Representatives of the Port of Umatilla and the city of Umatilla met this week to continue to negotiate toward a positive outcome to the zoning dispute relating to the property along the West site of Bud Draper Road.
According to mediator Joe Franell, significant progress was made Monday and as a result, the Umatilla City Council and the Port Commission are planning to hold a joint meeting in January to finalize a negotiated agreement.
Franell said all parties have agreed to postpone oral arguments before Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA), which were scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
“That’s pretty significant progress,” he said.
The dispute centers around the Umatilla Planning Commission’s denial of site review application for an industrial warehouse on land west of Bud Draper Road near the Big River Golf Course. In June, the city council upheld the commission’s ruling. The city claims the property is zoned residential, while the port claims it is zoned for industrial use. City maps show it as zoned for industrial use, but city officials say that designation was made in error. The port then appealed the city’s decision to LUBA.
Franell said putting the LUBA appeal on hold is a positive step forward in the dispute.
“I think there is an extraordinarily strong possibility of a positive outcome,” he said. Franell said that an agreement could lead to even better cooperation between the port and the city in the future.
“The relationship between the port and the city will end up being better that it has been in the past,” he said.
