A firm hired by the city is recommending that more land be set aside for industrial and commercial development in Albany.

City planner Heather Hansen presented a study by Winterbrook Planning and ECO Northwest to the city council Wednesday and recommended amending the city comprehensive plan to include it.

The 2007 Economic Opportunities Analysis Update by the land-use and environmental planning service compares the need for suitable commercial and industrial sites with the supply of sites within the Albany urban growth boundary.

It recommended that the city designate one industrial site of 120-150 acres and one or two between 20 and 50 acres each.

It also suggested designating one or two commercial sites of up to 50 acres for community shopping centers or “large-format” retail, one or two industrial sites up to 20 acres each, and one site of up to 20 acres for health services or “larger neighborhood retail.”

Hansen explained that one of the Goal 9 statewide planning requirements calls for urban areas to include an adequate supply of sites for a variety of industrial and commercial uses consistent with plan policies.

According to the study, Albany has enough small and medium industrial and commercial sites (2 to 5 acres) but does not meet the anticipated need for sites larger than 5 acres.

The amendment would only add the study to the comprehensive plan and would not include site-specific recommendations for potential zone changes or UGB expansions.

Councilor Sharon Konopa expressed reservations about sending the amendment through, saying she would like to see parking requirements, among other things, for new businesses included in the text.

Councilors Floyd Collins and Jeff Christman disagreed.

“It’s not an approval of anything,” Collins said.

The amendment would simply add the document to the comprehensive plan and support and guide future decisions, Christman said.

After discussion, Councilor Dick Olsen blocked reading the ordinance a second time, so it will be held over to the next scheduled meeting March 26.

Other business

The Albany City Council on Wednesday also:

- Set a public hearing on April 9 to consider an ordinance regarding abandoned shopping carts.

- Passed unanimously amendments to the development code regarding fence regulations. The amendments remove the 2-foot height restriction for fences in clear vision areas and allow fences in front yards to exceed 4 feet for properties on the National Register of Historic Places if the fence is appropriate to the house style and scale.

- Adopted resolutions supporting a Microenterprise Assistance Grant for the Linn-Benton Microbusiness Program, authorizing the relinquishment of title to surplus real property to Habitat for Humanity for low-income housing, and accepting a gift of about 12 acres of property from the Boys & Girls Club of Albany for park purposes.