Notice is hereby given that the Ashland Planning Commission and Ashland City Council will each hold Legislative Public Hearings on April 29, 2025, and May 6, 2025 respectively. Both meetings will take place at the Ashland Civic Center, 1175 East Main Street for the following item:
PLANNING ACTION: PA-T3-2024-00013
APPLICANT: City of Ashland
DESCRIPTION: Ashland’s Planning Commission and City Council will conduct public hearings to consider legislation updating the city’s zoning map and associated land use regulations to designate Climate Friendly Area (CFA) overlay zones as required under the state’s Climate Friendly & Equitable Community (CFEC) rules. In areas designated as CFAs, cities must allow multifamily residential (with ground-floor mixed use) and townhome development as well as commercial, office and civic uses with maximum building heights of at least 50 feet. A minimum density of at least 15 dwelling units per acre (du/ac) is required for single-use residential developments, and there can be no maximum density cap. In addition, companion changes to the Downtown (C-1-D) zoning district will be considered to permit multi-family dwellings outright, without a mixed-use requirement, at a minimum density of 30 du/ac; to increase the maximum allowed building height from 40 feet to 50 feet, with the option to increase to 60 feet as a Conditional Use; and to remove maximum density limits, without formally designating the Downtown (C-1-D) district as a CFA.
The public hearings will be televised on local channel 9 or channels 180 and 181 for Charter Communications customers or will also be available live stream by going to rvtv.sou.edu and selecting RVTV Prime. The meeting agenda and information about how to testify and submit written comments will be posted on the City of Ashland web site here https://ashlandor.portal.civicclerk.com/event/920/files
A copy of the application and all meeting materials will be available on-line at https://ashlandoregon.gov/climatefriendly at least 20 days prior to the hearings, and the staff report will be available on-line seven days prior to each hearing. Copies of application materials will be provided at reasonable cost, if requested. Application materials may be requested to be reviewed in-person during business hours at the Ashland Community Development & Engineering Services Building, 51 Winburn Way, via a pre-arranged appointment by calling (541) 488-5305 or emailing planning@ashlandoregon.gov.
During these public hearings, the city’s project team will explain the details of the proposal and those in attendance will have the opportunity to provide testimony. Time allowed for testimony may be limited due to the number of speakers. Anyone wishing to submit written comments can do so by sending an e-mail to the public testimony e-mails noted below for each hearing with the subject line “CFA Hearing Testimony” by 10:00 a.m. on the Monday before the hearing. Written testimony received by these deadlines will be available for decision maker review before the hearing. Oral testimony will be taken both in person and via Zoom during the public hearing. If you wish to provide oral testimony via Zoom, please send an email to the public testimony e-mail below by 10:00 a.m. on the Monday prior to the hearing. In order to provide testimony at the public hearings, please provide the following information: 1) make the subject line of the email “CFA Hearing Testimony”, 2) include your name, 3) Specify if you will be participating by computer or telephone, and 4) The name you will use if participating by computer or the telephone number you will use if participating by telephone. Join the Zoom meetings at the links below:
Planning Commission 4/29 Hearing: https://zoom.us/j/95237419941
PC Public testimony e-mail:
PC-public-testimony@ashlandoregon.gov
City Council 5/6 Hearing: Zoom Link available upon request; please contact Alissa Kolodzinski in the City Recorder’s Office at recorder@ashland.or.us
Council Public testimony e-mail:
public-testimony@ashlandoregon.gov
If you have questions or comments concerning the proposal, please feel free to contact Planning Manager Derek Severson, the staff planner assigned to this project, at 541-552-2040 or via e-mail to: derek.severson@ashlandoregon.gov
In compliance with the American with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the City Administrator’s office at 541-488-6002 (TTY phone number 1-800-735-2900). Notification 72 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to the meeting. (28 CFR 35.102.-35.104 ADA Title I).
