UPDATE: On July 31st we attended a Town Hall meeting with Rep. Jules Walters, State Senator Wagner, and Tualatin Mayor Frank Bubenik. We asked our legislators about HB 4037 which eliminates the public’s ability to testify at and appeal most land-use hearings. When asked why they voted for this legislation our legislators said the following: 1. The Governor wanted it, 2. We didn’t read it, and 3. We thought we would fix it if problems came up.

This is not what we wanted to hear from our legislators, how about you? Mayor Bubenik stated Tualatin is having the same problems we are talking about in West Linn and that most cities in Oregon were opposed to this legislation because people don’t like losing their rights.

We are continuing a letter writing campaign to Governor Kotek, Senate President Wagner, and Representative Walters asking them to have the legislature take another look at HB 4037 with an eye towards remedying some of the problems we see with it. Maybe you can write to them as well (we were told by our attorney that a written letter has more impact than an email or phone call). Here is a document with more information.

Mill Creek Residential Trust withdrew as the applicant a few months ago. The new applicant is the property owner, Jeff Parker, and his partner. Mr. Parker’s company is Tannler Holdings LLC.

The State passed, and Governor Kotek signed, HB 4037 which prohibits cities over 10,000 population from holding public hearings on applications where there are clear and objective standards in place. It also prohibits appeals of land use decisions by anyone but the applicant. It was effective July 1, 2026.

The applicant (Parker) had his attorney send a letter to the city regarding HB 4037. Our attorney wrote a response and the city issued their response. All the attorneys’ letters can be found on the Resources & Documentation page on our website.

In short, the city has decided to hold a public hearing on the commercial aspects of the application only. The Planning Commission will also decide the residential aspects but, due to HB 4037, there will not be a public hearing on the residential aspects.