The Philomath Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Monday on a set of proposed changes to the Glorietta Bay development on North 19th Street, which includes Tall Timber RV Park.
The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Philomath City Hall and can also be viewed via the city’s YouTube channel. City staff are recommending the commission approve the applications with conditions.
Glorietta Bay LLC, represented by Scott Lepman and Candace Ribera, is asking the city to approve three related applications. Together, they would create a two-parcel partition — an approximately 0.80-acre parcel and a 15.21-acre remainder parcel — and authorize a major modification to the previously approved master-planned development. The partition itself would not approve any new use or construction; any future development of the smaller parcel would require separate site design review.
The requested modifications include changes to the size and configuration of the approved self-storage buildings, the Storage Depot office and manager’s quarters, the RV park office and manager’s quarters, the community building and the industrial flex-space buildings. According to a staff presentation prepared for the meeting, the changes redistribute floor area rather than uniformly increasing it — the self-storage buildings would shrink by about 3,700 square feet overall, while the industrial flex-space buildings would grow by about 7,100 square feet and the Storage Depot office and manager’s quarters would grow by about 1,400 square feet.
The applicant is also seeking to add three cabins and an accessory propane fueling station as part of the RV park. Under the conditions staff are recommending, the cabins and propane station would have to remain accessory to the RV park — the cabins could not be divided, sold, marketed or rented independently, and the propane station could not operate as a stand-alone public retail fueling facility.
The applicant is also proposing to add, relocate or modify RV park amenities such as a dog park, an outdoor pickleball and basketball court, a viewing area, patios, trails and a picnic area, some of which would extend into the 50-foot riparian setback along Newton Creek. Staff say that work can be approved under the city’s restoration and enhancement exception, subject to conditions on erosion control and restoration planting.
A separate piece of the request would allow temporary use of the approved RV, boat and vehicle storage area for construction staging, along with an interim 107-space storage area for RVs, boats and vehicles while that work is underway. Staff are recommending a five-year limit on that interim use. The applicant is also requesting a Class B variance to allow engineered gravel or other non-paved surfacing in the temporary storage and staging areas, rather than the pavement the city’s standards would otherwise require; accessible parking spaces and routes, along with any required emergency, pedestrian or drainage infrastructure, would still need to be paved.
The properties under review are at 617 N. 19th St. and 231, 229 and 302 Inspiration Way, and are zoned heavy industrial and industrial park. Because the applications involve multiple types of land-use approval for the same parcels, the city is reviewing them together under the Type III quasi-judicial process. The Planning Commission’s decision can approve, approve with conditions or deny the applications, and it can be appealed to the City Council.
The city’s consulting engineer, Westech Engineering, recommended carrying forward the project’s existing infrastructure conditions while requiring new infrastructure for the modified uses to meet current city standards. Additional water and sewer service will be needed for the proposed commercial parcel and any future industrial flex-space buildings, according to the engineer.
The Glorietta Bay project has been under development since Philomath’s City Council approved it in November 2019 following an extensive public process. Lepman told Philomath News in 2023 that supply chain issues had slowed the project’s pace, and last year the city approved his request to build the RV park in five phases to match construction with market demand.
State law requires the city to issue a final decision on the current applications, including resolution of any local appeals, by Oct. 30, unless the applicant agrees in writing to extend the review period.
Monday’s agenda also includes continued discussion of a residential code audit and administrative code updates, and a staff report on planning and building activity.