TD Council affirms Basalt Commons decision for 60-foot height
Renderings from Architect Chris Hodney show the Basalt Commons on the former Griffith Motors site looking east in downtown The Dalles. An appeal to reduce the height of the building was denied on Monday.
By Tom Peterson
The Dalles, Ore, July 24, 2024 — The Dalles City Council unanimously denied an appeal of the conditional use permit allowing the Basalt Commons, a mixed-use building for business and 116 apartments proposed for the former Griffth Motors, a half-acre lot at 523 E. Third Street.
The decision which allows the developer to build to 60 feet - 5 more than standard, came at the regular meeting held on Monday after a one-hour hearing on July 22.
Dan Meader brought the appeal.
He lives on East Seventh Street with a view of downtown, and he will have to look at the building if it is constructed. In his appeal of the City Planning Commission decision, he stated “The City is using the wrong process to allow this project to move forward. The Land Use Action required in this instance requires a Variance and cannot be allowed to move forward with a Conditional Use Permit with no standards.”
This Image displays the difference in the building height at 55 feet and 60 feet. Community Development Director Joshua Chandler also explained that the height does not include the roof, which will add another 3 feet 4 inches to the overall height of the building. Click on the image to enlarge it.
In essence, Meader argued that height should have only been allowed through a variance process and that the Planning Commission did not follow its own rules by using a conditional use permit.
The Planning Commission approved the conditional use permit, giving the developers the ability to increase the ceiling height on the first floor to 15 feet, similar to other larger buildings downtown.
Dan Meader on right speaks to The Dalles City Council about bias on Monday, July 22.
“The simple answer is to drop it back to the 10 foot that they originally had,” Meader said of the ground floor commercial portion of the building “And I go home, and nobody gets hurt. And probably they should consider doing that. Your ordinance says you have to use the variance, you haven’t done it, and my recommendation is to instruct the planning commission to hear it again as a variance.”
Basalt Commons height comparison - the building on the left is a rendering at 60 feet while the building on the right is at 55 feet. The extra 5 feet can be seen in the ground floor commercial portion of the building on the left. Click the image to enlarge it.
Community Development Director Joshua Chander reported earlier in the meeting that The Dalles City Council amended its ordinances in 2011 to allow for conditional use permits in the Central Business Commercial zone district allowing buildings to be as tall as 75 feet with approval from the city. The height permit change came after The City of The Dalles had a request from Rapoza Development to build a Hilton Garden Inn in downtown The Dalles more than a decade ago.
City Attorney Jonathan Kara made the point that a variance was only necessary if the developer had sought a building height of more than 75 feet.
“Had they gone 80 feet, that would have required a variance,” he said. “This is within the 55’ to 75-foot band.”
Meader also made claims of bias in the original decision and noted “other issues” that may be addressed at the hearing” in his appeal.
During the meeting, Meader stated that Councilors Darcy Long and Rod Runyon showed bias at a Gateway Urban Renewal meeting where they voted in favor of contributing as much as $1.73 million to the Basalt Commons project earlier this year.
Without prompting, Councilor Dan Richardson stated he also voted for the urban renewal proposal for Basalt Commons during comments at the Monday meeting.
The urban renewal funding would include eliminating direct payments - not to exceed $1 million - to the City of The Dalles and Northern Wasco Parks and Recreation toward System Development Charges specific to the multi-unit residential aspect of the project.
The City’s Land Use Attorney Chris Crean disagreed, pointing out that urban renewal and city agencies are different entities and decisions by either agency did not constitute bias, according to state law precedent.
In order to prove bias, Meader needed “indisputable evidence” to prove that councilors were biased and prejudged the application, Crean said, giving the example of a letter to the editor where a Councilor stated they were in favor of approving the Basalt Commons project prior to making a decision at a hearing.
“On that basis, there is no legal reason for anyone to recuse themselves,” Crean said.
And none did.
Council unanimously approved a motion directing staff to prepare a resolution denying the appeal and affirming the approval of the conditional use permit.
Staff is expected to present the resolution to the Council in September, formalizing the decision.
On a side note, Howard Clark of The Dalles also commented about “inadequate parking” in the plans for the Basalt Commons.
However, Councilors refused to comment on the topic because the administrative approval to construct the building was appealed on Monday, July 22, and a hearing on the issue was forthcoming.
Councilors typically refrain from commenting on issues within an appeal to ensure a transparent record of their opinions is captured in the appeal hearing.
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