Clackamas County hearings officer to decide on home-occupation storage business after public hearing

Clackamas County hearings officer Joe Turner took public testimony Feb. 12 on application Z0465-25, in which Sheila and Steve Amundsen seek permission to use about 3,000 square feet of building area at 19609 Southeast Chitwood Road for a home-occupation storage business.

Staff planner Joy Fields told the hearing the property is roughly 1.7 acres in a rural RA-1 zone near Highway 212. Fields said staff recommended approval with conditions but identified three exceptions that would be required for the proposal to be allowed: an exception to the standard Level 2 home-occupation floor-area limit (the application requests 3,000 sq ft vs. the 500 sq ft typical limit), an exception to allow vehicle storage on the property, and an exception to allow more vehicles on-site than the 4-vehicle limit for Level 2 uses.

"Under a level 2 home occupation, the building floor space is limited to 500 square feet," Fields said, and standard vehicle- and trip-count limits apply. She told the hearings officer that the applicants had proposed storing commercial trucks and equipment and that staff viewed those stored trucks as customers unless the application specifically identified them as employees.

Fields also summarized other site constraints and conditions flagged by technical reviewers: the front setback had previously been adjusted to 25 feet due to wetlands; the property contains environmental overlays (floodplain, habitat conservation and a water quality resource area) buffered by the existing structure; the unpaved area west of the driveway where dumpsters and truck parking are currently visible would need hard surfacing and a construction-management plan if used for the home occupation; and an entrance permit and improved hard surface would be required to meet transportation and engineering standards.

On services, Fields said the septic system was installed for residential use and staff included an authorization notice as a potential condition to ensure the septic system is adequate if customer use increases; the water provider supplied a preliminary feasibility statement but did not evaluate fire-flow needs at the hearing.

Turner asked whether vehicle-storage and the additional vehicle-count exceptions had been included in the public notice; Fields said they had not been included because those exceptions were not requested in the original notice, though the application materials made it clear that storage for trucks and equipment was proposed. Turner confirmed neighbor comments would be uploaded as Exhibit 6 and directed staff to fix minor typographical errors in the staff presentation.

Applicants Sheila and Steve Amundsen testified that they live at 19609 SE Chitwood Road and described options to address neighbor concerns, including landscaping or screening around existing dumpsters and using the east parking area tied to the residence; Steve asked whether a new access or added hard surfacing could allow the dumpsters to remain while meeting county standards. "We could do some landscaping around them," Sheila said when asked about screening.

Staff reiterated applicable standards for solid-waste receptacles (zoning code Section 10-21) and noted that screening and buffering requirements could be applied under the county's buffering standards (staff referenced a screening template in the report). Fields said screening options could include evergreen shrubs and an opaque fence or gate so "there's no evidence off-site of the garbage receptacles." Transportation staff also noted that personal vehicles would need to be parked on hard surfacing that meets roadway standards and that an entrance permit would be required if the west area is used for parking.

Before closing, Turner confirmed the applicants were seeking the three exceptions (floor area, vehicle storage, and increased on-site vehicle count) and said he would consider those requests. The applicant waived the one-week period allowing only final written argument; Turner closed the record and said he will issue a written decision within two weeks to parties of record.

The hearings officer did not render a decision at the hearing. Any party wishing to appeal a future decision to the Land Use Board of Appeals must ensure issues are raised with sufficient specificity in the record, Turner said.

The county will post the hearing recording and documents to the Clackamas County Planning and Zoning website; neighbor comments mentioned at the hearing were identified as Exhibit 6 and will be uploaded for the record.