The City of St. Helens will be reviewing locations for its proposed police station again after the council decided to deny the land use application for a police station at the Kaster Road property at a council special session on May 9.
City Planner Jacob Graichen characterized the decision as the council deciding not to locate the station at the location based on potential shortcomings at the site.
During the discussion before voting to deny the conditional use permit, Councilors Mark Gundersen and Jessica Chilton voiced that they felt the city had mitigated the concerns relating to the property but that going through the appeal process was not worth the time or the money.
“I believe the site was mitigated properly; I stand by that site,” Chilton said. “ But, I’m not willing to fight and waste our taxpayer’s money, our city’s money, to try to prove that. I feel like the city is being held hostage by a political agenda, and I’m not willing to go down that path.”
Councilor Sundeen said he felt similarly and that getting the station built in a timely manner is now the main priority. Councilor Russell Hubbard was a member of the St. Helens Planning Commission, which flagged the building of the station in a floodplain as an issue in 2023. Hubbard said that mitigation at the Kaster Road site would cost money, and he was never in favor of the site.
Mayor Rick Scholl was not present on the Zoom call for the special session, but the motion to deny the permit passed 4-0 with Hubbard, Chilton, Gundersen, and Sundeen all voting to deny the conditional use permit.
This development comes after months of limbo for the facility after an appeal was filed with the State Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA). St. Helens Communications Officer Crystal King said the council will need to discuss alternate site locations and give city staff direction regarding a new location. A discussion will likely take place at the Wednesday, May 15 work session.
When asked what other locations may be considered, King did not offer specifics on where the station may be placed. The development marks an interruption in the slow-going process of replacing the aging police station located at 150 S 13th Street.
Designs for the station were all but finalized for the location at the intersection of Old Portland Road and Kaster Road, but the city will now need to find a new home for the station. One factor the council will be considering in the new location is finding a place where they can retain the “existing design to the largest extent possible on a new site.”
St. Helens resident Steven Toschi filed the land use appeal to LUBA, and the appeal was resolved in a settlement with the city. The Chronicle & Chief spoke with Toschi following the council’s decision to deny the permit for the station, and he said the outcome is a positive for the community.
“I think that this is a big win for the citizens of St. Helens. We are going to get a public safety facility that does not have the floodplain concerns that were part of this site,” Toschi said. “The right outcome for our people occurred.”
Toschi said the decision is also a win for the city council. Toschi said that settlements are about reassessing prior positions and making decisions based off of information presented. Toschi said that the settlement with the city was a result of collaboration.
“There is a tendency for elected officials to not want to take a look and reexamine. In this case, they did, and I think that is great,” Toschi said. “They decided to go in a different direction, which I think shows tremendous courage. I commend each and every one of them for doing it.”
King described what the next steps for the city will be.
“A new location will first need to be selected,” King said. “The existing design will then need to be reviewed to make sure it is compatible with the new site before it is submitted through the land use process.”
Background
A conditional use permit was granted for the site by the council in October 2023, despite concerns being raised about the placement of the facility in a 500-year floodplain.
The decision to approve the conditional use permit came after the St. Helens Planning Commission denied it in September 2023. The basis for the denial of the permit was that a portion of the property where the police station was set to be placed falls in the boundary of both a 100-year and 500-year floodplain.
Under St. Helens city code, a “critical facility” means “a facility for which even a slight chance of flooding may be too great.” Critical facilities include schools, nursing homes, hospitals, police, fire, emergency service installations, and installations that produce, use, or store hazardous materials. Within the city’s code, construction of a “critical facility” can only be initiated if there is no feasible alternative site is available.”
Of note, the building itself was not planned to be in the 100-year floodplain, but access to the facility would be at risk because Kaster Road and Old Portland Road fall within the floodplain boundaries. The building would be partially in the 500-year floodplain, but the facility is designed to be elevated two feet above the projected 500-year flood level.
In rebuttal to these issues, city staff cited that the building itself will not be in the flood plane because the site will be elevated above the affected area. The rebuttal also stated that the secondary ingress and egress would be outside of the flood plane as well. With the settlement reached between the Toschis and the city, the city ultimately decided not to continue the process with LUBA to get site approval.
The project seeks to address the issue of the outdated police station that currently houses the St. Helens Police Department at 150 S 13th Street. The 2,200-square-foot building was constructed in 1971.
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