Metro does not often impose sanctions on its municipalities, but the regional government may soon do just that.

Metro councilors last week voted to pursue enforcement actions against the city of Troutdale for failing to comply with its regional planning codes. Under Title 13 of Metro’s Urban Growth Management Functional Plan, cities are required to limit or mitigate development around certain wildlife habitats and natural resources.

Troutdale, believing its codes are already compliant, has decided not to adopt the Title 13 regulations.

“We just feel that we’re substantially compliant within our existing code, and all we’re asking is that Metro come out and spend some time in Troutdale and take a look around and tell us where we aren’t compliant, what needs to change in our code, and most importantly, why,” Troutdale City Councilor Eric Anderson said.

But Martha Bennett, Metro’s chief operating officer, said the agency has discussed the matter with Troutdale leaders for more than two years and has been extraordinarily clear on the matter.

“This is really about fairness,” Bennett said. “All the other jurisdictions in the region have to do this too and that’s why we have a regional government … It is a statewide land use planning goal, and we have decided as a region to collectively determine standards so there is equity across the region. Troutdale is part of the region.”

Of the 25 cities in Metro’s jurisdiction, 21 have adopted the Title 13 codes. The cities of Portland, Damascus, Fairview and Troutdale have not. Metro’s decision to take action against Troutdale comes after two extensions were granted to the municipality to adopt the codes, Bennett said.

The next step, which Bennett said Metro is now obligated to pursue, is to close revenue streams like the Metropolitan Transportation Improvement Program, excise taxes from construction permits and money from a 2006 property tax bond measure.

Bennett added that Metro could then appeal to the state Land Conservation and Development Commission to have it withhold revenue, which it provides through liquor, cigarette and gas taxes – significant money for any city, Bennett said.

Troutdale City Councilor Doug Daoust is dreading that day.

“Nowadays, as with any budget reduction, that would affect our general fund,” he said. “It would definitely have an impact because we’re having to cut corners as it is.”

But Daoust said he and his fellow city councilors and Mayor Jim Kight believe their codes are already sufficient to protect habitat lands and that additional regulations would simply burden property owners unnecessarily. In December, they sent a resolution to Metro councilors that said as much.

“The size of this ordinance is larger than the Portland city phone book,” Councilor Glenn White said. “I have a stack regarding Title 13 that is 2 feet tall. That makes it difficult for volunteer city councilors or a private property owner who wants to develop his land. It makes it extremely difficult and expensive unnecessarily.”

White said an extensive code like that might be necessary for larger urban areas, but not Troutdale.

“These are people we know,” he said. “These are our neighbors that we have to answer to.”

Bennett said a system like that works just fine – until it doesn’t.

“Frankly, this is to protect the property owner as much as it is to protect the habitat,” she said. “You need certainty in the regulatory process when you’re getting a permit. Otherwise you’re vulnerable on appeal.”

While Troutdale’s code does require mitigation of development impacts, Bennett said the problem is that it has no objective standards for measuring whether a developer has met requirements.

One large project on the table in Troutdale calls for development of a new urban renewal area east of the city’s outlet malls. Part of that project involves turning large swaths of bramble and blackberry bushes along the Sandy River into pedestrian riverfront areas. Kight said the city is concerned that Title 13 could jeopardize aspects of that project.

Bennett said Metro has communicated to Troutdale officials that it is willing to work with them on that project.

But Kight said he also is concerned that property owners will not be adequately compensated when the code, for instance, increases setbacks along riverfront properties. Those are real concerns, he said, even while conservation remains a high priority.

“We recognize that we have to be good city stewards because once you lose it, you lose it for life,” Kight said.

Metro will hold a public hearing on the matter sometime within the next 90 days. Daoust said Troutdale officials hope to hold negotiations with Metro before that time and to come to some resolution. Bennett said she is looking forward to those discussions.

“But I do think my bosses are quite serious about them coming into compliance – making sure that everyone is treated the same,” she said.

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Did the mayor of Troutdale build an illegal building on his property? Did he use his influence to get that building approved?

We may soon find out. Troutdale Mayor Jim Kight because of concerns about a new building he added to his property.

The $15,000 expenditure on the investigation still needs to be approved by Troutdale City Council, but the council authorized staff to start the process last week. According to , the investigation would look at whether Kight used his position as mayor to influence how a building he calls “accessory office space” on his property was permitted and approved. It’s a problem that was first raised this May, when the city council it’s had with Kight; after which he .

The issue, according to the Outlook, is that the building may or may not fit a classification as a “residential” building. Residential buildings have specific requirements and charges involved, which Kight didn’t have to fit because he claimed the building was not residential. The structure, which he hired a contractor to build, includes kitchen space, which may mean it meets the classification of a “dwelling” unit. (I’ve given Mayor Kight a call and will update this post if I hear back from him.)

Accessory dwelling units are a big trend in construction these days: the structures were a requirement in the annual Street of Dreams showplace this year… but they are also quite complicated. Our reporter Lindsey O’Brien reported on some of the issues that come up with ADU’s, specifically under Portland’s rules:

The idea seems simple enough, but the practice of actually getting an ADU built, financed and appraised is very complicated at this point,” said Taylor Watkins, owner and principal appraiser of Watkins & Associates, a Portland-based residential appraisal firm. (Read the whole story here.)

And even earlier this year, reporter Nick Bjork reported on the costs and financing issues — including a recently-eliminated system development fee — that provide more hurdles when building ADUs.

Oh, the murky regulations that come with building on your own property! What happened to the days when you could just build a treehouse and be left alone?

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The Port of Portland is feeling fortunate: A proposed development of two natural gas plants may be ideal for a 38.4-acre lot the port owns at the Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park.

The deal is far from solid, but the Troutdale Energy Center would represent an investment of $800 million to $850 million. The proposal also is a good fit for the site, which has existing infrastructure and wetlands that limit a building’s potential footprint.

, a New York-based owner and developer of gas-fired energy generation facilities, announced its plans for the site late last week. The natural gas plants would fill a need identified by in an Integrated Resource Plan approved recently by the Public Utility Commission of Oregon. PGE is expected to issue a request for proposals for a developer to build the two plants early next year.

The utility expects to need both a base-load facility to run regularly and a flexible-resource facility to run only when needed, PGE spokesman Steve Corson said. The latter one would provide energy when irregular resources, like wind or hydropower, fail to meet demand.

PGE is planning to submit its own proposals to the RFP, which will be reviewed both by the utility and an independent evaluator assigned by the utility commission.

Development Partners Director Bob Howard believes his company’s proposal will be more cost-effective and efficient than the one planned by PGE. The lot, called lot 3, includes existing electric and gas infrastructure left from the site’s former use as a Reynolds aluminum plant. Other nearby resources will add to efficiency, Howard said; a wastewater treatment plant, for example, can be used for cooling.

Also, transmission resources for the Bonneville Power Administration, PacifiCorp and PGE exist nearby.

“There’s not a lot of generation in that area, but there’s a significant amount of transmission there,” Howard said.

The existence of a large natural gas pipeline nearby also will lower costs, Howard said.

For the Port of Portland, the fit could barely be better.

“The nearby assets might be viewed as a negative by some, but it’s an asset for this center,” port spokesman Josh Thomas said. “From the port’s perspective, (the center) fits exceptionally well within the existing site constraints.”

One of those constraints is the location of protected wetlands, which will limit construction to only about a third of the 38.4-acre lot. That won’t be a problem for the Troutdale Energy Center, Howard said.

Development Partners is working with on the project, and Howard expects that firm to serve as the general contractor. He said that according to the firm’s “back-of-the-envelope” calculations, the project would create 500 construction jobs and approximately 30 permanent jobs at the facility.

If the procurement process works out as Development Partners hopes it will, construction would start in 2013 and both plants would be up and running in 2015.

Troutdale Mayor Jim Kight said that the proposed deal is “bittersweet.” The potential for full-time jobs is a major benefit, he said. But under the state Strategic Investment Program, the plants would be exempt from property taxes for 15 years, which would mean less revenue for Troutdale in the short term. The environmental impact also raises questions, Kight said.

“City Council will be looking at the project and the balance between the economic piece and livability of the community,” he said.

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When the Port of Portland Commission voted Wednesday to purchase 222 acres of land in Gresham to develop for industrial uses, Gresham wasn’t the only city lobbying for the $26.5-million deal. Troutdale Mayor Jim Kight also came to the meeting to show his support for the deal.

Kight said he was there to support the Gresham purchase to promote more employment opportunities in east Multnomah County — and also to relate the success that Troutdale has seen with its own port-developed industrial land at the Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park.

With both developments, the port aims to supply large lots of industrial land that is lacking in the region.

“There’s very few large parcels left in the three-county area; and that why the port wanted to make this purchase — a pretty bold one, frankly — of this property,” Kight said.

Kight said the development is doing good things for Troutdale, helping the city towards the goal of having more local jobs, instead of being a “bedroom community.”

The port recently announced it is continuing development into phase 2 of the Troutdale Reynolds Industrial Park. Phase two will develop nine lots on the 180-acre site. The first two phase 2 lots will be available by December 2014, according to Port of Portland spokesman Josh Thomas.

The Troutdale property is already home to the FedEx regional distribution hub, and its $129 million, 441,000-square-foot building. The FedEx building is on a lot that was developed in phase 1 of the industrial park project, along with two other lots, which are still unoccupied.

Kight hopes that the Fed Ex development will bring more tenants to the property.

“We’ve heard that where a FedEx is built, other hubs are built out within five years,” Kight said. “If you have a business dependent on a product getting to a customer, it’s a great advantage to have a (FedEx) regional hub right down the street.”

Thomas said the port has been fielding interest on two of the lots at the Troutdale site.

The post Troutdale, Gresham expect boost from Port of Portland industrial land appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

If the city of Troutdale does receive help in its pursuit of stimulus money to pay for installation of new wind turbines atop its wastewater treatment plant, it won’t come from the Oregon Way Advisory Group.

Troutdale Mayor Jim Kight had hoped the project would be squeezed onto the advisory group’s short list of projects needing help in seeking competitive grants under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Gov.  Ted Kulongoski in February appointed the committee to advise and assist groups seeking federal stimulus funding.

“This project is important to Troutdale,” Kight said. “We spend $100,000 a year in electrical use for our wastewater treatment plant. We want to reduce those loads and balance our budget without going to the taxpayers.”

The Troutdale project would cost $5.3 million. Ten 156-foot-tall wind turbines, which would produce 125,000 kilowatt hours of energy to power operations, would be installed on the wastewater treatment plant’s roof. The turbines would be manufactured in Vermont by AAER Inc. and then brought to Oregon, where they would be installed by local contractors, a process that would create or maintain 400 jobs, according to Kight.

But the advisory group had a simple message for Kight following his project presentation: It’s too late.

“One thing we need to be clear about here is we are not in a position to take on new projects,” committee chairman Wally Van Valkenburg said. “There could be opportunities for us to take on more projects down the line, but today we need to spend time on our current projects.”

RELATED

Proposal letter from Troutdale Mayor Jim Kight (pdf)

Van Valkenburg recommended that Kight contact the governor’s office to see if there is other assistance available for the Troutdale project. The committee is currently working to fast-track seven projects, including the Oregon Sustainability Center, Portland Community College’s net-zero campus and a new sustainably-designed K-12 school in Vernonia.

Though he is confident he can secure stimulus money through other avenues, Kight said he wished the application deadlines for inclusion in the Oregon Way process had been publicized better. He found out about the program only a week ago.

“Listening to the projects proffered by people today, ours is head and shoulders above,” Kight said. “This is a simple, straightforward project, and the (time frame for) payback on investment will be much shorter than anything presented to the advisory group at this point.”

Because Troutdale’s wastewater treatment plant is located near a Bonneville Power Administration substation, Kight said existing power transmission lines can be used to draw wind energy into the grid, reducing cost and time needed for construction. Kight said the project could be completed in six months.

“I’d like to have it done tomorrow,” Kight said. “We have these small windows of opportunity (for stimulus funds) because there are other projects waiting to get in line.”

Projected energy savings as a result of the turbine installation also could free up $100,000 per year in the city’s budget to jump-start other projects within the city.

“To operate the plant costs $100,000 per year,” Kight said. “If we can save that, and produce anything extra, like energy credits that can be sold on the open market, that money could fund projects within our urban renewal area, or even materialize as savings given back to the taxpayers.”

Kight next plans to contact the governor’s office and see if there are other ways to put his project on the fast track for stimulus funding. He is confident that will happen.

“Our project meets all of the criteria (for stimulus funding) to the letter,” Kight said.

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