said yes. Chair Ellsworth asked if there were any challenges to Commissioner Berlin from both those online and in attendance, and there were none. The Planning Commission continued. Chair Ellsworth had a process/logistics question for Staff. She asked what happens if one neighbor refuses to agree to the proposed access and utility easements. Senior Planner Handel stated that it would halt the project, as these types of easements would have to be obtained or granted prior to issuing a building permit. Chair Ellsworth concluded that the easements would need to be in place before the applicant can start and Senior Planner Handel stated yes. Vice-Chair Hernandez-Mejia asked if there would be enough parking to meet code for the other future office. Senior Planner Handel said that parking would be part of the review for that future office. Chair Ellsworth asked if there were any other questions for Staff. Hearing none, she invited the applicant to give their testimony. Testimony by the Applicant: Steve Kay, Cascadia Planning + Development Service, PO Box 1920, Silverton, OR 97381. Applicant Kay represents the Woodburn Construction Company. Applicant Kay stated that Woodburn Construction Company currently owns the proposed property, and they had grown out of their current location, which is in the Northwest corner of Glatt Circle. Applicant Kay explained what the company does, which is a lot of commercial and industrial size projects. He stated that the proposed project would allow them to increase their business over time, as they are currently a company of twenty- ---PAGE BREAK--- Woodburn Planning Commission January 29, 2026 3 five employees. Applicant Kay explained what the development process would look like and that the applicant is planning to develop the parking area for the building. Applicant Kay referenced Chair Ellsworth’s prior question regarding future expansion and parking by stating that the site plan accommodates parking for any future expansion. Applicant Kay mentioned the pedestrian connections that would help provide more connectivity for the block and then he talked about landscaping improvements. His final comments were about the access easement between the properties of the proposed site, including utilities easements. Applicant Kay added that there is an agreement to the property owner of the East, while it’s a verbal agreement, both property owners understand that requirement of shared easements. Chair Ellsworth asked if anyone had questions for Applicant Kay, which there were none. She moved onto testimonies from the audience. Testimony by the Proponent/Opponent/Neutral: None. Since there was no testimony, Chair Ellsworth closed the hearing and moved onto deliberation. Chair Ellsworth commented that this is a great use of a landlocked piece of property. Commissioner Bartel agreed, and she added all the interesting pieces seem to be in place, meaning all the development issues the Planning Commission usually sees are planned accordingly so as not to create issues. She did mention that she’s hoping that the developers get the access agreements in writing. Chair Ellsworth asked if staff recommended the applicant to get a written version of that agreement and Staff said yes. Commissioner May commented that the variances requested are fair and aren’t egregious for the proposed project’s site. Chair Ellsworth added that the applicant made use of the space to its full potential. Chair Ellsworth entertained a motion. Commissioner Bartel moved that the Planning Commission approve of DR 25-08, SA 25-04, & VAR 25-02 “Woodburn Construction Company Warehouse/Office Building,” with the conditions recommended by staff and the staff report and direct staff to prepare a final decision for the Chair to sign. Commissioner Berlin seconded the motion. Chair Ellsworth called for a vote in favor, which everyone in attendance of the roll-call voted in favor. Therefore, DR 25-08, SA 25-04, & VAR 25-02 “Woodburn Construction Company Warehouse/Office Building, was approved. Business from the Commission: None. Updates/Business from Staff: Director Kerr had a few updates for the Planning Commission. He commented that for the next meeting, he will have a list of potential WDO amendments that he would like staff to work on for the next six-nine months. Director Kerr mentioned that the City Council had recently adopted and approved the annexation for the piece of property South of Centennial Park and West of Boones Ferry. He then talked about the Fessler Property north of the Dove Landing development, which the City is currently seeking to have added to its UGB through a legislative bill introduced during Oregon’s short legislative session. If successful, the bill would bring the property north of Dove Landing into the UGB for residential development and would require that 30% of that housing be affordable. Director Kerr noted that the City’s bill is one of many bills being considered in Oregon’s short legislative session. Assistant City Attorney Killmer stated that there are roughly 280 bills that have been introduced in this short session. Director Kerr then talked about the Community Center and how close the building permits are to being approved and he noted the groundbreaking event on Friday, February 13, 2026. Director Kerr then talked about the Winco application that’s under review. The proposed development is south of the Walmart on Stacy Allision Way. He’s hoping for March 12, 2026, for a Planning Commission Meeting, but there is no guarantee that it will be the day. Director Kerr then talked about the food cart pod project approved and constructed in the industrial zone. They have added a new restroom and fixed any code violation issues, so they should be up and running again soon. ---PAGE BREAK--- Woodburn Planning Commission January 29, 2026 4 Lastly, Director Kerr mentioned the groundbreaking of the two gas stations, one on the east side of the city and the other on the west. He stated that the westside location is likely to be completed first and that they had requested removing the car wash from their site plan, which his office administratively approved. Adjournment: Chair Ellsworth entertained a motion for adjournment. Vice-Chair Hernandez-Mejia moved to adjourn the meeting and Commissioner May second. Chair Ellsworth asked for all those in favor and the vote was unanimously in favor. The Planning Commission concluded at 7:25 P.M. Lisa Ellsworth Date Chair of Planning Commission City of Woodburn, Oregon Attest Chris Kerr, AICP Date Community Development Director City of Woodburn, Oregon