The Bingen City Council denied a conditional use permit application submitted by Jonathan Cohen with The Society Hotel that would have enabled the company to build an eight-unit residential building for its workforce on the corner of Cedar and Humboldt streets.
Councilors voted 4-0, with one absent, to reject the application on the basis that the project, sited at 210 N Cedar St., would not fit within the municipal codes allowable conditional uses within the R-1 (single-family residential) zone.
“I think Mr. Cohen’s congregate housing is perhaps probably the only true design that will offer solutions to our housing shortages, but it doesn’t meet the requirements for a conditional use on a single family lot per our Bingen municipal code,” Councilor Izzy Schroder said.
The application sought a conditional use permit for the building to accommodate eight tenants employed by The Society Hotel. It also sought variances for shortened setbacks and decreased parking spaces, which would have also been partially within the public right-of-way.
The application received public comments stating neighbors’ concern that the housing development would change the character of the neighborhood and would cause too much noise and traffic, while setting a precedent that others could apply for increased density within the single-family residential zone.
Cohen expressed that he found some of those comments irrelevant to the application, including complaints about noise. “ I think we’ve been really good neighbors and great employers and good community members. So it’s disappointing to hear those opinions.”
He said that the application was the most practical solution to finding affordable housing for employees of The Society Hotel within the city’s allowable uses within its zoning code. “It’s really up to you guys to change the conditions for (the housing) problem to be able to be solved through the zoning code.
“Portland is a 2 million person metro area. These are tiny areas. This pressure is going to come. You can’t hide your head in the sand and pretend like it’s not going to change the character of this area. You can either get ahead of it and have outcomes that you want, or you will get unintended consequences. And you are going to have to stand up to people’s concerns that density is just bad. Density is not bad,” he said.
Councilor Joe O’Sullivan said that he doesn’t think there is a fear of density, but rather a concern that the city would not have the infrastructure in place to support density changes. Mayor Catherine Kiewit invited Cohen to work with the city during its comprehensive plan update process, which is ongoing.
“I actually think that this is fortuitous that this is being brought to us, because it’s helping to highlight this as a problem. And it’s helping us to identify some of the issues that we’re going to encounter, as we try and move forward with a plan,” Councilor Ryan O’Connor said.
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