Your Community Planning Organization in Oak Grove
Welcome to the official website of the Oak Grove Community Council (OGCC), often called the "Oak Grove CPO".
At the September 2011 meeting, the Community Council approved changing the name of the Oak Lodge Community Council (OLCC) to the Oak Grove Community Council (OGCC).
We have a new web address: www.oakgrovecpo.org. Use this address in the future. Currently, both the old address and the new one go to this website.
The Council normally meets on the 4th Wednesday of each month in the Fellowship Hall at Rose Villa, 13505 SE River Road Portland, OR 97222 from 7 PM to 9 PM. Everyone is welcome to attend. Additional meetings are also scheduled from time to time.
We enthusiastically urge you to attend the meetings and join in the dialogue.
To learn about the Oak Grove Community Council, click About Oak Grove.
Join the OGCC Email List
Stay in touch with your CPO. Stay informed. Let us know your views. Sign up for our email list.
To join the email list, click HERE.
We respect your privacy. The OGCC list will not be shared, sold, or used for any other purpose than to connect you with your CPO.
To remove your name and email from the list, send an email to contact@oakgrovecpo.org with "Remove" in the Subject line. To change your name or email, put "Change" in the Subject line.
OGCC Board Meetings
OGCC Executive Board meetings are normally held on the first Wednesday of each month, 10 am to 12 am at the fire station at 2930 SE Oak Grove Blvd, Oak Grove. All meetings are open to the public.
Current Events and Announcements
Note: references to the old CPO name
(Oak Lodge Community Council; OLCC)
are retained for now.
Land Use Issues
Briggs Z0304-11-C. Recently, the OLCC has been discussing a land use permit request to site a church in an Oak Grove residential (R-10) zone. The pertinent documents, including the land use application and nearby resident letters to the County's Planning and Development Department are accessible on the County's website, and available here using the following links:
- Z0304-11-C-a - application documents
- Z0304-11-C-b - letters from nearby residents
- Comments from the OLCC to the Clackamas County Hearings Officer
- Z0304-11-C - County Planning and Zoning Staff findings and recommended conditions of approval for the Conditional Use Permit
Note: You can retrieve county land-use documents from the Clackamas County website. Go to the County's Transportation and Development page (www.clackamas.us/transportation/planning) and click on the Document Retriever dog logo. To access the files you want to review, enter the "Z" number of the permit.
Signs of the Times
Last month, the OLCC voted to purchase signs to help attract the greater Oak Grove community members to its monthly meetings.
Thanks to the hard work of OLCC Board member Tom Foeller, the signs are in (at well under our budget - thank you Tom!), and will be placed in visible locations around the community prior to our monthly meetings.
The monthly meetings occur from 7 pm to 9 pm on the 4th Wednesday of each month at Fellowship Hall, Rose Villa, 13505 SE River Road, Oak Grove. All meetings are open to the public.
The 2011 Dee Wescott Community Organization Award
We're proud to announce that our own OLCC Chair, Eleanore Hunter, was chosen to receive the 2011 Dee Wescott Community Organization award.
The Dee Wescott Community Organization award was established by the Board of County Commissioners in September 2009 as a way to recognize and thank citizens of Clackamas County for exemplary dedication and leadership in making a difference in the community.
Background: Dee Wescott helped organize the rural community of Damascus into a city in 2004 and served as its first Mayor until 2007. He exemplified citizen involvement and volunteerism. The first recipient in 2010 was Warren Jones from the Hamlet of Mulino.
The Commissioners invite you to attend the April 14 Business Meeting to acknowledge Ms. Hunter's achievements and contributions. Please invite any family and friends you wish to share with the Board’s recognition of her accomplishments.
Here are the details:
Thursday, April 14, 2011
10:00 am Business Meeting
4th Floor Commission Room
2051 Kaen Road
Oregon City, OR
OLCC Park Avenue Forum and Monthly Meeting - March 23
We will hold a Park Ave Forum on Wednesday, March 23rd from 6:00 to 6:45 pm at Rose Villa's Fellowship Hall - immediately preceding our regular Oak Lodge Community Council monthly meeting that runs from 7 to 9 pm.
This will be the first in a monthly series to provide community members with a consistent forum where we can more fully understand and participate in the variety of activities that are converging on Park Ave - Tri-met's Light Rail station, the MAP Committee, the TGM grant, the Trolley Trail, and the Nature in Neighborhoods grant.
Future meetings of the Park Ave Forum, all to be held from 6:00 to 6:45 pm at Rose Villa, will be April 27th, May 25th and June 22nd.
Please pass this notice on to neighbors and friends interested in these exciting revitalizations of our community.
Trolley Trail Groundbreaking Ceremony - Tuesday, March 22
North Clackamas Parks and Recreation District, Clackamas County, Metro and other partners are working together to build the future Trolley Trail. The Trolley Trail is an approximately six-mile bike and pedestrian trail that connects neighborhoods from downtown Milwaukie to the City of Gladstone and beyond.
The trail, beginning construction now, will follow the historic streetcar right of way that ran in the area from 1893 until 1968. Construction is expected to be completed by late fall.
You are invited to a ceremonial groundbreaking on Tuesday, March 22, at 11 a.m.
at Stringfield Family Park, the main trailhead, 3614 SE Naef Road.
If you have questions, contact Pam Girtman (503-742-4353 or parks@co.clackamas.or.us). Check the website at www.hhpr.com/trolleytrail.
See you at the grand opening this fall!
Land Use Application Review Meeting - March 21
The Oak Lodge Community Council's Land Use Application Review Team (LUART) will meet next Monday, March 21, 2011 at 10 AM at the Oak Lodge Sanitary District office, 14611 SE River Road, Oak Grove, to consider two land use applications. Copies are available at web5.co.clackamas.or.us/landuse/index.jsp.
Z0068-11 - Staff Temp. for Care at 12501 SE 24th Ave. - temporary placement of travel trailer for health care assistance.
Z0079/80/81/82-11 - Floodplain Development Permit, etc. (see below) - Siting of manufactured home within floodplain at 15212 SE River Forest Drive.
If we have time, we'll also discuss the 6-5 vote at the Community Council on the shared dock application, where we had unanimously recommended approval.
Also, time permitting, we should discuss Mike McCallister's e-mail about the relationship of transit availability and applications to change zoning to higher density.
Land Use Application Review Meeting
On Monday, March 7, 10 AM, at the Oak Grove Firestation, the OLCC Land Use Application Review Team (LUART) will meet to review application Z0041-11, a Partition Plat for 14501 SE Laurie Avenue.
All members of the public are welcome to attend and participate in meetings of the Land Use Application Review Team. The Team will report its findings to the Oak Lodge Community Council at its monthly meeting, which is the fourth Wednesday of the month, at 7 PM, at Rose Villa Fellowship Hall, 13505 SE River Road in Oak Grove.
Application Z0041-11 is a re-application of a previously expired approval (Z0744-06-M) to divide/partition the subject property into two (2) parcels - a 26,897 sf parcel to contain an existing home and an 8,000 sf parcel for a new home site. Access for each parcel is proposed via individual driveways off SE Laurie Avenue.
The existing lot is 0.77 acres and is zoned R-10.
Documentation for the original Application Z0041-11 is available at Clackamas County's Document Retriever site http://web5.co.clackamas.or.us/landuse/index.jsp. A copy of this document, which is 82 pages long, will be available at the meeting.
Some quick notes from this document:
- The first application was for partition into 3 lots, which was refused by the County because of sewer and surface water issues. That application was revised to 2 lots, which was approved in 2006.
- The document includes a tree management plan.
- The record includes documentation of a violation of the Clackamas County Grading Ordinance (i.e., grading without a permit).
Light Rail Design Open House
This winter-spring, TriMet's light rail project staff will be seeking community input regarding designs of the Tacoma, downtown Milwaukie and Park Avenue stations, the Kellogg Creek light rail bridge, and project connections to the Trolley Trail. They will cover light rail station area and alignment design. They will give a brief presentation at the beginning of each open house.
On Monday, March 7th, TriMet will hold an open house to present its designs for the new Milwaukie light rail station.
The details:
Date: Monday, March 7
Time: 6:30-9 p.m.
Location: Milwaukie High School,
11300 SE 23rd Ave., Milwaukie
The public is invited to attend.
Watch for dates for other open houses that will focus on how the other station sites are progressing.
2011 OLCC Board Election Results
Per our by-laws, election of the OLCC Board of Directors was held at the February 23, 2011 meeting of the OLCC.
The following OLCC members were elected for two-year terms.
Chairperson - Eleanore Hunter
Vice-Chair - Ed Riddle (Edrid)
Secretary - Jim Martin
Treasurer - Chaunda Wild
Directors-at-Large - Tom Foeller, Fred Nelligan, Leonard Waldemar
OLCC Board Elections
Per our by-laws, election of the OLCC Board of Directors will be held at the February 23, 2011 meeting of the OLCC. All Board positions will be elected for a two-year term.
The slate of candidates for the election will be presented at the January 26th meeting. If you want to run for an OLCC office, be sure to be at the January meeting. (Candidates can also be nominated from the floor at the February election meeting.) To be a Board member, you must be a voting member of the OLCC. Each candidate must give their consent before being placed into nomination.
Invitation From the Oregon Department of Forestry
Greetings,
Please consider sharing the following message about Oregon’s forests with your organization. We are seeking ideas from Oregonians outside of the forestry community and would like to hear from interested members.
Thanks,
Rod Nichols, Oregon Dept. of Forestry, Salem, Oregon
503-945-7425
November 12, 2010
Forests are inseparably tied to our state’s identity and well-being. The Oregon Board of Forestry and the Department of Forestry invite you to take part in planning the future of our forests.
A public comment period is underway on the board’s strategic plan, the Forestry Program for Oregon, and will run through Dec. 31, 2010. The draft 2011 update aims to provide for sound management of our forestlands to ensure that the many benefits they produce – clean water, jobs, forest products, wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities – will continue into the future.
We encourage you to review the plan on the board’s website, www.oregonforestry.gov/ODF/BOARD/fpfo2011.shtml. There, you’ll also find reference materials as well as information on how to share your comments and ideas with us.
One of the references there is a set of indicators intended to help Oregonians monitor our progress toward sustainable management of our forests. The indicators provide a sense of the many challenges – but also of the great potential – that our forests hold.
If after reviewing the draft 2011 Forestry Program for Oregon you find you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact David Morman, the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Forest Resources Planning Program Director, at 503-945-7413, or dmorman@odf.state.or.us.
Your views will enrich the process as we work toward forest sustainability. Please join us in charting the course.
Sincerely,
Oregon Department of Forestry
OLCC Members Will Meet To Review ZDO Sustainability Updates
OLCC members and other Oak Lodge residents are invited to participate in an in-depth review of the County's sustainability changes to the Zoning and Development Ordinances (ZDOs). These are recent changes the County has been making to implement their committment to sustainability as set out in their Sustainability Resolution.
The meeting will be held at 7 - 9 pm at the Oak Lodge Sanitary District (OLSD) offices at the corner of Oak Grove Blvd. and River Road.
Reinventing Corridors and Centers
At the September 22, 2010 meeting of the OLCC, Dave Leland, President of Leland Consulting, presented an overview of planning principles and key ideas associated with revitalizing transportation corridors like our own McLoughlin Blvd. Mr. Leland's presentation documents are available HERE.
Portland to Milwaukie Light Rail Changes (Preliminary)
Leah Robbins, TriMet Coordinator for the new Portland to Milwaukie Light Rail project, presented updated information to the OLCC at its September 22, 2010 meeting. The changes were motivated by a reduction in the amount of funding promised by the Federal Department of Transportation. Originally, the plans for the extension were based on a 60% - 40% funding formula (60% federal contribution), but it appears now that the DOT contribution will be just 50%, leaving a gap of about $137M. TriMet went back to the drawing board to reduce the scope of the project. Click the link to see what changes are being considered. Note that no final decisions for these changes have been made (as of Sept 22), but the listed changes are the likely ones. Note also that the rows marked with an asterisk (*) are items that can be added back into the project should more funding become available.
Summary of Light Rail Project Changes (PDF)
OLCC Urges ODOT to Complete Sidewalk Improvements On McLoughlin Blvd.
This is a letter from the OLCC to Ted Miller at the Oregon Department of Transportation:
Dear Mr. Miller,
Attached is a letter from the Oak Lodge Community Council encouraging ODOT to strengthen our beloved community by filling in dangerous gaps of the fragmented sidewalks on both sides of McLoughlin Blvd just south of Park Ave.
The voting members of the OLCC, the Citizen Planning Organization representing approximately 30,000 residents in the unincorporated area just south of the city of Milwaukie, were swift, enthusiastic and unanimous in their support of this action.
The citizens of Oak Lodge have been without safe, consistent, contiguous sidewalks along the 40 mph state highway that not only bisects our community, but serves as our Main Street, for far too long. Phase I of the McLoughlin Area Plan, a recent community visioning process, found that safe connectivity for pedestrians and bicycles is one of the area's top priorities.
Thank you so much for the consideration of our request, and for all that ODOT has done in ensure the well-being of our community.
Sincerely,
Eleanore Hunter
Chair,
Oak Lodge Community Council
OLCC's Response to the Proposed Tree Ordinance
The Board of County Commissioners will be holding a hearing about the latest version of the tree protection ordinance produced by the Planning Department. At the last hearing, the BCC instructed the Planning Department to compose an ordinance with reduced scope, primarily codes to close the "loophole" which allowed developers to clear cut property before they applied for a building permit, thus evading all the codes that deal with tree management and preservation.
The meeting will be held at 10 AM, September 8, 2010 in in the Board Hearing Room on the 4th floor of the Public Services Building, 2051 Kaen Rd., Oregon City. This hearing is for deliberation and decision only, but the public is invited to attend.
There will be no public comment at this meeting. The BCC will take written testimony from the community until shortly before the meeting, so if you want to weigh in, send your letter or email prior to the meeting (the earlier, the better).
OLCC Letter to the BCC - under direction of the voting members of the OLCC, the OLCC board composed this letter for submission to the BCC. It was sent on September 7.
Proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendments - the County Comprehensive Plan amendments that were referenced in the OLCC letter.
The following are background documents for the hearing that were sent by the County to the OLCC and others on September 2, 2010.
BCC revised Ordinance of 8/19/2010
Foothill Planning Associates Study
3/19/2010 - Foothill Planning Associates is a group of six Portland State University students in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program. Between January and June 2010 they are working with the Oak Lodge Community Council and Clackamas County Urban Green to create an Oak Grove Neighborhood Center Plan within unincorporated Oak Grove. Click this link for more information about the project.
OLCC Evaluation of the Proposed Tree Canopy Ordinance
As discussed at February 24th meeting, the Land Use Team and other interested members of our community have been hard at work crafting a response to the proposed Tree Canopy Ordinance to be submitted to the County Planning Commission on March 15th.
Hours upon hours have been poured into this complex and nuanced issue to arrive at the documents attached for your review
1 - Executive Summary
2 - Proposed Comprehensive Plan Amendment
3 - Proposed ZDO Amendment
If you have any questions or comments, please respond by March 10 at 6 pm. Apologies for the tight timing, the document revisions took longer than anticipated - open the files and you'll see why!
We will be having a Special Meeting of the OLCC immediately following the CIA meeting this Wednesday, March 10th, to start no earlier than 8:30 pm, to vote on sending this response to the Planning Commission.
Deep thanks and appreciation for all who are participating in this effort to preserve, maintain and restore our tree canopy.
Eleanore Hunter, OLCC Chair
New Tree Ordinance Documents
3/2/2010 - Here are the latest versions of the tree ordinance documents that have been created by the Planning Department and forwarded to the Planning Commission for review. The new documents include ZDOs (Zoning and Development Ordinances) and changes to the Comprehensive Plan.
Public Hearings Notice - details about the March 22 public hearing
Section 2010 - the tree ordinance
Amendments to the Comprehensive Plan - this is part of Chapter 3, dealing with trees
Conforming Amendments - a variety of amendments needed to stitch the tree ordinance into the existing ZDOs
Section 1001 - General provisions
Section 1002 - Protection of Natural Features
Section 1602 - Village residential districts
Tree Ordinance Documents
2/23/2010 - The Staff at Clackamas County Planning Department has submitted new draft ZDOs (zoning and development ordinances) and edits to the Comprehensive Plan to implement the tree conservation ordinance features proposed by Urban Green and the Tree Conservation Task Force. These new drafts were submitted to the Clackamas County Planning Commission for review and comment.
The new drafts are called ZDO-219 and consist of Section 1020, the tree ordinance, changes to the Comprehensive Plan, and a memo describing the documents. Click this link to review or download the documents (PDF).
OLCC Forms Three New Committees
The OLCC initiated three new committees at their January 27, 2010 meeting. The three committees are:
Outreach Committee - as its name implies, this committee seeks to attract new membership to the OLCC. It will do this by increasing visibility and understanding in the community about the OLCC through actions such as leafleting and canvassing neighborhoods and businesses, and making presentations to local organizations.
Sustainability Initiative Committee - this committee will formulate a plan for bringing the County's sustainability goals into the OLCCs land use decisions. It will monitor activities in our area and formulate responses that promote sustainable practices. It will provide information to educate our citizens about the values and methods of sustainability. See also Clackamas County Sustainability Resolution and Clackamas County Sustainability Action Plan.
OLCC Planning and Zoning - the new P&Z committee will develop a long range vision for our area for development methods, materials, architecture, and growth, and develop well-researched position papers about these important issues.
Membership in these committees is not limited to members of the OLCC or even residents of Oak Grove. Anyone can join and contribute to the communities goals for a better life in Oak Grove.
Planning Commission Proposes Changes to ZDOs
The Clackamas County Planning Commission has submitted changes to the ordinances that affect home occupations. The affected ZDOs are ZDO 806 and ZDO 822. You can review these changes by going to ZDO Proposed Amendments.
In the ZDO-221 Proposed Amendments Cover Letter, the Planning Commission invites interested citizens to attend a public meeting on Monday, February 8, 2010 at the Development Services Building in Oregon City to review and comment on the proposed changes. Further details about the meeting are covered in the cover letter.