Connie - Needless to say, I was disappointed with statements made by the Chamber of Commerce last evening during public comment at our City Council meeting. Mainly because the statements are untrue and cause the City to once again refute erroneous statements made by the Chamber of Commerce.
Statement No. 1 – “The New Development Code will not permit another grocery store of big box within the city limits of Molalla”.
This statement was untrue when the Chamber raised it in October of 2017 and is untrue today. Section 17-2.2.030 of the Development Code specifically allows Grocery and Big Box as an outright permitted use. Section 17-3.2.040 (Large Format Development) even has a layout of what a grocery or big box might resemble if one were to develop within the city limits. My e-mail yesterday (attached) attempted to clarify that this opinion is not correct. Last night you also mentioned that my e-mail stated that a grocery store required a conditional use permit. My email yesterday states nothing of the kind. We continue to hear the Chamber state that they have read the Code. However, the Chamber continues to make erroneous statements publicly regarding the Development Code. Are these statements intended to deliberately deceive the community?
Statement No. 2 – “Home Occupations are not allowed with the new Code”
Incorrect. Section 17-2.3.120 specifically describes and discusses Home Occupations.
Statement No. 3 “Good Old Boy System”
Making a public statement such as this is not only offensive but intended to incite distrust and question integrity and character. I challenge the person who made the statement, you or any of your members to prove this statement to be true.
Statement No. 4 “The new Code just doesn’t work”
What specifically does not work? Where is the property that someone waited for years to acquire and now finds out that they cannot build? My Staff and I met with you all 5 or 6 months ago and went through Code issues. I stated during that meeting that if we do not know what the issues are we cannot address the alleged problem. What I gather from last night is that there are a few property owners who believe they cannot do what they want to do. Or, they just do not like today’s standards. I am guessing here because we are uniformed.
Statement No. 5 “Whatever is wrong with the Code we will fix later”
This statement was never made as part of the new Code adoption. This was a statement that was made in 2010. We did state that the document should be living and fluid.
Chamber Use Chart – The new Development Code was specifically written to combine uses. For example – Commercial Retail includes a vast potential of “Commercial” uses rather than list those specific uses. This is why there are fewer number of uses listed. We could have solved this issue without you making false public statements.
Our City Council and Planning Commission (who are volunteers) have worked long and hard to make Molalla a better place. Last night took us back a few notches by the untrue statements made by the Chamber. I continue, as always, to be willing to meet with a group of you to discuss these issues. Please let me know if you are interested.
Dan Huff
City Manager
City of Molalla, Oregon
(503) 829-6855
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