209th & Farmington Facility

The County Development Code includes a wide range of standards and requirements related to development on this site, many of which are very detailed. Following is a brief summary of key aspects of the development regulated by the County’s standards:

• Location and size of the building, including distance from the edges of property lines and roadways, building height, and lot size.
• Landscaping, screening and buffering, including the height and location of fencing and retaining walls, as well as requirements for screening using trees and other plants.
• Neighborhood circulation, including traffic impacts, as well as connectivity for bicyclists and pedestrians.
• Grading, erosion control and drainage, including ensuring that all stormwater runoff is captured and managed on the site and/or directed to public stormwater drainage facilities.
• Parking, loading and access, including number and size of parking spaces, driveways, and other access ways.
• Lighting, including ensuring that lighting on the site is not directed towards and doesn’t impact surrounding homes or businesses.
• Environmental performance standards to minimize impacts related to noise, odor, air quality, heat and glare, and vibration.
• Public facilities and services, including ensuring that the facility can be adequately served by water, wastewater, stormwater, law enforcement, fire protection and other municipal services.

There will be a pedestrian access from the existing concrete stairs on the north eastern property line to Farmington Road. This access was required by Washington County as part of the prior rezoning of the property. The walkway was a condition of approval of the rezoning of the property to the Neighborhood Commercial zone in 2008 (Case File 08-174-PA). That was a Type 3 process so a neighborhood meeting and a public hearing were required. The public hearing took place on July 16, 2008.

The pathway is required to meet pedestrian connectivity standards. Both Washington County and the State of Oregon have vehicle and pedestrian connectivity standards that are intended to enhance connectivity for all modes of travel. The County standards (section 408-6.3.A) apply to all residential, commercial and institutional development. They include standards for maximum block lengths and perimeters for local streets. Where those standards cannot be met, mid-block pedestrian connections to adjacent roadways are required. This is one of those cases. Furthermore, County staff indicated during a pre-application conference with TVWD that this project would need to meet the condition of approval and would not be eligible for exceptions to these requirements.

Pedestrian connectivity goals apply to all development so that people have options to walk to schools, churches, businesses, other homes, or simply for recreation. This could include the two churches and school near the site, as well as surrounding residential neighborhoods. The churches are less than ¼ mile away and the school is less than ½ mile away. 

While the District has some control over the design and location of the pathway, it must abide by the previous decision to build it.