The city planning sign at Eads Park, and the bike that took m there on Thursday, July 9, 2026.
A routine sign posted by the Albany planning division prompted a flurry of comments last week on social media, ranging from the need for housing to complaints about too much growth. That’s not, though, what this is about.
The sign was posted at the edge of Eads Park, the little playground and natural area near the Willamette River in northeast Albany. It announced a public hearing concerning a proposal by the City of Albany itself.
Here’s the deal: The city owns eight tax lots in and around the sewage treatment plant. It wants to consolidate the properties as one tax lot. It also wants to change the lots’ comprehensive plan designation and zoning to be in line with their potential purpose, which is the expansion of the plant’s composting facility and eventually the treatment plant itself.
For the consolidation of the lots, no public hearings are required. The planning staff can decide that.
But the planning commission and the city council have to sign off on changes in the comprehensive plan and on rezoning individual properties.
Hearings are scheduled July 20 before the planning commission and Aug. 26 before he city council.
The city plans to rezone the properties it owns from residential to industrial, which is in keeping with the potential use for the treatment plant. The consolidation of the lots is necessary because building across property lines is not allowed.
No development is currently proposed, as I understand it from the planning staff.
One of the lots, adjacent to and east Eads Park, was purchased years ago with federal money intended for recreation. If the land is used for anything else, federal permission will have to be sought.
None of this, as I understand it, changes anything in Eads Park itself. (hh)
You are missing an important part of the story, the group of residentially zoned lots, all but 2 vacant, are going to be-re-zoned industrial and are adjacent on 3 sides to existing single family homes. One resident recently now deceased, is vacant, so what could be 7-8 ultra affordable buildable lots within the Albany UGB, the city is going to make them part of the Public Works property and expand the composting program to further stink up the neighborhood.
Ben, these lots were intentionally purchased years ago to provide a buffer from the treatment plant and residential homes. We did not want any dwellings built there and then the residents complain about odors later. The council back then directed staff to look into purchasing lots when they came up on the market, if feasible. It makes sense to take these lots out of the residential land inventory. Plus the infrastructure to this area is inadequate for more density.
Why keep focusing on projects we don’t need? Now that the city has wasted money on the down town area, where is all the city income they were going to generate? Didn’t the streets need revitalized and new jobs to keep tax payers? All that money wasted and they are still spinning their wheels on dead end goals. The long time residents are the base supporters of the city and the least respected. Leave the parks alone. They are something that all residents can enjoy.