Oakidge council adopts nuclear industrial overlay and rezones hundreds of acres for industry

Oakidge — The Oakidge City Council on unanimous votes approved a zoning text amendment to create a Nuclear Industrial Overlay (NIO) and applied that overlay to multiple large tracts across the Heritage Center, Horizon Center and Bear Creek industrial parks.

Planning staff said the ordinance package is the culmination of several months of work with industry, staff and the public. "This is second and final reading of a zoning ordinance text amendment that will both support and regulate the nuclear industry in our city," Miss Williams told the council during second reading. The council approved the text amendment and each subsequent rezoning on second and final reading, with the planning commission having recommended approval across the items.

The rezonings cover multiple separate ordinances that together convert several hundred to more than a thousand acres to IND2 with the Nuclear Industrial Overlay; staff noted one targeted site in the Bear Creek area includes an area associated with a TVA small modular reactor site. Miss Williams said the overlay identifies locations "appropriate to the nuclear industry in Oakidge" and that the public process included industry stakeholders and multiple public hearings.

Council members and staff emphasized that the NIO changes the zoning framework and does not itself approve a facility; instead, the overlay and rezones define where such uses could be proposed and regulated under local standards. Miss Williams explained that properties owned by the Department of Energy (DOE) were intentionally excluded until any transfer to private ownership occurs.

Council member Smith warned aloud about one specific parcel that carries a conservation easement and urged staff to correct mismatches between ownership, conservation designations and the zoning map: "We should arrange to get that rezoned so it doesn't suddenly become an industrial property on a conservation easement," she said. Staff replied that the DOE‑owned FIR parcel will remain FIR until transferred and acknowledged the zoning ordinance may need additional revisions to address land already subject to easements.

Each ordinance passed on second and final reading by recorded voice vote with seven yes, zero no votes. Planning commission votes on these items were reported as unanimous (10–0).

What happens next: The new NIO text is now part of Oakidge's zoning ordinance; applications for specific industrial uses in the overlay will follow the usual review process and any required permits or special exceptions.