Basalt Creek Area

Overview

The Basalt Creek Area is in unincorporated Washington County between Tualatin and Wilsonville. Bounded by Norwood and Helenius Roads to the north, Interstate (I-5) to the east, Coffee Lake Creek to the west, and Day Road to the south, the area is comprised of approximately 847 acres. It was brought into the Portland Metropolitan Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) in 2004. Currently, the land is composed of a mix of residential uses, nurseries, farms, forests, and a creek. 

The Tualatin City Council accepted the Basalt Creek Concept Plan in 2018, which informed final adoption of the Basalt Creek Comprehensive Plan Amendments in 2019 and the Tualatin|2040 Housing Needs and and Economic Opportunities Analyses in 2019. These documents established the need for future development of housing and employment lands and identified needed capital improvements for the future provision of services (water, sanitary sewer, stormwater, transportation). In 2021, the City of Tualatin established the Southwest and Basalt Creek Urban Renewal District to help fund current and future area infrastructure needs. 

Background

In 2004, the Metro Council added the Basalt Creek Area to the Portland Metropolitan Urban Growth Boundary (UBG) because they had identified a need for employment land in the region. Of the 847 total acres, 330 were added to Tualatin's Planning Area. The remainder will become part of the City of Wilsonville

Tualatin, Wilsonville, Washington County, and Metro entered an intergovernmental agreement for concept planning in 2011, but put the planning effort on hold until the Basalt Creek Transportation Refinement Plan was completed. It was necessary to plan for future transportation system improvements in the Basalt Creek Area because of future growth in the area, but also because of future growth in surrounding areas targeted for industrial development. 

A Policy Advisory Group, which consisted of elected officials and key staff from the project's five partner agencies (Tualatin, Wilsonville, Washington County, Metro, and the Oregon Department of Transportation), adopted the Basalt Creek Transportation Refinement Plan in 2012. The plan refined recommendations from the I-5/99W Connector Study and the Regional Transportation Plan, proposing 18 transportation investments including a new roadway (Basalt Creek Parkway) and existing roadway improvements. 

Concept planning began in 2013. The work was completed and accepted by the Tualatin City Council in 2018. The project team worked with property owners, citizens, service providers, regional partners, and both cities' Planning Commissions and City Councils to complete transportation, infrastructure, and land use planning. Although the area had originally been identified as future employment lands, the Concept Plan proposed a mix of low-density single-family, medium-low density, and high-density uses, neighborhood-commercial, and manufacturing park industrial uses. This work served as the basis for the Basalt Creek Comprehensive Plan Amendments, which the Tualatin City Council adopted in 2019. The Comprehensive Plan Amendments included updates to the Tualatin Comprehensive Plan, Zoning and Master Plan Maps, Development Code, and Transportation System Plan. 

In 2021, the City Council accepted the Housing Production Strategy. The report concluded that Tualatin has a limited amount of vacant, unconstrained buildable residential land, particularly for higher-density multi-family housing which the 2019 Housing Needs Analysis identified as a need since nearly two-thirds of Tualatin's existing housing stock is single-family detached housing. 

Current Basalt Creek Area Planning Efforts

Basalt Creek Zone Code Update

The current Manufacturing Park (MP) industrial zone limits development to large-scale specialized manufacturers and research campuses. Recent market trends and the area's geography - a high degree of parcelization and sloping topography - make it highly unlikely that these types of developments will occur. Therefore, this project aims to balance the need for greater flexibility with the employment density goals of the Basalt Creek Concept Plan, Tualatin|2040 Economic Opportunities Analysis, and the Southwest and Basalt Creek Urban Renewal District. 

Basalt Creek Parks and Recreation Plan

The Basalt Creek Parks and Recreation Plan was developed in 2021 after months of research, development, and a robust public outreach and engagement process. The plan was accepted by the City Council in early 2022. 

In October 2022, the City Council purchased 7.7-acres for future parkland primarily using funding from Metro's 2019 Parks and Nature Bond Local Share Allocation. 

Basalt Creek Stormwater Plan

Stormwater is any water that originates from rain, ice, and snow melt that does not soak into the soil. The City's Stormwater Master Plan provides an overview of system improvements needed to address things like growth and development, maintenance and system condition issues, water quality facility improvements, and more. The Basalt Creek Stormwater Plan will amend the Stormwater Master Plan to include system improvements in the Basalt Creek Area. System improvements are generally anticipated to be constructed with private development and dedicated to the City for operation and maintenance. 

Current Development and Applications

Autumn Sunrise

The Autumn Sunrise subdivision will consist of 400 homes south of Norwood Road and east of Boones Ferry Road, to the east and south of Horizon Community Church and School. Of the 400 homes being developed in four phases, 80 will be townhomes and 320 will be detached single-family homes. Approximately 3.9-acres of the 62-acre development will be open space. 

Plambeck Gardens Apartments

Community Partners for Affordable Housing is seeking to develop a 116-apartment development consisting of two,four-story buildings and units ranging in size from one-bedroom to four-bedrooms as well as a community building, and 170 parking stalls. Of the 4.66-acre development, 0.8-acres will be a shared outdoor recreation area including a children's play area. All units will be affordable to those making less than 60 percent of the area media income. 

Norwood Apartments

AKS Engineering & Forestry, LLC, on behalf of Vista Residential Partners and Property Owner Tom Williams, have submitted three applications to facilitate future development of multi-family housing on an approximately 9.2-acre site. 

  • 9300 SW Norwood Road Annexation - An annexation application of a 1-acre parcel on Norwood Road to bring property into City limits from unincorporated Washington County. This application will be reviewed by the City Council at a public hearing scheduled for February 27, 2023.
  • 23370 SW Boones Ferry Road Partition - A partition application to divide the existing 38-acre lot into two parcels, creating a 30-acre parcel and an 8.2-acre parcel. The 8.2-acre parcel, combined with the additional 1-acre, is the proposed site of future multi-family housing. City staff will review this application.
  • 9300 SW Norwood Road Plan Map and Text Amendment - a map/text amendment application to change the zone from a mix of Medium Low-Density Residential (RML) and Institutional (IN) to High Density-High Rise (HD-HR). If rezoned, the developer could construct a four or five story building (up to 64-feet regardless of the number of stories), with approximately 275 units. This application is currently under review by City staff for completeness. Once deemed complete, it will be posted to the City's website. The City Council is the reviewing body for this application and a public hearing has not yet been scheduled.