The Milwaukie Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend that city council approve a package of amendments to the city’s natural-resources regulations in Milwaukie Municipal Code section 19.402, following a public hearing and extended staff presentation.

Senior planner Brett Kelber told the commission the package combines three goals: better alignment with the city’s residential tree code, minor edits and clarifications to mitigation tables and review procedures, and a narrowly drawn, clear-and-objective path responding to state direction to reduce barriers to housing where possible without broadly weakening water-quality protections. “The idea is if you’re within about 50 feet of the top of bank of a stream or a wetland edge, there are a few things you can do,” Kelber said, describing how the code currently treats water-quality resources.

Why it matters: the amendments cover the city’s mapped Water Quality Resource (WQR) buffers and Habitat Conservation Areas (HCA), resources that protect streams, wetlands and canopy corridors across Milwaukie. Changes would affect how applicants and staff measure and correct mapped resources, how limited disturbances tied to new housing are handled, and how small public amenities near wetlands are permitted.

Key changes and limits
- Objective disturbance path for some housing: staff proposed a narrow administrative (Type 1) pathway for limited disturbance of WQRs tied to creation of a new housing unit. Eligibility would be narrow: the site must have 1,500 square feet or less of area outside WQR constraints and the proposed disturbance would be capped at 800 square feet. The proposal also bars using the Type 1 path if a project removes native trees of a specified size (Kelber referenced roughly 12 inches DBH as the threshold).
- Small public furniture exemption: an added exemption would allow limited installations of benches, picnic tables or similar outdoor furniture on public property within the WQR/HCA buffer provided the installation causes only minimal new disturbance (staff proposed 5 square feet as the disturbance threshold and suggested spacing limits to avoid continuous furniture lining a wetland edge). Commissioners asked staff to consider defining the standard by new impervious surface rather than a disturbance-area metric.
- Mapping and verification: the package removes references to high-level Metro mapping layers that are no longer maintained and clarifies how the city will treat HCA/WQR map adjustments. Staff proposed allowing the planning manager to make some map updates based on site-specific assessments without triggering a full zoning map amendment, while preserving public-notice steps when changes materially alter mapped resources.
- Cleanup items: removal of an unused “residential cluster” option that had not been used since its adoption and edits to mitigation tables to better match HCA practices.

Public comment and concerns
Dr. Edward Hackmack, who owns property with Mount Scott Creek and mapped wetlands, testified that multiple overlapping natural-resource layers complicate property disposition and development and asked staff to consider larger pads for benches in wetland-edge parks. “Five square feet is not very big,” Hackmack said, calling the pad size proposed for furniture small for practical use.

Staff reported a written comment from a neighborhood respondent (Theresa Bridal) urging stronger protections for natural resources and caution about loosening constraints to enable housing. Kelber told the commission the draft seeks to keep allowances narrow and to meet the state’s requirement for a limited clear-and-objective path only where appropriate.

Commission discussion and direction
Commissioners generally praised staff work and emphasized protecting resources while providing limited, predictable options for housing and public amenities. Multiple commissioners asked staff to rework the furniture exemption so it focuses on added impervious surface rather than solely on excavation or “disturbance” area and to clarify that public agencies (parks, city) would be the typical applicants for public-furniture exemptions. Commissioners also asked staff to continue mapping cleanup work outside the code amendment package and to consider modest language edits before the council hearing.

Vote and next steps
Commissioner Sherman moved and Commissioner Penick seconded a motion recommending council approval of the draft amendments; the commission approved the recommendation unanimously by roll call. Kelber said staff is aiming to take the ordinance to city council on May 20 (date cited by staff during the hearing). The council will hold the final public hearing and make the final decision.

Context and background
The WQR and HCA regulations implement Oregon Statewide Planning Goals 6 (air, water and land resources) and 5 (natural resources). Kelber said the WQR rules date to about 2002 and the HCA regulations were added in 2011; the draft package is primarily housekeeping plus a narrowly defined response to the state’s direction on housing. The draft also attempts to better align natural-resources review with Milwaukie’s 2022 residential tree-code updates.

What remains unresolved
Staff and the commission agreed to refine exemption language for furniture (spacing, who may install on public property, and whether to measure impacts by new impervious surface) before the council hearing. Staff also noted mapping corrections could be handled in a separate, targeted effort where gross mismapping affects property owners.

The planning commission’s recommendation now goes to Milwaukie City Council, which will make the final decision after a council public hearing.