The Clatsop County Planning Commission voted unanimously Dec. 9 to recommend Ordinance 25-16, a set of code amendments that align the county’s Land and Water Development and Use Code with recent state legislation and rulemaking.

Planning Manager David Cook summarized several bills that prompted changes, including HB 2347 (terminology updates for housing types), HB 3560 (expanding zones where childcare centers can locate) and SB 1099 (allowing preschool programs where places of worship are permitted). Cook said SB 75 removes a requirement for a high wildfire-hardening standard for accessory dwelling units when statewide wildfire maps are not available.

Community Development Director Gail Henriksen described state rulemaking on farm-and-forest modernization that unifies standards across OAR divisions and creates a farm-impact-test process; as part of that process, the administrative rules identify the IRS tax return as the primary document to document farm income. Henriksen also described local code changes meant to reduce barriers to childcare: certain childcare centers would be classified as Type 1 uses in specified rural communities (example areas named in staff comments), lowering land-use fees from $1,200 to $85 when no conditional-use review is required. She said the changes also add childcare associated with religious institutions, schools and community centers as Type 1 uses in some zones.

Henriksen explained code cleanup to restore home-occupation standards inadvertently omitted in earlier revisions and corrections to Article 5 to avoid unnecessary geologic-hazard reports for very small projects in the Beach and Dune overlay.

A motion to accept the proposed legislative amendments was moved and seconded; the commission approved the recommendation on a roll call with all members voting aye. Staff said the code amendments are included in the agenda packet (pages 378–404) and will move to the Board of Commissioners for consideration.