Support our [Villebois] center: City Council Oct 4

Support our [villebois] center by contacting the City Council (email) by Oct 4 in favor of the Villebois village center application.

Click on the image to view the proposed development application

What happened at the Development Review Board on Sept 27?

DRB members received an extensive overview of the staff report, presentation from the applicant, and heard from around 10 people who spoke during public comment, they recommended approval of the zoning change to the City Council but delayed action until Oct 25 on the rest of the application materials.

It was awesome to hear that city staff received a bunch of letters in support the day of the meeting! This was reflected in comments by DRB members that they too wanted to see the Villebois vision become a reality.

The major sticking point was the design and development of a parking lot, which would be next to homes. This parking lot would be above what is legally required, but was offered by the applicant to appease previous - very loud - concerns that this development would overwhelm parking in the neighborhood. The DRB seemed like they wanted more time to consider the parking area design and possibly push for development of homes on that space, as was in the original plan, instead of parking.

Your next opportunity for input will be at the Oct 25 DRB Panel B meeting. In the mean time, if you didn’t contact City Council about the application, please do so before Oct 4!

Why support our center

We need more home choices for all shapes and sizes so that Wilsonville can be a place where all kinds of people can afford to live.

When we allow only certain expensive building types, like single-family detached homes, it determines who can or cannot afford to live in a community--the real character of the neighborhood. Where we live shapes our lives and our long-term success—from the length and cost of our commute, where we are able to shop for groceries, and our children’s schools. To expand opportunity for all, we need to stick to the long-standing Villebois plan to provide affordable home choices in neighborhoods close to jobs, schools, transit, parks, and businesses.

We need housing for middle-class and workforce homes near jobs, schools, and transit.

We are in the middle of a housing crisis and without building more and different types of housing, Wilsonville will become an exclusive community where only the rich can afford to live comfortably. Only 9% of Wilsonville is middle income and the wealth gap is widening. The Villebois center is the perfect place for this type of development. The public safety and transportation network have been built to support it.

We need to support seniors aging in place and youth.

For many young people aspiring to homeownership, a "starter home" is out of reach. Since 1970, average sizes for new, single-family detached houses have soared by 64 percent. That's a huge driver of rising home costs. By providing housing that supports families saving to buy their first home, while living near Villebois’ amazing parks, recreation, and education assets we can help young Oregonians start building their American dreams, and let many older Oregonians savor their own.

Villebois was planned to accommodate this development and its needs for parking, traffic, and fire safety.

Completing our neighborhood with multi-story housing with business space on the first floor has long been in the plans for Villebois. As a resident of the neighborhood, this is the safest neighborhood I have ever lived in. This development will add more cars to the road and people may have to walk longer to find an on-street parking space, but this is a small sacrifice - one I would gladly take - to provide a safe space for new neighbors.

Diverse housing is an essential way to fight climate change and reduce school segregation.

We are in a climate crisis and we need to start offering more housing choices and options around the areas that our infrastructure and service are set up to support, like the Villebois center. By not offering more housing options through this Villebois development, people will have to look for housing that is further away. With our school system being a shining star in the community, we need these types of diverse housing to ensure that our schools have kids of all incomes and races.

Our choice

We have a choice; we either stick to the long-standing plan for Villebois center that supports diverse housing types for all kinds of people, or we restrict housing to the most expensive and exclusive, pushing people further from jobs, schools, and transit and forcing longer, costlier commutes.