Shopping-center owner and tow operator warn rezoning could constrain property uses

Two property-specific concerns surfaced during testimony at the Aug. 23 Oregon City Planning Commission meeting.

Roger Shirley, representing Pan Pacific Retail Properties (owner of the Oregon City Shopping Center), said the shopping center was rezoned into the mixed-use downtown district and that the new designation and its design/subdistrict standards do not match the shopping center's current configuration or redevelopment plans. Shirley said the mixed-use downtown standards encourage continuous storefront facades and prohibit or restrict outside storage and certain outdoor sales areas, which in one recent leasing negotiation nearly caused the loss of an 80,000-square-foot tenant who required outside storage. "This area is certainly not a pedestrian friendly area," Shirley said, and asked the commission to reconsider whether the shopping center fits the mixed-use downtown district.

Mark Sachs, owner/operator of Clackamas Towing, said his storage lot at 220A South Second Street in Oregon City had been used for vehicle storage historically and that county staff told him vehicle storage is a prohibited use under the new map; he asked whether his storage is a grandfathered/nonconforming use. Planning staff said they would meet with Sachs to review the property's business-license and use history; staff reiterated that law often allows legally established nonconforming uses to continue while the owner retains the use but that starting a new, nonconforming use after adoption is not allowed.

Staff said they would follow up with affected owners and address these issues as part of the Oct. 11 continuance.